Review of the Year 2010

Happy New Year!

This is our first new year together, treasured reader. Thank you for your visit, we hope you found what you were looking for. If not, why not email us what you need and we'll see what we can do.

Anyway, thanks go to the almost 20,000 hits we've had in the last few months; we've been much more successful than we expected.

But chances are you've missed some of our wonderful posts, so here's a list of some of the greats that may have slipped beneath your otherwise highly efficient radar.

• About the cold winter we're in:

Why are Japanese houses SO COLD?
How to insulate your Japanese house for the winter

• Daily life

How much will I get paid teaching English?
The cost of living/utilities in Japan
Finding an ESL job in Japan
Our "Job Spotlight" employment series

• School stuff

5 random school lunches from Japan
The 5 most annoying pages in the New Crown textbooks
"Wot dis? Dis pen!" Appaling Japanese English set to change?
 Elementary school - The Hello Song vs "Anything OK"

• Popular posts:

How to find and make a Japanese penpal
Our "Budget Accommodation" series
Using an Amazon Kindle to study Japanese
Soaplands - the Japanese brothel
Robots in my toilet
Driving schools in Japan

• Fun things:

The Japanese obsession with ear cleaning - mimikaki and mimisouji
The top 10 dirty Japanese phrases




And don't forget to check out our guides page for all the important information about living and working in Japan we've posted this year.

December also saw the unveiling of our new "Photo Tuesday" series, where we post interesting or nice pictures relevant to recent posts. If you have any images you think we should up, let us know through our Facebook page.

3 Appalling Stories from New Crown

After getting so angry about the five worst pages in New Crown last month, and then later the 4 most annoying characters I thought I had let off just enough steam to get on with my life.

Unfortunately, when I next picked up New Crown 2 it flopped open to Pot of Poison and I realised my work was far from done. "You're bad," I thought, "I must punish you."

Without further ado, here are some terrible editorial decisions from the NC team.


3. Zorba's Three Promises

Sepúlveda, unimpressed

Based on a reportedly beautiful book by award-winning author (not to mention humanitarian superstar) Luis Sepúlveda, NC2 manages to capture absolutely none of the skillful writing and scene-setting which earned the original book sales of 2 million copies.

Simple stories are fine for learning English, so why not pick one? Why chose a novel famed for it's emotional content and reduce it down into 4 half-pages of vacuous rubbish? Why would you do that?

Perhaps my next project will be re-writing Philadelphia in 4 words:

Guy gets AIDS. Dies.

How's that? Or how about Inception:

Guy dreams. Wakes up?

In this story, an oil-covered Gull splats into the ground next to a cat (Zorba). The cat doesn't like the taste of oil, and is just lazy enough to listen to the gull's life story. Turns out she's dying, but has an egg up her arse which must continue her family legacy of stealing food from infants and picking at the carcasses of pigeons. After making the cat promise not to eat the egg, she dies and farts it out. The cat looks after it, defends it from rats etc and it's all very lovely and darling.

My biggest beef with NC's terrible retelling is it's daringly touching acceptance of individuality. "Cats do cat things. Gulls do gull things." replies Zorba to Lucky (the baby bird)'s complaint that she can't spend all day sleeping, crapping in my flowerbed and pissing on my sofa. Oh how sweet, how educational. We're bringing our children up right! No more war! Free Tibet! Eating endangered species of whale is barbari...

Then the bird flies off leaving out feline hero to murmur "I love you" to the empty sky. What a heart-warming story... "Lucky" didn't even stick around to hear Zorba's last words! Lucky? More like Bastard, am I right?

It only affirms my view that seagulls are the rude-boy gangsters of the bird world. But what else can you expect from a foetus which fell out of the lifeless corpse of it's mother. Summary: It's like that manga Berserk, except with no massive sword and everyone's a dick except the black guy.


2. The Whale Rider

The award-winning film becomes a four-page epic in NC3. And boy, is it a good one.

Not content with just dumbing-down the story, NC decided to change the main character's name. Joseph Gordon-Levitt lookalike Paikea inexplicably becomes Kahu, and things relentlessly cartwheel downhill from there; eventually reaching the lofty heights of trying to teach 3rd year students grammar such as

"Come, Father. Come." (see pics).

How on Earth do you explain that?

The story itself isn't so bad, apart from giving women ideas above their station (right fellas??), and probably strikes a chord somewhere within Japanese society. But come on. Something a little more fun?



Whatever, I don't even care anymore. This crappy story full of crusty old goats and predictable Ocean Odyssesy morals can go to hell.


