Mini-Project 3

This is the link to the Mini-Project 3 video.

This is the Mini-Project 3 Japanese-English script.

Here is the Mini-Project 3 purpose statement (also available on Google Docs here).

This is a video detailing my dream life. I talk my students through my perfect day from waking up to going to bed. After each event in which I describe an activity I engage in, I ask the same question to the students. The target language generally consists of yes-no and wh-questions:

What time do you wake up?
Do you have a pet? What’s its name?
What’s your favorite television show?
Do you play a musical instrument?
What kind of music do you like?

This video is presented entirely in Japanese with Japanese subtitles. No jargon or slang is used. It is designed primarily for low intermediate students who are familiar with the traditional phonetic Japanese scripts as well as some basic kanji (pictographs).

There are several possible activities that could be done in conjunction with this video:

1. Students could watch the entire video and be asked comprehension questions either after each scene or at the end. (skills practiced: speaking and listening, and/or listening and writing)

2. Students could ask each other the questions posed in the video as they are presented. I model how to answer these questions prior to asking them. Students could also ask as many questions as they can remember after watching the entire video. (skills practiced: speaking and listening)

3. More advanced students could watch the video with the sound muted. Only the subtitles will be visible. These students could then be tasked with quickly and accurately reading the subtitles before they change. (skills practiced: reading and speaking)

4. Cloze-type exercises could be given in which students must say or fill in the missing word from the subtitles. This would require the instructor to have the subtitles printed out with the appropriate gaps. (skills practiced: listening, reading and speaking)

5. More advanced students could develop a set of follow-up questions to ask each other based on my original questions. Or they could find a partner who is imitating “me” and ask their follow-up questions to "me." (skills practiced: speaking and listening)

6. Students could engage in speculative language about the feasibility of such a life or what my job could be, for example. (skills practiced: speaking and listening)