Me, teaching Japanese?!

[Tomii515]

Well...

As the title states, I started "teaching" Japanese.

WAIT!

I know what your thinking. "Your not fluent, so you shouldn't teach." or "You're not a Japanese native" or blah blah blah...

Well, I know that! But, to help myself study in a different way, I started teaching ^_^

I actually made my first episode of my lessons. Oh. And If didnt metion, these videos are on youtube.

The first episode teach basic phrases you'll need to know and 10 hiragana.

There are four parts to the 1st episode.

Ummm, I know I'm not the BEST Japanese speaker, but I'm OK... I hope :0

Well, I'll post the 4 parts to the first episode.

I wanted to know if I did a good job (with the exception of the one mistake,I think, I made) with making the first lesson.

If there are any mistakes I noticed or asked someone about int he video, youfind the correction in the description.

Honestly, I wanted to know what people thought of my teaching methods, or if I should teach some Japanese, FOR FUN! This is for fun and for people who would like to learn in a "fun" way...

Basically, in my videos, I explain what I'm going to teach, teach it the "boring" way, doa skit to use it in a "real" situation, and then teach 10 hiragana, or, if it gets to this point, 10 katakana or 5 kanji

Well, be honest :relief:

Oh! Before I post the links, the name of the "school" is tomii-kun no Nihongo no Gakkou... Heh. Funt o say :-D

---

Episode 1:

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WZJTSpyE5aU - Me and Vicki explaining what my teaching-ness will be about.

Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RMmSEYQK6AU&mode=related&search= - Me and Vicki teaching the basic phrases you schol know. (Sorry it's soo long T_T)

Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tRB30jhHiQc&mode=related&search= - The skit! The sentences to knwo in the beginning, I'm pretty sure one is wrong T___T I think I metioned what was wrong in the description.

Part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xSGdx3GmOU8&mode=related&search= - I'm teaching Hiragana あ　い　う　え　お　か　き　く　け　こ

----


Sooo, tell me what you think! :relief::p:souka:

-Tommy

p.s. This is a bit embarrising knowing how much of you speak Japanese fluently so.. hehe :relief:

[northsider1983]

I give a very big A for effort! It's not easy going in front of a camera and a whole forum and trying this out. So congrats to you.

Honestly it's better than I thought it would be. I like that you add the text to go along with it. One thing is that sometimes it's hard to hear you two speak, and that the music in the background may have something to do with that. The music is also a bit distracting as well. But I look forward to going through these! Thank you very much for posting them!

[Dutch Baka]

Looks pretty nice, but I would advice; Use more light because it's kind of dark in the room, use a smile... you guys look like the neighbors mouse died... and look in the camera instead of playing with your hair ;)

For the rest my compliments on doing this, and I don't see anything wrong with someone teaching a language even though he is not 100% fluent yet... as long as the teacher is not going to teach things about stuff that he isn't is to high for his level.

nice job!

[Bucko]

Hehe, nice one. One of the best ways to reenforce what you've learnt is to go and teach others.

[nice gaijin]

I can't watch the videos right now, but my only advice for the moment is that you make it explicitly clear that you are learning the language yourself, and that this is more an exercise to test your own knowledge of the language.

Like they say, to teach is to learn twice.

[northsider1983]

use a smile... you guys look like the neighbors mouse died... and look in the camera instead of playing with your hair ;)


HEhe, that too. Good job though.
:-)

[Elizabeth]

I can't watch the videos right now, but my only advice for the moment is that you make it explicitly clear that you are learning the language yourself, and that this is more an exercise to test your own knowledge of the language.
I haven't yet either but completely agree. Although it's a great forum for trying out your skills, you still may not completely know what you do and do not know...if that makes any sense ?? :p

It's a common falacy of nonnative conversation teachers, in fact. What they are saying sounds perfectly reasonable to them based on what the grammar should be or what they think they've heard....but it still comes out wrong. And is then picked up on by anyone listening even if it likely was not the main point of their 'lesson.'

So just make that disclaimer *probably obvious anyhow* and I'm really looking forward to watching when I get a good connection ! :cool:

[Tomii515]

Oh wow @_@ I was expecting negative results hehe

Thanks for the compliments and the ideas ^_^

I'll make sure to take them into consideration :-D

-Tommy

[FrustratedDave]

I can't watch the videos right now, but my only advice for the moment is that you make it explicitly clear that you are learning the language yourself, and that this is more an exercise to test your own knowledge of the language.

Like they say, to teach is to learn twice.

I fully agree with this statement. :cool:

[Tomii515]

I did, didn't I? I said I've been learning for over a year I this will help me pratice in the first video... right?

[Homerduff]

Yes he did in his first video..

I watched a small part of your first real vid and I like it man. I will definetly look to all of them when I have some more time (in the middle of exams right now, I actually shouldn't be online..).

[Tomii515]

Yes he did in his first video..
I watched a small part of your first real vid and I like it man. I will definetly look to all of them when I have some more time (in the middle of exams right now, I actually shouldn't be online..).