1. A Pot of Poison

NC2 decided to teach grammatical structures for "going away" and the ever important "full of" through the medium of a bad Three Stooges remake. Perhaps I should apply for a job. I'm full of ideas. How about a Chuckle Brothers remake for first graders? We can laugh at the frantic spazzy flailing of total morons while learning the immortal constructs of "to me" and "to you". Or perhaps we can use Roadrunner cartoons to illustrate "died from" and "killed by".

A Pot of Poison is awful. Our three anti-heroes are trusted with not touching their master's pot of poison whilst he's out of town. Down's-Syndrome inflicted An manages to knock it over during cleaning time and spill the poisonous contents, which total prick and ever-ready ADD opportunist Kan immediately shoves in his mouth because it resembles honey. It turns out it actually is honey, which is good news because Huey, Duey and Luey have eaten it all. Sly fox Kan then smashes the pot and smears blood on An's face to make it look like an accident (without the blood), while desperate drama-queen cave-painting Chin relentlessly freaks out like he's auditioning for Will and Grace.

Inevitably the master returns, and is understandably pissed off by the fact that he can't trust his disciples not to knowingly kill themselves if given 72 hours alone. All's well that ends well, however, when Kan deftly reports how they've punished themselves for breaking the pot by eating the poison! Kan, you joker! Of course, it turns out the only person dying today is Master when he realises what a terrible trainer he is and commits seppuku to an aging portrait of his grandfather.

The only good thing to come out of these three pages is the alteration my student made to page 42; which shows the three douches vomiting red and black gunk all over Master's wincing face.


That's all I can bring myself to write today.

Being an ALT #1: Teaching English in Japan

So you want to teach English in Japan?

Well, here's the start of a new series of posts giving you a sample of what to expect as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). Hopefully this information will help you decide if teaching here is for you, and answer any questions you may have.

You may also want to consult our "How much will I get paid teaching English" blog, and our "Living expenses guide".

Anyway: first off, here's an explanation of what an ALT actually is.


An ALT is different from an ELT (which will be covered at a later date). An ALT works in schools - elementary, juniour high or high school; while an ELT typically works at a private language school/cram school. They are both usually native English speakers.

The usual route into an ALT job is the JET programme, or a dispatch company such as Interac (more info on jobs and companies).

An ALT is supposed to act as support to a Japanese English Teacher (usually abbreviated to JET or JTE, but not to be confused with JET programme participants), while an ELT usually plans and executes classes alone by instruction from their employer.

Your job will range from full control of an entire lesson, without any help translating, to just standing around watching the JTE teach the class with no input of your own. In the next couple of weeks we'll look at exactly what you can expect in the classroom.

Each week we'll be looking at a difference aspect of ALT life. Next: a detailed look at your role in school.

More

If you're interested, the guy from My Darling is a Foreigner (Japanese movie featuring the titular dilemma) is in a recent "comedy" series about an ELT language school - check it out here (but don't expect the next Mork and Mindy).

Being an ALT series: 

Part #1: Teaching English in Japan 

Part #2: Your Role

Part #3: A Typical Day

Part #4: Planning Classes 

Part #5: Getting Drunk on Duty (the Enkai) 

Part #6: 4 Japanese Teachers You May Have to Work With

Part #7: Physical Resources

Part #8: Making Activities

Part #9: Hopping Between Schools

Part #10: More School Hopping

Part #11: Getting Molested At School

Part #12: It Is Really This Easy?

Part #13: Brushing Your Teeth At School

PT: Onsen

These two disturbing old ladies sit by the side of the road in Komagane, Nagano-prefecture.

They appear to be enacting an onsen scene, but without the hot water. Which reminds me: an onsen outside in the rain or snow is really, really nice. I recommend you try it if you can. The iconic Snow Monkeys (the Japanese Macaques who live next to and bathe in a natural hot spring) share the area with many outdoor onsen.

Check out our onsen blog for some more information about the experience.

Call in Gmail for Free Through 2011

This year, Google added an extension of their Google Voice VOIP calling feature to the Gmail interface. Simply by logging into your Gmail account and typing in a phone number, you can call friends and family anywhere in the world.



To promote the service, Gmail promised to keep calls to numbers in the U.S. and Canada free throughout 2010. For U.S. and Canadian citizens abroad, this was great news, as it meant that keeping in touch with your family and friends was free and as easy as keeping a browsing tab open to your Gmail account.

(If you've never used Gmail's calling features, you can get an overview of the service here. The service requires a one-time plugin installation for your browser.)

But, and here's the reason for a news update: Last week the official Gmail blog announced that calls to the U.S. and Canada will remain free throughout 2011. So, you can enjoy your free Gmail calls throughout the new year!


