Mina-san, hello.

I am taking Japanese at a local school, and I was asked by the teacher to teach the rest of the class for 45 minutes on any topic (actually all the students have the same task). I am at a loss! The class has a wide range of skill levels, so I'm not sure what I can show the rest of the class that would be helpful to them.

Just to give you an idea, I am a very beginner, while another in my class is studying for the JLPT level 1. I've never been to Japan, while another student lived there for 2 years.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

I'm sorry, however I don't really understand your situation. Do you have to teach the class English, Japanese, (or your own language)?
Try and fill me in, and I'll do whatever I can to help.
_________________

Hi there,

It's a small class, we are learning to speak Japanese. The Instructor asked the students to teach the others something about the Japanese language. We have 45 minutes to teach the rest of the class, but, I'm having trouble figuring out what to teach.

The experience level varies in the class from beginner to advanced.

Any help would be appreciated.

Dave

desert-raven wrote:

Hi there, It's a small class, we are learning to speak Japanese. The Instructor asked the students to teach the others something about the Japanese language. We have 45 minutes to teach the rest of the class, but, I'm having trouble figuring out what to teach. The experience level varies in the class from beginner to advanced.

How about doing something about particles, "wa, ga, no, ni" etc. Geez, you could spend 45 WEEKS on when to use "wa" or "ga" and everybody would still be just as confused as they were at the beginning.

Are you paying that dude to make you teach the others?

I mean, teaching others something definitely helps you understanding it better yourself too, but still, as you described the wide range of level in class, it doesnt make that much sense making a lower level student "explaining" advanced students anything. (I know but there could be that one case where the beginner understands something the advanced students doesnt bla bla bla...)

You haven't been to Japan, but maybe you know anyone Japanese on MSN, ICQ, whatever, or anyone living close by? Ask them for "natural Japanese", stuff people here really use in their daily life, something you dont learn at school from your teacher.

e.g.:

�`�F�L��
Origin: Sounds like "check it out"
Meaning: Check it out
Example: ���̃o���h�͍ō��I����`�F�L���I (Kono bando wa saikou! Zehi chekira) - This band is amazing. Be sure to check them out. (got this example from a free magazine called Metropolis here)

It might be hard to fill a full 45 min lesson with this kinda stuff, but will definitely be interesting as a part of your presentation. Maybe work together with someone, act out some scenes etc.

Print out some tables for everyone to tak home, I bet people will thank you.