Ahh I knew I did ^_^ AQhh alright :-) :cool:

[Oreo55]

Thank you very much for making these! I'm extremely new to Japanese and haven't become familiar to essential phrases and greetings yet, so these are very helpful for me. I'm going to rewatch your videos a couple of times so I memorize all the phrases, but the videos have been easy to understand so far. Keep up the good work! :cool:

[nice gaijin]

watched the first couple videos, a few things I noticed:

It's good that you started with 挨拶/あいさつ/greetings, but はじめまして is something you would only say the first time you meet someone. よろしくお願いします is also something that wouldn't find its way into a daily greeting. You need to make this distinction.

気をつけるな is a negative command form, and is not the same thing as 気をつけて, which equates to "be careful."

It would be good to think out the flow of the video, so you have categories of words and phrases that you teach (greetings and jiko shoukai is a good example, more of that). Also, it'll help prevent you from casually throwing out huge grammar points (like making sentences with か).

Don't teach the casual stuff yet, concentrate on polite expressions. polite is safe.

clean your room, and do something with your hair (other than playing with it the whole lesson)

sorry, that's all I could remember. I just had it in the background while I was working on something else. In all, it's better than i might've expected. Try to pick very specific things to teach, and limit yourself to 5 minutes or less per "part."

[Tomii515]

watched the first couple videos, a few things I noticed:

It's good that you started with 挨拶/あいさつ/greetings, but はじめまして is something you would only say the first time you meet someone. よろしくお願いします is also something that wouldn't find its way into a daily greeting. You need to make this distinction.

気をつけるな is a negative command form, and is not the same thing as 気をつけて, which equates to "be careful."

It would be good to think out the flow of the video, so you have categories of words and phrases that you teach (greetings and jiko shoukai is a good example, more of that). Also, it'll help prevent you from casually throwing out huge grammar points (like making sentences with か).

Don't teach the casual stuff yet, concentrate on polite expressions. polite is safe.

clean your room, and do something with your hair (other than playing with it the whole lesson)

sorry, that's all I could remember. I just had it in the background while I was working on something else. In all, it's better than i might've expected. Try to pick very specific things to teach, and limit yourself to 5 minutes or less per "part."

Thank you.. I think. When I read this I was offended and it sounded very rude to me... Don't ask why, it just did.:souka::okashii:

Also,I'm not just oming up with random things, I'm following (sort of) my textbook-thingy... The next thing in the textbook thing after gretting is numbers, and i didnt want to add extra extra info, but in the greetings thingy , there is what to say in a store... soo, that will be in the next video

[northsider1983]

Thank you.. I think. When I read this I was offended and it sounded very rude to me... Don't ask why, it just did.
Dont be offended, he's just offering constructive criticism. But in the end, it's your video and your lessons, so do as you wish.

[Elizabeth]

Dont be offended, he's just offering constructive criticism. But in the end, it's your video and your lessons, so do as you wish.
Yeah, but whatever you say don't tell us to 気をつけるな which translates to the very strong command form "Don't be careful!" :relief:


Most texts are bare bones in terms of completeness and explanation, sometimes downright innaccurate/outdated/unnatural etc, just like the net or this site or anything else that has been edited for space and a certain audience. It isn't a plug, but always best to search and then vet whatever you plan to teach here first, desuyone ! :relief:

[Petenshber]

Tomii, i haven't watched your lessons yet but i look forward to seeing what you teach.

Elizabeth, i agree with the way you explained how things can be inaccurate, i am rather new to learning Japanese and have noticed details that seem to conflict or are simply lacking, i'm glad i read this because i read that "be careful" is "気をつける".

This is actually the main reason i come to this forum, to communicate with people who actually speak and use the language, rather than rely completely on lessons (since i know no such people in my area). So thanks to this thread i've learned a few more details.

[FrustratedDave]

気をつけるな is just wrong, who says don't becarefull, especially in Japanese.

[Elizabeth]

watched the first couple videos, a few things I noticed:

It's good that you started with 挨拶/あいさつ/greetings, but はじめまして is something you would only say the first time you meet someone. よろしくお願いします is also something that wouldn't find its way into a daily greeting. You need to make this distinction.
I didn't think it was half bad, either as personal practice. Just a few constructive comments...:relief:

You don't normally hear "Genki desuka?" after "Good morning/afternoon/evening" or when introducing yourself. It's more like a greeting used on the phone or in letters.

Also don't discourage anyone from using "iie" instead of "douitashimaste" -- that is extremely common among friends -- or necessarily even mention "sayounara" since it is virtually never used in normal conversation. "Jaa ne, mata" alone is strange. "Mata shita aimashou" should be Mata ashita aimashou.

"Gomen nasai kedo" is also wrong but something don't think was ever corrected...

気をつけるな is a negative command form, and is not the same thing as 気をつけて, which equates to "be careful."