By the way, another great feature of the Gmail calling is its simplicity. Google stressed this point in one of their holiday gift ideas: A tech support care package for parents, including a step-by-step video guide of how to make calls in Gmail. If your family has trouble keeping up with new software, check these videos out and consider sending an e-mail through the www.teachparentstech.org home page.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that for calls outside of the U.S. and Canada, Gmail doesn't necessarily offer the best rates. If you plan to place calls to other countries, it's worth making rate comparisons between Gmail and it's more well-known competitor Skype. For example, calls to mobile phones in Japan appear to be a bit cheaper per minute through Skype. Here are the complete rate tables for Skype and the rate tables for Gmail.

Worksheet Sunday: Scramble Scrabble (all grades 12 years +)

Different versions of this game are floating around ELT/ALT circles, but this one is wholly original to this site, and arguably much easier for kids to understand. So there!

Everyone knows Scrabble, right? Well this is a combination of that and a word scramble. Hence the name.

It can last up to the whole lesson with some classes, or you may want to set a time limit and see who has the most points after that.

Here's how to set it up and play.

You will need:
(Click to download, but as always bear in mind that Google Doc's will mess with the formatting. Download and open in Word to display properly.):

1. Scrabble board
2. Scoreboard
3. Scrambled words (see below)

Prep

1. Poster-print or blow-up the Scrabble board to stick on the blackboard.
2. Prepare lists of scrambled words from the appropriate vocab list. I usually make about 40 cards for each group.
• Pick the vocab depending on how far through the year you are. I can't give you sets for every eventuality, so best to just use this blank template and scramble them up yourself. Just for your convenience, here are sets for the start of second grade and the start of third grade.

Execution

1. Make groups of four students,
2. Use the big board to explain to the class how scrabble works,
3. Hand out the packs of scrambled words (one each group),
4. Give each group a game board and score board,
5. Have them unscramble one word each, and then write it on the game board,
6. After writing their word, they must use the key on the scoreboard to add up their score,
7. Highest score at the end of the game wins.

Please let me know what you think in the comments.

Merry Christmas from AccessJ

Merry Christmas, and thank you for following our site. Especially for December posts, we've concentrated on adding quality information on topics frequently asked about by our audience. Please take some time to browse our recent posts about getting a driver's license and working in Japan, and enjoy the holiday season.

Learning Japanese: The Japanese "R" Sound

Last year, Tofugu made an awesome post about how to pronounce the Japanese "r" sound. If you haven't already checked this out, you should. This is the first time I've seen the sound "explained" in a comprehensible manner.

(For the record, my long-standing useless explanation to others was "it sounds more like a 'd' than an 'r'.")

Here's the video:

Using an Amazon Kindle 3 Part 3: Japanese eBooks and Manga

Well, last article I went into some depth as to why I loved the new Kindle and why you should definitely buy one (UK link). We talked about using it for studying Japanese and how great it was at that.

However, it was clearly designed for reading standard books, and even though it isn't directly for sale in Japan (although you can import it from Amazon) it does support Japanese script.

So here's everything you need to know about getting (free, and modern) Japanese books onto your Kindle for study, pleasure, or whatever you want. I've also included a section on reading manga with it, which is a revolutionary experience!

Japanese books

Like the English sites mentioned last article (Project Gutenburg and Google Books, etc), you can download out-of-copyright Japanese books from Aozora Bunko. To get these books onto your Kindle there is a purpose-made site over at http://a2k.aill.org/. It's all in Japanese, but very, very simple.

To convert and retain any furigana:

1. Copy the link to the ruby version of the file (the one with ruby in the name) from Aozora Bunko,
   There may not be one of these. Copying another of the available links will work fine, minus furigana.
2. Paste it into the box on a2k,
3. Click the PDF button and it will download,
4. Copy to Kindle. That's it.

Right click the ruby version (if there is one) and copy link location

Paste the link in this box on a2k and click PDF. Download

The three options below the box, as you can see, are the size. The bigger one is not recommended unless you use the big DX version of the Kindle. Stick with default unless you have problems.

New Japanese books

As the Kindle isn't sold in Japan, there doesn't seem to be a way to get modern Japanese fiction specifically for it. However, as the Kindle can read PDFs, anything in that format can be copied onto it (and most other format can be converted with mobipocket anyway). Therefore, if you buy a Japanese ebook or manga from a Japanese ebook site (Google is your friend), you shouldn't have a problem reading them on your Kindle (but do remember to check what format the site is selling you, and that you can convert it properly). The Japanese ebook market is huge compared to the rest of the world, so you shouldn't have the kind of availability problems you may have faced in English.

Reading Manga on a Kindle

This is totally possible. In fact, some has even been specifically released for it.

No more carrying around a stack of tankoban for you! And no more hiding the cover of "Pretty Sammy Magical Princess" on the subway! With the power of Kindle you can forget all that inconvenience and embarrassment! Yeah! People will be curious to see what your device is, though, so maybe watch where you read your questionable manga.

