School Activity Report

Today's Phrase

Happy new year! Wishing you all the best in 2023.

Let you know how to celebrate our Japanese-style new year for you!
Let’s try to read what they are!

 

① ねんがじょう 年賀状 Season’s greeting card for new year.

Here is a Japanese style New year’s card, called 年賀状(Nengajo)

Amazing handmade by NILS staff members. What a lovely card♡
We usually use postcards as greeting cards, you can buy one at post offices or even convenience stores.
Make it colorful!
We send it to our family and friends.
Guess, how many cards I wrote this year?
Hehehe, One hundred!
Yeah, I totally spent my days writing cards,,, hoo.
Are you saying, Why don’t you use copy machine??
Never.

② えと 干支 The eto are zodiacal animals that form a 12-year cycle. They are from Chinese calendar.

The rabbit is called うさぎ in Japanese.

The symbol for 2023 is Rabbit!

Do you know what animals we have in Chinese calendar?
Name them and comment, please.

The most famous of Rabbit in Japan nowadays is・・・

You know,MA〇ZE〇sisters. Maybe writing ANIME characters in your card would be a good idea.

Anyway, do anyone know why those animals are symbols for the new year?

 

③ かがみもち It’s Japanese rice cake, a decoration for new year.

かがみもち(kagami-mochi)

WHAT is this?
It is funny we stick small-sized hand fan and orange on the top of MOCHI.
Seems god is coming, yeah we decollate it for new year and welcome good fortune. We NEED it!
You can’t believe these are traditionally handmade. I remember my grandmother was making it every winter.
But now, you can get full-customed new year decorations at stores
Do you have this kind of tradition in your country?

 

④ しめなわ Ornamaent

しめ縄飾り(Shimenawa-kazari)

Made with leaves, it’s a kind of Christmas ornament, but it’s so humble there are not so many colors on it. We decorate it outside houses. You will see them even on cars!!lol

Some people decorate it on cars. Why?

Because wishing their family members and them safe year!

 

⑤ おせち Osechi

A lot of food is packed in a multi-tiered box like a bento-bako and eaten with the family on New Year’s Day (January 1 to 3).

It is said that the reason for making osechi is to have mothers free from housework.

We wish you a year filled with peace, good health, and lots of happiness!

We would like to share our ideas with you. Let’s talk about cultural differences.

Comment and share our blogs, thank you!

 

We will update our blog, Face book, and Instagram soon.

↓↓Please click here for more information and new update!↓↓

https://www.nilsjapan.com/programs/

 

Presentation

We had a study presentation in the beginner class!

The theme of the presentation was “My News for 2021,” and each student who entered the school last October gave a presentation entirely in Japanese.
Although they have only been in Japan for about 7 months, they were able to give their presentations without looking at the script, using kanji characters, and we could see the results of their study. They smiled a lot during their presentations, which made us feel very happy to listen to them.

The teacher also pointed out some of their weak points such as accent and pronunciation, and I think the students had a fulfilling day.
I am really looking forward to their next presentation!?

The Star Festival ②

NILS full-time program held the star festival called Tanabata.
Students had a good time in experiencing Japanese culture.
Here are students’ comments.

“Tanabata felt like a festival of loved persons. We are so far from our parents, friends but the emotions are always connected and the hope that we will surely meet with them one day. That’s what Tanabata is all about. “Never losing hope to meet your loved ones.”

“Tanabata described the bond between humans, which is decreasing day by day in this hectic modern world. Though we are very busy in earning our bread and butter, we must remember we do have a family and must spend time with them.”

“Very interesting. Thanks to the school and the teachers for creating this extra-curricular session. I hope my wish will come true.
Sincere thanks to all the teachers and schools for the interesting and useful extracurricular activities for students, learning Japanese culture as well as learning new and unique cultures of students. new country. On behalf of all C3 students, I would like to thank the teachers and the school once again.”

 

“Living on the other side of the world can make you feel disconnected from your usual comforts. It is important to remember where you came from, but to also look ahead. Tanabata is a reminder to me, that no matter how far you go, a new home always awaits. Just like the world, it doesn’t matter which branch you chose to leave your wish on, you will always be surrounded by others. We are forever bound on our journey to find desire fulfilled.”

