Ashida Mana-ちゃん is the sweetest, cutest 8-year old girl. She has starred in TV shows, movies, and music videos in Japan. Little girls love her, including my daughter. Learning the lyrics to her songs might be one way to build Japanese fluency :).
Here’s some of our favorite songs:
And of course, the most famous “Maru Maru Mori Mori” song (click to view). Do your kids listen to any Japanese singers? Who do you recommend?
We were inspired by a segment of Pitagora Switch/ピタゴラスイッチ (Japanese children’s TV show) called “こんなことできません” (translation: “You can’t do this”). Basically, you think of something that humans normally wouldn’t be able to do, and use stop-motion video to make the impossible happen! Our camerawork isn’t great but my 5-year old daughter and I had fun making it. You can see other examples on the show’s website. If you make your own video, please share with us!
Here are some videos made by other YouTube users:
Did anyone else grow up watching/reaching Chibi Maruko Chan(ちびまる子ちゃん)? Not only is this popular cartoon series fun to read, but great for learning Japanese words and learning about Japanese culture. (Click HERE to see the original cartoon series by Sakura Momoko on Amazon)
I recently discovered a new series of educational cartoon books called “満点ゲットシリーズ (Get a Perfect Score Series) featuring Chibi Maruko-chan, and I am in love with them!!! They are meant for elementary-aged and older students, and PERFECT for an adult like me who wants a good review/brush up on their Japanese. If you happen upon these books, I highly recommend them! Click HERE to see all the books in this series.
There are books for learning kanji, keigo (polite Japanese), Japanese idioms, haiku, etc. There’s even books for learning math and social studies too. I want to read them all!
There are several copies available on Amazon.com and Ebay, and one book in the series at JBox.com. Let me know if you find them anywhere else! My daughter’s Japanese School has most of these books so I’ve been borrowing one every few weeks to read.
This morning we spent our TV time watching a Japanese show called “シャキーン！(Shakiin)” via YouTube. It is a 7am show designed for elementary-aged children to help wake their brains up in the morning. It has been entertaining and educational for me as well. Here’s the description of the show by NHK:
子どもたちを “シャキーン！”と目覚めさせて、楽しい一日のスタートを切ってもらう知的エンターテインメント番組。「いつもとは違うモノの見方」や「柔軟な発想力」が 楽しみながら身につきます。舞台は、雲の上まで突き出した木の上にある謎の秘密基地。愉快な仲間、ジュモクさん、あゆちゃん、ナオト、ネコッパチが、学校で友だちと話題にしたくなるようなトピックを次々と紹介します。クイズにアニメにエクササイズ、即興ゲームや思わず考えさせられてしまう歌など、子どもたちの五感や記憶力・観察力・表現力を育むコンテンツが盛りだくさん。朝から「ハッ！」としたり、「へえ」とうなるバラエティに富んだコーナーで、「体の目覚め」と「心の目覚め」を促します。
(Can’t read Japanese? Try using Google Translate)
You can watch a few Shakiin episodes below:
Have you heard? NHK just announced a new children’s show called おとうさんといっしょ/”Otousan to Issho”. It is scheduled to begin airing in April.
I am so excited to see what the show will be like!
Here’s what the NHK website says about it:
3～6歳の子どもとその家族向け「いっしょパワー全開！」の総合幼児番組。「一緒」と「遊び」を2つの柱に、おはなしや、親子あそび、うた等で構成する、愉快な音楽と笑いで彩られた30分間。一緒に遊んで、みんなで笑っちゃおう！
I sure wish we had cable+TV Japan so we can watch it right away. If I find any episodes on YouTube or elsewhere, I”ll be sure to share with you on this blog. If you are not familiar with the original children’s show, おかあさんといっしょ/Okaasan to issho, check out this post.
Here are some more Nontan videos for your little ones!! We all love げんきげんきノンタン at our house :)
Have you all heard of Dino Lingo (dinolingo.com)? I had seen it online and was curious about how effective the program is at teaching children Japanese, so I was thrilled when Dino Lingo contacted me and sent a free Japanese set to try out and review.
Here’s a brief description of the Dino Lingo program from their website:
My package arrived quickly and looked like this:
I received a set of 5 Japanese language learning DVD’s, plus some flashcards. Here’s what each DVD covers:
There are flashcards for numbers, colors, animals, body parts, etc. There are even more Japanese-learning products to choose from online such as workbooks and posters. My daughter, who knows most of her hiragana, got right to work reading all the words on the flashcards.