I think that the Kindle screen is perfectly big enough to read regular-sized manga, but with the newest model you can rotate the screen. So if while vertically the manga print/furigana is too small to read, horizontally you shouldn't have a problem. 

If you have a manga you want to convert to kindle format, here's my guide to do that. The software you need to use is pretty simple, and available here.

Hiroki Endo's "Eden"

Reading Japanese articles/web pages

Although you can use the inbuilt browser for this, an easier way (there is no Japanese text input on the Kindle) is to use Instapaper to save news links from your computer and email them to your Kindle.

Japanese-English Dictionary

Try as I might, I haven't been able to find a legal copy of anything like this for the Kindle. What I want is a dictionary which integrates itself into the Kindle like the English-English dictionaries which come pre-installed. I have come across an English-Japanese one, but not the other way around. If you know of one, let me know.

__________________________________________________

AccessJ.com's 3-part Kindle guide series

1. Using a Kindle to Study Japanese
2. Converting and Adding Manga to a Kindle
3. Reading Japanese Books and Manga on a Kindle

__________________________________________________


And as always, if you have anything to add please drop it in the comments.

PT: Cold

Here's our first Photo Tuesday.

It's cold in Japan.

If you want tips on how to keep your Japanese house warm, I have just the article for you.

Getting a Japanese License: Foreign License Conversion

If you used to drive in your home country, you may be eligible to "convert" your license into a Japanese driver's license using a process called 外国免許切替 (gaikoku menkyo kirikae), often abbreviated to 外免切替. There are a lot of good guides about this online, which we highly recommend you check out.

But in addition to linking these resources, we've compiled our own bullet points and special tips regarding the 外免切替 process. To start off, here are some common questions and answers about the 外免切替 process:

Eligibility

• First of all, you need a driver's license issued by another country to complete this process. If you don't already have a driver's license in some country, you have to get your license the same way Japanese people do.
• Second, you must have lived in the country that issued your driver's license for at least 90 full days since the license was issued. This is to prevent Japanese people from getting a foreign license while on vacation, then returning to Japan and converting it.
• If you have had your license for at least 90 days, but actually have very little driving experience, you are still eligible to convert it. However, without driving experience, you may find it hard to pass the Japanese driving test if you are required to take it.
• Japan accepts 外免切替 applications for licenses from most countries around the world. But, licenses written in Arabic or Russian, or licenses issued by some countries, including the Republic of Korea, Kingdom of Thailand, or Union of Myanmar may be required to submit extra supporting documentation during the process.

General FAQ

• Although this process is called "Foreign License Conversion" in Japanese, it doesn't require you to surrender the license issued in your home country. You won't lose your old license, and this process has nothing to do with your continued ability to drive at home.
• The 外免切替 process is handled by your regional driver's licensing authority. Be careful! This part is confusing at first. Check out a list of prefectural driving centers to find yours; it may be as much as three hours away from you by bus or train. But, licensing centers able to handle foreign license conversion are strictly regulated by the government. The JAF and your local police station can not convert your license!
• Yes, this process is necessary if you've lived in Japan more than one consecutive year.You can't indefinitely use an International Driving Permit in Japan.
• It might take you a while to get your license because of waiting lists or failed tests. So, don't wait until a few weeks before you'll need it. Start with at least two or three months in advance.
• Depending on the nationality of the license you're trying to convert, you may have to take a theory test and a driving test in Japan, or you may only have to take the theory test. The driving test is what most people are complaining about when they say it's tough to get a license in Japan.

Ready to go?

• If you've checked out the information on this page and are ready to go, check out the "Steps to Converting a Foreign License" post in our AccessJ Driving Guide.

Worksheet Sunday: What Time Is It? First Grade JHS (12-13yo)

Here's a simple activity for first grade JHS. You could use it with elementary too, but only with an advanced class which can read simple verbs - or you could edit the sheet to use pictures instead of text.

Estimated time: 20-25 minutes, but give a bit longer for under-motivated classes.

Those of you using New Crown will find this on page 64 - Chapter 6 Do It Talk 4.

The concept of this game is very simple, as is the execution:

1. First, download the character sheets, and draw hands on the clocks to make times (click here to download, but as always beware of Google Docs' preview - it will look fine when you download and open in Word),
2. Make groups of 4-6 students each,
3. Give each group one copy of the simple sheet to the right (click here to download),
4. Stick the characters around the room at random points, ideally far enough from each group that they can't just lean over and copy from them,
5. One at a time, students must go to the characters, read the clock and the activity next to it, remember it (they can't take the sheet with them), and report back to the group,
6. The group writes it down (e.g. Mr Dom plays the guitar at 4:30). The first group with all characters completed and checked by you is the winner. Give them some stickers or something.
7. Ask some "What time does Mr Dom play the guitar" type questions to the class to practice the "What time.." point.

Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments below. This is yet another idea thought up by the Amazing Laura (my future wife), and made by me. We'd both like to know what you think.

Running Tokyo Marathon part 1

Well, it's too late to apply for this year's marathon. Entries have been closed, invitations issued and now reserves called.

But for those of you reading this blog in The Mystical Land of The Future, here is a collection of necessary information for applying and running.

You might be interested to read the .pdf of the 2011 Tokyo Marathon race guide here.

Application

First of all, the run is held in late February every year (27th for 2011). The application period is usually the month of August, with applicants being informed of their place/lack of in mid-October. Applicants have a month to pay the registration fee (12,000yen this year if you do it in English, 10,000 in Japanese) before their place is offered to reserve applicants.

Last year, almost 275,000 people applied, and only 32,000 ran. So you need some good luck to get on this one.

You do not need to have previously run a marathon to get on this one.

The Tokyo Marathon website will guide you through the application process when it's open. It's very simple, and in English. It asks a lot of questions about your experience level etc. I heard mixed opinions as to whether or not your answers make a difference to you chances (like if you are assigned to a group which makes up a certain percentage of racing individuals), though it may well be the case. I have also heard that there is a quota of gaijin runners to be accepted, but it's unclear if that makes your odds better or worse.

The Course

The 26 mile and 385 yard course starts at Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, driving straight through Shijuku and up to Iidabashi, turning South at the Imperial Palace to take a detour through Shinagawa, passing through Ginza and Nihonbashi on it's way up to and back down from Asakusa before regaining it's straight-line towards Tokyo Big Sight, where excited people wait to wrap you in tin-foil.

A course-map is available as a .pdf at the Marathon website. Here's the 2011 one, though it never changes, and here is one on mapmyrun.com which is much more detailed as it uses google maps.

You have a 7-hour limit to complete the race.

Topography

Virtually entirely flat. So flat that the course map on mapmyrun.com doesn't even register any inclines. The Tokyo Marathon race guide .pdf offers this graphic (click to enlarge):

As you can see, it looks like a good chance for a PB for both 10k and the full marathon.

You can also watch a sped-up video of the whole course here.

The 10k race

For the up-and-coming/weaker runners, you can also opt to do the 10km race on the same day at the same time. You even get to run with the big boys until it finishes at Hibiya Park, just after the Imperial Palace. Entry is 6,000 yen. There's a 1 hour 40 minute limit on this race.

Wheelchair race

A (very) limited number of wheelchair applicants can also race. In 2010 only just over 20 people got to do this (out of 50-something applicants).


Others

Judging by the 2010 race, there are also similarly limited spaces for visually impaired and mentally impaired runners, as well as "transplant runners" on the 10k race only. Total numbers of successful applicants in these fields total just over 200.

Well, good luck if you decide to enter, and even better luck if you get to race. I'll be doing it in 2011 and will be sure to post a results entry about it. Until then I'll be pounding pavements in the mountains.

がんばってます！

Using an Amazon Kindle 3 Part 2: Reading Manga

Check the end of this blog for some troubleshooting tips.

The Kindle is fantastic for studying Japanese, as well as reading books. I think it's great, and take it with me everywhere. And get ready to be blown away - you can read manga on it. Yes indeed.

This will revolutionise the way you read manga. No more ripped plastic bag full of smelly tankoban on the subway for you! No more long flights watching Nicolas Cage "act".

I found a lot of barely legible/outdated guides to converting manga for your Kindle, so to go with my upcoming "Using a Kindle for reading Japanese books and manga" blog, here's the best guide currently available for converting and adding that manga to your Kindle:

1. Open your Kindle in Windows Explorer or My Computer
2. Create a new folder on your Kindle called "pictures"
   

3. Download and unzip the Mangle software to your computer (choose the windows executable version). NB: The Mangle website also has Linux and Mac versions,
4. Create a new folder on your desktop and put your downloaded/scanned manga in it. One folder per manga.
   Alternatively just leave your manga in the folder it's in and make a note of where it is,

5. Open Mangle and select Book > Add > Directory,
   

6. Find your manga folder on the desktop and select it,
   
   
7. Check all the files are in the correct order in the Mangle window,
8. Go to Book > Options and give your manga the title with which you want it to appear on your Kindle,
   
   
9. Go to Book > Export and find the "pictures" folder you created on your Kindle. Select that and export,
   

10. When Mangle is done exporting, eject your Kindle.

Job done. It'll show up in your book list just like anything else.

There are some cases where you don't need to use Mangle to convert your manga at all. Some image formats just work, and you can drag your manga folder into the new "pictures" folder on your Kindle.