The Star Festival ①

NILS had a tanabata festival!
Students enjoyed making various wishes – ” May pass N1!” “May improve my Japanese skills!” “May my family be happy!” We hope students’ dreams will come true.

Also students made origami paper crane. Though it was a bit tough…, teachers helped and students managed to make it.

 

Here is students’ impression of this event.

We learned about Tanabata(七夕), the day that commemorates the meeting between Princess Orihime, a weaver, and her husband Hikoboshi, a cow herder. Also known as the Star Festival, it is derived from Chinese mythology and first appeared in Japan during the ancient Nara period(710-794). Legend has it that Orihime and Hikoboshi were exiled the opposite ends of the galaxy by Orihime’s father for neglecting their duties. He allowed them to meet only once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year.

We celebrated this day by folding star origami and writing our wishes on tanzaku(短冊) and hanging them on bamboo.

Tanabata Festival is in Hong Kong, but it’s just a love story. I think the story itself is the same in both the Japanese and Hong Kong ones. But we don’t write strips of paper or fold paper cranes in Hong Kong. So this Tanabata event was very interesting and a new experience for me. The name of the main character in the Tanabata story is different from Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, Hikoboshi(彦星) is called Ushirō(牛郎), and Orihime(織姫) is called Orime(織女). There are other cultures that are similar and I hope to find them. When I go to university, I would like to study Asian culture with the theme of Tanabata.

graduation trip

NILS had a graduation trip for Dazaifu tenmangu shrine.
Students learned the history of Japan’s cultural and interactions with Asia and Europe, and also they felt the olden Japanese culture there. May their future be full of success and happiness!!

七夕~Tanabata Festival

7/7は七夕です!NILSでも学生みんなで短冊にお願いごとを書いて、笹に飾りつけを行いました。

N1に合格しますように!日本語が上達しますように!家族が幸せに生活できますように!など色々なお願いがありました。

折り紙でツルを作りましたが、これがなかなか大変だったようで・・・先生に聞きながら何とか完成させました!

NILS had a tanabata festival! Students enjoyed making various wishes – ” May pass N1!” “May improve my Japanese skills!” “May my family be happy!” We hope students’ dreams will come true.

Also students made origami paper crane. Though it was a bit tough…, teachers helped and students managed to make it.

Here is a student’s comment :
“Today we learned about Tanabata and made origami! Had lots of fun and would recommend this experience to anyone looking for a good time!”

  

  

 

学業祈願(Praying for study success)

今月の初め、卒業生は、「大宰府天満宮」という神社に行き、学業のお祈りをしました。 ここは、学業の神様の神社として日本で有名です。 特に12月~2月は、日本では受験シーズンなので、受験する日本の学生がたくさん祈願をしに来ます。 NILSの学生も卒業後は、ほとんど日本の学校へ進学するので、一緒にお参りをします。

Our graduating students visited a shrine called, “Dazaifu-Tenmangu”, which is well-known as a place in where a god of study is, and prayed for their study success in the future. Not only our students, but also many Japanese students who would take the test for next school come here to get pass.

卒業式

3月5日、NILSは、卒業式を行いました。 日本の学校では、入学式・卒業式、共にとても厳粛な形式で行われます。 NILSも例外ではありません。 式の後は、会場を変え、卒業パーティを行い、卒業生・先生・来賓みんなで卒業をお祝いします。

We had a graduation day on 5th March. Most of Japanese schools have entrance and graduation ceremonies in quite formal way. So NILS is no exception. After the ceremony, we changed the venue. Graduated students, teachers, and some quests have a graduation party to finish the day!

DSC_2981

学習発表会

先日、学校主催の「学習発表会」を行いました。 これは、NILSで学んだ日本語を使い、クラスごとにテーマを決め、寸劇を入れながら発表するイベントです。

We had an event called “学習発表会(Gakushu hapyo kai)”. This is a presentation to our teachers and students in order to show the current issues by using Japanese which they have learned so far.