Of course, my children wanted to watch the DVD’s right away. My son was excited about all the dinosaurs and vehicles used in the show. They liked the first DVD enough to where we watched it twice in a row. I noticed my 2-year old son saying the Japanese words out loud the second time… so repetition works!
Here are some things I liked about the DVD’s:
- Lots of repetition which is great for younger learners
- I can tell a native Japanese speaker is saying the words
- Kept the kids’ attention
Some areas I thought could be improved upon were:
- The graphics/animations are not up to par with other children’s shows (don’t expect Disney quality)
- I thought there were some wasted minutes between segments with unrelated animations
Here’s a sample video of what the shows are like:
Overall, I am thankful to Dino Lingo for creating this program for teaching children basic Japanese. There really isn’t a lot of resources out there for teaching kids Japanese right now! This set is a great option for a family who wants to expose their children to other languages at a young age (Dino Lingo offers DVDs in MANY languages other than Japanese too). It might be wonderful for a family planning to host a student visiting from Japan, or a bilingual family who wants to expose their children to as much Japanese as possible. I think these DVD’s would also be great to show at a bilingual/immersion language school.
Simply watching these DVDs will not make your child fluent in Japanese (there’s not much conversation in the videos). It is more for building vocabulary. It may not be the best option for families where the parents are native Japanese speakers (that would be like showing Dora the Explorer to a native Spanish-speaking family).
If you are interested in Dino Lingo, there is a Halloween special going on right now! Enter the code TREAT10 at checkout to receive 10% off your oder :) This deal expires on November 1st.
ありがとう、Dino Lingo!
I love stumbling across awesome new (to me) Japanese videos!! This morning I came across the “コんガらガっち/kongaragacchi” series (from Pitagora Switch/ピタゴラスイッチ… I think… correct me if I’m wrong). The segment takes 12 different animals, and makes a variety of other combination-animals with them. Hard to explain, you’ll just have to watch! (Click HERE to see all the different animals).
Are your creative juices flowing? You could draw your own animals and make your own combinations with your kids. A great way to learn the names of animals in Japanese!
“Dog Loves Books”, by Louise Yates
Over a year ago, I wrote up a post about “How to Get Japanese Children’s Books.” It has been one of my most popular posts, so there must be many of you out there searching for books for your children! A year ago, it was very difficult to find Japanese books online. I am here to tell you that it is now easier!
I have been browsing eBay recently and have been pleasantly surprised to find that there are now many more people selling Japanese children’s books, DVDs, other educational materials, and toys… and at pretty decent prices. Here are some of my favorite finds today (hurry and snatch them up if you are interested! Dear Sellers, You are welcome.):
1. Nontan DVD, $20
2. Electronic book that plays 6 Japanese children’s songs, $16.99
3. Hiragana magnets set, $11.99
4. Katakana magnets, $10.99 (I am really tempted to get these!)
5. Hantai Kotoba Cards/Game, $12.99 (I really want these too)
6. Set of 2 “Kaiketsu Zorori” books, $9.99 (elementary-aged kids love this series!)
I thought the seller that had the best and most products was kat14kw. This person is shipping from Japan, but the shipping charges are decent, I think. She is selling a lot of hiragana charts, for those of you who are still looking.
To search on your own, just go to eBay.com and search for “Japanese Children’s Books”, “Japanese Children’s DVD’s”, “Kodomo Challenge”, “Anpanman”, “Hiragana Charts”, or whatever it is you are looking for, and you’ll probably find stuff. I should probably go through the stuff I don’t need anymore and sell them on eBay too!
Amazon.com (the American version) still lacks a great selection, and the books are very expensive. One of my readers, Louise, emailed me to let me know that a book she has written called “Dog Loves Books” is now available in Japanese. It looks adorable! Good job Louise!
Joechip.net has written a good post about other online retailers that sell Japanese Children’s Books.
If you and your children enjoy Japanese children’s magazines like ベビーブック and たのしい幼稚園, you can order an issue or subscribe for 6months~year at shop.mitsuwa.com. They also have subscriptions to “Kodomo no Tomo“, a company that sends you children’s books each month. I have a local friend who does this for her daughter and they really enjoy receiving new books each month.
Don’t forget about Benesse’s Kodomo Challenge program too (with Shimajiro). Read my post about it HERE.
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Whew! Did that help anyone out there? Have you made any cool discoveries lately? Where do you buy your Japanese books?
P.S. I am not getting paid by anyone to advertise their stores or products!