However, for guaranteed uniform results I always stick with Mangle. Additionally, Mangle resizes the images to save disk space. This is a very good idea for page loading times, and especially when the Kindle is still at only 4GB capacity.



Troubleshooting

• "It's just that little bit too small!"

I hear you. If you haven't already done so, go to full screen mode. Pressing the "Menu" key will, not surprisingly, bring up the menu. Navigate to "Enable Full Screen Mode".

This will get rid of that useless bar at the top.

This may not be enough for something with extensive footnotes, like Ghost in the Shell. If you find that you do need to zoom in more on your manga, here are the hotkeys:

• First, press the "Aa" key and make sure it's set to "Actual size=No"
• Zoom: Q key
• Zoom out: W
• Actual size: C
• Full screen: F
• Pan: directions
• Rotate: R
• Reset zoom: E

• "The image gets all messed up when I restart."

This seems to happen to me pretty much every time - a section to the right of the page sticks on the page before, obscuring part of the current one. I can only assume this is a Kindle bug, which may be fixed with a firmware upgrade in the future.

Fix this by pressing the "Menu" button and selecting either "Use Partial Refresh" or "Use Full Refresh" (whichever is displayed).

Problem

Solution

Another programme which can do this is the versitile Calibre application.

If you've come across any other problems, let me know in the comments.

So, that's the power of the Kindle! You should definitely buy one (UK link)!

__________________________________________________

AccessJ.com's 3-part Kindle guide series

1. Using a Kindle to Study Japanese
2. Converting and Adding Manga to a Kindle
   
3. Reading Japanese Books and Manga on a Kindle

__________________________________________________



Next week we'll look at the Kindle for reading Japanese ebooks and newspapers.

Using an Amazon Kindle 3 Part 1: to Study Japanese

I just bought an Amazon Kindle and I love it. Nothing ever attracted me to ebook readers until I tried one, and now I can't see a reason not to immediately burn all physical books and start again.

This blog is about using your Kindle for studying Japanese. Next time I'll look at reading Japanese books and manga.

So, you should buy a Kindle (UK link). If you live in Japan you can get a 3G version delivered (from the USA) for around 18,000 yen, which is a bargain when you consider that you can use it to go on the internet, including using Google Maps like GPS, for free.

Books are usually cheaper than physical alternatives, and Amazon offers a huge range of pre-1923 novels for free. Not only that, but sites like Project Gutenburg and Google Books have TONS more.

If you have previously bought an ebook in an unsupported format, or have any other document you want to convert to view on your Kindle, use a program like mobipocket to switch to the .mobi file (.pdf also works on the newest version).

Anyway, end of sales pitch.

Japanese Study

So you have a textbook or some other resource on your computer which you want to view on your Kindle? If it's a .pdf just copy it straight over, and for anything else just use mobipocket to convert it to .mobi first. You can also use Amazon's free conversion service (scroll down a little), although it reportedly sometimes messes with the formatting, plus it takes a few minutes. Why wait?!

The newest Kindle (3) lets you rotate and zoom very easily, so you shouldn't have any problems with small text/furigana. You can also set up bookmarks so that you can flip between sections (e.g. dictionary entries, exercises). The only thing missing is a touchscreen and pen for practicing writing. Maybe next edition?

Japanese textbook in portrait mode

You can also study flashcards using the Kindle. The best way to do this, as pointed out by Minlawc in the comments, is to use Anki Online (you need to download and install it on a computer before the online feature is available). The third generation Kindle has built-in WiFi (there's also a 3G version), and using Anki this way couldn't be easier. Check it out.

One more great feature of the new Kindle is the audiobook function. This means you can (almost) use it as an mp3 player. Load up your Japanese lessons/podcasts and you have an all-in-one package which weighs almost nothing. I love it!

JapanesePod101 mp3 playing in internal speaker mode

Of course, another great way to study Japanese is to read books/stories in Japanese, which is the subject of the 3rd part of our series:

__________________________________________________

AccessJ.com's 3-part Kindle guide series

1. Using a Kindle to Study Japanese
2. Converting and Adding Manga to a Kindle
   
3. Reading Japanese Books and Manga on a Kindle

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Job Spotlight: Shigaku.or.jp

For those of you who are interested in teaching English, but just want to escape the yearly-contract, no-bonus, no-pay-raise ALT quagmire, here's a site to keep an eye on.



Shigaku.or.jp maintains a daily updated page of private school positions up for grabs around the nation. The job advertisements are for teachers of all subjects, but many English teaching positions are advertised in each update,  and among them are listings (usually one every few weeks) for which only a native speaker is wanted.

Because the schools are private, some rules about teaching certification can be bent: A well-written resume and application coming from a foreigner will draw interest, and if you impress a school during an interview, you can bet they will find a way to hire you.