Speech Contest

こんにちは!先月末、NILSではスピーチコンテストを行いました。学生たちは、自分の国や家族のこと、日本に来て感じたことなど、さまざまなトピックでスピーチを行いました。スピーチは、内容だけでなく、正しい文法が使われているか、正しい発音で話ができているか、などを採点。
今年の優勝はサビーナ・スレスタさんでした。

Hello! We had a speech contest at the end of last month at NILS. Students made speech on various topics about their countries and family memmbers, their experiences in Japan, etc. Teachers scored their speech with some criteria such as its content, grammars used in the speech, fluency, and so on.
This year’s winner was Sabina Shrestha from Nepal.

The following is her speech in Japanese.

日本に来たときの私を思い出すと今にも笑い出しそうになってしまいます。なぜかというと、今から考えると簡単にできることができなくて、悲しかったり、大変だったことがたくさんあったからです。
私にとって最も大変なことの一つは自転車でした。実は私は生まれて20歳になるまで自転車に乗ったことがなかったのです。でも自転車に乗れないと学校に通うのも大変だし、アルバイトも大変になるので、乗らないわけにはいけません。ですから、自転車に乗るのは怖かったですが、自分を励ましながら、自転車に乗る練習を始めましたが、最初はなかなか乗れませんでした。公園で何回も転んで、傷だらけ、砂だらけになりながら一生懸命練習を続けたことで、どんどん上手になりました。今はやっと簡単に自転車に乗ることができるようになりました。
それから次に大変だったことは日本語でした。日本語の勉強の難しさは皆さんも感じてると思います。私も今もまだまだ日本語が上手ではありませんが、1年前の日本語のレベルは今思い出すと本当に笑ってしまうぐらい下手でした。アルバイトの面接の時は曜日もわからなくてひどい面接になってしまいました。自分に対してがっかりしてしまいました。その時から私は自分のレベルを上げるため、一生懸命日本語を勉強し始めました。自分が頑張ればできないことはないと思っていました。
また、アルバイトでは初めの日に仕事の仕方を教えてもらったのに、アルバイト先の人の日本語がわからなくて困ったことは、私にとって本当に手強い(てごわい)問題でした。日本語だけでなく、緊張や不安だったり、いろいろな気持ちが混(ま)ざって心がもやもやしていました。このアルバイトは私には向いていないと思うことがありましたが、アルバイト先の日本人が私に
「頑張ればきっとできますよ」
と言ってくれました。その言葉は私に大きな実(みの)りをもたらし、努力することができました。
今ではアルバイト先で「サビーナさん、これお願いね」と仕事を頼まれるまでになりました。
今の自分は1年前の自分と比べてみると、いろいろな違いがあります。自転車が乗れなかった私が今は自由に自転車が乗れます。さらに曜日もわからなかった私が皆さんの前でこのように日本語で話せるようになりました。本当に頑張れば何でもできると思います。1年前の私が頑張っていなければ、今の生活はできていないかもしれません。皆さんもできないことがいろいろあるかもしれませんが、あきらめないで頑張ってみてください。私はこの間の授業で勉強した「ちりもつもれば山となる」ということわざをみなさんに伝えたいです。小さいことから頑張っていけば、きっといい結果が出てきますよ。

It makes me smile when I think back my first day of Japan. Because there were many things i had to follow and it was also tough time for me.
The one of the most difficult things for me was a bicycle. I had never ride a bicycle till i came to Japan. I had to ride because of commute to the school and a part-time job after the school.
I was very scared of riding but i encouraged myself in practice.It was getting better day by day.
Another thing, of course it is Japanese language. I believe everyone feels the same.
I still have to learn more harder but my Japanese was so terrible when I began. When I had a job interview, it was terrible because I could not understand what I was asked. I was bummed out.
Since then, I studied very hard.
At the job, my colleague showed to how to work, what i should do but I could not understand their Japanese. Not only Japanese but also I was tensed and felt uneasiness.
But they always encouraged and helped me, said “You can do it , do your best”
Recently, they say “Sabina, would you do this?” I think I improved a lot and i am happy to be asked.
Compared to the previous year, I realize many difference. I can ride a bicycle. I understand in Japanese what I was asking. I can communicate with Japanese people. I am speaking Japanese in front of everyone now!
I tried to do my level best so that I could make it. Please you also do your level best.
[Small things add up to make a big difference.] This is what I learned recently in the class.
I hope you will also get good result like I’ve got.
Thank you.

LEARN JAPANESE IN NILS!

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