I just realized watching the first time from the graphics it was intended to be 気をつけろな although I agree the pronounciation was る. :-) By the way, do these manga examples have a speaker ? It's sort of between strong and casual but the ろ　form + な is very "otokokotoba" (boy's words). 　

[Tomii515]

I didn't think it was half bad, either as personal practice. Just a few constructive comments...:relief:
You don't normally hear "Genki desuka?" after "Good morning/afternoon/evening" or when introducing yourself. It's more like a greeting used on the phone or in letters.
Also don't discourage anyone from using "iie" instead of "douitashimaste" or necessarily even mention "sayounara" since it is virtually never used in normal conversation. "Jaa ne, mata" alone is strange. "Mata shita aimashou" (should be ashita?)
"Gomen nasai kedo" is also wrong but something don't think was ever corrected...
I just realized watching the first time from the graphics it was intended to be 気をつけろな although I agree the pronounciation was る. :-) Still sounds strange to me to have the command form with a な but there may be times it is appropriate.

Well thanks :relief: I'm just following basically was my book says o_o And, the example my book gives for "be careful" 気をつけろな、Ｉ　ｄｏｎ’ｔ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｉｔ　ｓ ａｙｓ　る・・・

Anyways... It gives an exmaple and it says "ki o tsukero na" (ands i juts looked in the book, and yes it's "ro", not "ru") and it says:(not exact words):

its something like "take care of your spirit". it is acutally use to say goodbye to someone, asking them to take care. so, a more exact translation would be "tkae care". however, this phrase is not used in contemporary colloquial language. the most usual expression, the onr you shoud use, is "ki o tsukete"



yeah... lol

p.s. are you talking about the "gomen nasai kedo" in the horrible acting scence ;-P? well if you are, then obviosly you didn't read the discription right of the video :blush:

[Elizabeth]

Well thanks :relief: I'm just following basically was my book says o_o And, the example my book gives for "be careful" 気をつけろな、Ｉ　ｄｏｎ’ｔ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｉｔ　ｓａｙｓ　る・・・
Anyways... It gives an exmaple and it says "ki o tsukero na" (ands i juts looked in the book, and yes it's "ro", not "ru") and it says:(not exact words):
its something like "take care of your spirit". it is acutally use to say goodbye to someone, asking them to take care. so, a more exact translation would be "tkae care". however, this phrase is not used in contemporary colloquial language. the most usual expression, the onr you shoud use, is "ki o tsukete"
Actually if you're going to use "ki wo tsukero" (more masculine and casual sounding than tsukete) it should be "ki wo tsukero yo" in my opinion and not "na." "Na" is like "ne" only more for men. Yo emphasizes a command and is more general (anyone can use). At least that I have heard so I'm assuming it's also more normal...:relief:

What text thingy was this from again ?? :P

[Tomii515]

the book "Japanese in Mangaland"

I think it's a really good book, besides the lack of "real life" dialogs... Instead, it has manga examples

[Tomii515]

Also, what is your opinion Elizabeth, i was thinking, since there were so many "problems" with my videos, why i dont i make new ones [for the 3rd time >_>] and use this thread, to post what im gunna teach, to make sure it's all acurate? I thought that first, but since im basically almost taking everything from a book, i didnt think i would have to... or just come here for the rest of my videos... i really dont wanna make the 1st one again, but if i should, i will =D

[Elizabeth]

Also, what is your opinion Elizabeth, i was thinking, since there were so many "problems" with my videos, why i dont i make new ones [for the 3rd time >_>] and use this thread, to post what im gunna teach, to make sure it's all acurate? I thought that first, but since im basically almost taking everything from a book, i didnt think i would have to... or just come here for the rest of my videos... i really dont wanna make the 1st one again, but if i should, i will =D
I haven't watched the first one yet but as for taking things here first もちろん、いいよ！がんばれ！　良い説明がない日本語の教科書なんて何の役に立つのかしら。。 。(I wonder what the use is of a Japanese text without good explanations....)


At least we'll see if we are smarter, eh ??? :D

[Tomii515]

Er.... Would that be a yes or no?

[Charles Barkley]

Er.... Would that be a yes or no?


もちろん、いいですよ！

There's your response. My advice if you decide to keep making these and asking for advice here--learn to take criticism. You seemed to take what was posted a little personally earlier, but if what you really want to do by posting this videos is improve your skills, the more criticism you get, the better.

[Elizabeth]

p.s. are you talking about the "gomen nasai kedo" in the horrible acting scence ;-P? well if you are, then obviosly you didn't read the discription right of the video :blush:
I just did but obviously not good enough cause I still didn't see the correction. :blush: Anyway, no matter, I'm not doing it again and the other stuff was all pretty normal. You weren't teaching anything anyway so there was nothing to really redo, or even re-edit, in my opinion. :cool:

So soldiering onwards and upwards....but to where I'm not sure, have you decided the topic yet for #5 ?