I highly recommend this site, as the positions are at prestigious, competitive schools, but they often go unadvertised among most of the foreign community. This is a chance to directly appeal to schools and get hired as a full member of staff, rather than as a dispatch or contract worker.

However, the leads on Shigaku's page are written in Japanese only, and many of the jobs themselves (even those intended for native English speakers) are often written in Japanese on the schools' websites. Conversational Japanese is a must here, and applicants with JLPT-2 or greater equivalency, coupled with teaching experience, are the ones who will have their pick of jobs.

Worksheet Sunday: 14 Time Fillers (part 2 of 2)

Following on from part 1 last week, here's the second installment of our time-filling/warm-up selection.



8. Hangman/Feed the Shark (10+ minutes)
Good for lower grades/abilities. Everyone knows hangman, and Feed the Shark works on the same principle.

• Bring some magnetic characters.
• Draw a set of stairs to nowhere on the board (however many steps you want. Hangman has 10-16), and underneath the last step draw an angry shark, or spikes etc.
• Students have to guess letters for a word in the same way as with hangman. e.g. watch = _ _ _ _ _ and they must call out a letter. Wrong answers mean that the character moves up one step. Clear?

9. Karuta (10+ minutes)
Very simple game for low ability/elementary and 1st grade JHS. Works best with small classes unless you have tons of cards and can play in groups.

• Make a set of cards for any one vocab group (subjects, colours, animals etc, etc). Make one or more of each card. You can write the word on the card, draw a picture or both, depending on the aim of the class.
• Call out one of the words.
• Students try to find and grab the called card before anyone else.
• The student with the most cards at the end is the winner.

10. The Janken Game (10+ minutes)
Great fun game for elementary/low ability. Bigger (over 20 students) classes can be a bit of a strain, and kids at the back of the lines will get bored.

• Make around 10 sheets with a word/picture on each from the target vocab/review.
• Put them up on the board from left to right
• Split the class into two groups and line them up either side of the board
• One student from each group must go along the board shouting out the word from the card/picture
• When the two students meet in the middle, they janken. The loser goes to the back of his/her group line. 
• The next student from the losing group must start again from the beginning.
• The aim is for one student to get all the way across the board. If they do, the team gets one point and they go to the back of the line.
• Keep going until time is up/they're sick of it.

Note: this isn't a good idea with months or days of the week unless you swap the two groups around halfway.

11. The Hammer Game (10+ minutes)
Again, good for low ability/elementary, but not so good with big classes. Up to 30 is probably okay, but in elementary school it will have a much higher turnaround and may work fine with a regular sized class.

• Split the class in half and have them line up either side of you.
• Stand in the middle with a piko-piko hammer (plastic hammer with a sqeaker/whistle inside - can be bought in any 100 yen store).
• Two students face each other and must say an English word. You can make it subject-specific if they can handle it, or just anything at all otherwise.
• The first student to repeat a word that either of them has said, or to hesitate for too long gets smacked on the head with the hammer. Elementary kids love the senseless violence of this one.
• You can use a point system for the teams or just allow them to go through once or twice and see who uses up their team fastest.

12. Grammar Casino (10-15 minutes)

A good review exercise taken directly from MES-English. Good for all JHS grades.

• Download and edit the sheet from MES English
• Edit the sentences to something recently studied/relevant
• Kids have to decide if the sentences are good or bad, and place a bet out of their 100 starting points
• If they get it right they double their bet, if not they lose it.

Simple but fun, and good practice!

13. Sleeping Lions (~10 minutes or ~3 mins per sentence)
Good for 1st grade JHS, and could also work with later grades if you think they'd like it.

• Prepare sentences. Make them all the same number of words long .
• Make groups with the same number of students as there are words in your sentences.
• Give each student a number.
• Kids all pretend to be asleep (faces down, can't see you).
• All out the numbers one-by-one and show them a flashcard of one word from your chosen sentence (chose words at random).
• The kids go back to sleep and you call the next number.
• When you've called all the numbers, have the students wake up, tell each other their words and try to arrange them into a sentence. The fastest group wins.

14. Boggle (15-25 minutes)
Just like your favourite kids game. Good for 2nd and 3rd graders.

• Make groups of 2-4 students .
  
• Write 12 letters at random on the board. 
• Groups have to come up with as many words as possible.
• Extra points for the longest word.

Well, that's your lot. If you have any good suggestions for a third part to this entry, then please let us know in the comments below.

Why Are Japanese Houses SO COLD?

I feel your pain. It was -1C in my room this morning, with ice on the inside of the windows.

After writing about how to warm up your house in these cold winter months, I realised that perhaps we should cover exactly why the Japanese house is such a freezing nightmare.

Here's your answer: they aren't insulated.

The reason for that is quite interesting, I guess:

As you will know if you've ever been to a traditional Japanese house, the old-time heating method was a simple fire in the middle of the room where the cooking was also done. In more recent times the primary method has become kerosene electric-heaters. The problem with both of these techniques is and was that potentially poisonous fumes are released (though of course much less significantly with modern stoves).

The architectural solution to this (and simultaneously the humidity of summer) was a house design which drew air up from under the house and deposited it (and the acquired heat and bad air) outside. That's why there's a cavern of unused space under the floor in most houses. In olden times there was a large vent in the (very high) ceiling, whereas more recently we can see smaller vents above doors, hollow walls and a massive mysterious tanuki den of unused space in the roof.

The freezing house this (and the single-pane glass doors everywhere) produces is one of the reasons why Japanese families traditionally shared one tiny room. The small space is easier to make and keep warm + sharing body heat = almost adequate standard of winter living (?).

As I already mentioned I wrote about some solutions to this lack of insulation, but now I'm coming round to the idea of just spending the winter evenings in an izakaya or an onsen. Or if you have a heated toilet seat, like more than 50% of people here do (but not me), maybe you should just spend winter sitting on that with a cup ramen for company. You could even move it to your sofa instead of those hideous electric blankets.

Why the more modern houses and apartments still have this design and lack the central heating and double-glazing which the rest of the world has heartily embraced is something of a mystery. For me the kotatsu doesn't cut the mustard as a solution, and I don't particularly want to spend my winter days dressed in a muu-muu. I'm tempted to move to Hokkaido just for the possibilty of proper insulation.

So how do you stay warm in the winter? I'm getting sick of the ying-yang of being punched in the face by kerosene-scented air then doused in a magic moist breeze blowing through the window panes. Let me know in the comments.

More

• Here's an interesting interview with a Japanese architect.

Net Print: Fuji Xerox + 7-11 = Miracle

One day Fuji Xerox Japan and Seven & I Holdings got together and decided they would make the best service the world has ever seen: Upload documents to a website, then go to any 7-11 in Japan (in Japanese that means "anywhere") and have them printed out at your convenience. The service is called Net Print and I do not know why the companies have not made a bigger deal about this, because it is a miracle for every apartment-dwelling, printerless single adult in the nation (of which there are many).

If you've ever needed to print something out while on the road, or needed to meet a deadline when no printer was in sight, or took your USB thumbdrive to work to print out your resume so you could apply for another job, Net Print is for you.



It's easy to use, but you'll have to fumble around a bit if you aren't used to reading Japanese:

1) Make an Account
To start out, you'll have to make an account at the Net Print website. Click on the big pink button that says ユーザー登録(ゆーざーとうろく). After agreeing with the license terms by clicking 同意する(どういする) and the privacy terms by clicking 承諾します(しょうだくします).

On the following page, fill in your name (氏名), kana for your name (ふりがな), telephone number (電話番号), and e-mail address (メールアドレス). You'll enter the e-mail address again to confirm (確認入力), choose a login ID (ユーザーID). The final two options are a survey (アンケート) and an opportunity to sign up for the Net Print e-mail magazine (メール配信).

The survey asks "how you heard about this site" and you must choose one option. The final option, その他, is fine, unless you want to assert that you heard about it from our nameless website with その他インターネットサイト. The default selection on the e-mail magazine is set to not subscribe (希望しない).

Click the bottom button, 登録する, to complete your application! You should receive an e-mail at the account you used to sign up. Click on the link in the e-mail to activate your account and sign in for the first time.

2) Upload a Document
When you log into your account, you'll be greeted with this screen:

(Click to Enlarge)

Click on the green button to upload a file.
The upload screen looks like this:

(Click to Enlarge, Read on for Explanation)

You can select files up to 2 MB in size from the following formats:
Word (doc, docx, rtf), Excel (xls, xlsx), PowerPoint (ppt, pptx), image files (jpg, png, tif), Microsoft XPS files, and Adobe PDFs.

You'll also need to set the paper size and color settings. The upload will generate a reservation number, which you'll type into the copy machine at 7-11 to retrieve your document from the Internet. You can set a password (4 digits) so that others can't see or print your documents without it. You can have an e-mail sent to your computer, cell phone, etc. that shows the name of the document and its reservation number. (See the above image for details.)

When you've uploaded the window, it will appear on your home screen along with its reservation number:

(Click to Enlarge)

3) Go to a 7-11 and Print!
Uploaded documents will stay on the server for one week. You can print it out at the multicopy machine in any 7-11 in Japan. From the main menu on the copier, select "Net Print" and then type in your reservation number. Black and white prints cost 20 yen (on B5, A4, B4, and A3 size paper), and from 60 to 100 yen per sheet for color prints, depending on paper size.

Ta da!