The Best Way to Learn Kanji

My miracle solution to learning kanji may work for you, so why not give it a go.

There are two things I don't do when learning kanji: spend a lot of time writing them out, or use traditional flashcards.

There are two things I do do: use tool one and tool two below:


I don't spend a lot of time writing kanji, nor do I think it is an important part of learning it. The reason is simple: most of the time you are reading kanji, second typing on a keyboard. If you can distinguish one kanji from another, which comes a lot sooner than actually having learned it, then you can use it. Writing by hand takes a lot of time and practice which ultimately doesn't (or didn't in my case, anyway) speed up your overall aquisition or understanding of it. You may need that skill, but most likely not as soon as you will need to recognise and read.

Tool One.
You need visual aids, of which the best I've found is www.readthekanji.com. It isn't free (well, the lowest level JLPT is), and nor should it be, because it is made by one lonely guy and is thoroughly awesome. If you don't want to pay the 6USD every three months, maybe you aren't that serious about learning Japanese. It's a bargain.

The site works by presenting a kanji or kanji compound to you, and asking for the hiragana reading to be typed as an answer. It uses a spaced repetition algorithm from that point onwards to help you thoroughly memorise the reading. The best part about this system is that the kanji/compounds are presented within sentences. This means that not only do you practice reading in context, but you can also identify when certain readings will be necessary. This is much more effective than learning the different readings for each individual kanji out of context, don't you think?

Tool two.
I back up the foundations learned with readthekanji with Anki. You may have heard of Anki before. It's a free flashcard program with mostly user-generated content. You can download decks of cards on all manner of subjects. It seems that the most popular language is Japanese, which is good news for us. Even better news is that there are decks made by the AccessJ team on there. Just search for AccessJ through Anki and you'll find them.


Readthekanji falters in the amount of repetition of each word. It can be frustrating to study for an hour and only be exposed to three or four new words, and no new kanji. Anki can be set to show a defined number of new cards every day. This is good motivation for studying a minimum amount per day.


You will find that you can also change the appearance of cards, so that if you find it difficult memorising kanji words without first knowing the hiragana reading, you can learn with the reading displayed until you are confident enough to progress to kanji only. Likewise if you prefer to learn with only a Kanji-Hiragana translation, you can remove the English.


Another great feature is that you can use your Anki decks on your Smartphone or eReader via the online version, AnkiWeb. Awesome!


More

• Using these two tools, I learned a lot of kanji very quickly, and have managed to memorise them effectively. You may still have trouble telling very similar kanji apart, and for that problem I recommend creating your own Anki deck containing the problem characters. 
• Indeed, if you are following a particular course or textbook set, you might find it beneficial to create your own Anki decks for all your kanji as you go along.
• Another very popular tool is Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji", which is a series of books that teach the kanji in a systematic way - from the elements that make up different kanji and how they are created. It does so by first teaching the English meaning of over a thousand kanji, then (and only then) looking at the Japanese pronunciation. The method is very effective for remembering the characters. One downside is that because of the structured nature of "building" the kanji as the course progressed, you will find yourself learning very obscure symbols before some very basic ones. If you are in no rush at all to learn Japanese (not going to Japan any time soon / don't have a specific test to study for) then this is a good system. You can buy the RTK books through AccessJ to earn us a few cents (we'd really appreciate it!): Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

Any other tips are more than welcome - stick them in the comments below.

Visit all 47 Prefectures in Japan... for free!

Want to visit Japan?
Want to visit all 47 prefectures?
Don't think you can afford it?

Win it!



The deal:
Some lucky person will win 100 days to visit all 47 prefectures in Japan and blog about it.

The catch:
You can't have ever lived in Japan before. Application is 5USD (100% goes to a related charity).


Travel Volunteer is offering one lucky person or couple the chance to see all 47 prefectures in 100 days, for free!

The trip starts on September 15th - December 23rd 2011, ending with a trip to Tohoku on the 24th to give Christmas presents to children displaced by the recent tsunami.

The idea is that the winner will blog about their experiences in Japan and prove to people that the whole of Japan has not been destroyed by the tsunami, and life outside of the evacuation zone continues with little or no disruption.

The closing date for applications is July 31st, so if you are interested go to http://travelvolunteer.net/ for more information and instructions on how to apply.

WS: Eigo Noto 2: When is your birthday?

Lesson 3. When is your Birthday?

I spread this chapter over three lessons; with half the time dedicated to learning and remembering the month names, and the remaining time to asking and answering "When is your birthday?". 

Here's the plan for the first lesson.

Greeting - Hello, how are you, etc. But today throw in 'What month is it now?'. If you are lucky, at least one student will understand and try to answer.

Chant - The accompanying CD for Eigo Noto 2 has a chant for months, but it is very difficult!

I like to let the students listen anyway, and see their reactions. I will repeat the CD later and they are always surprised that they can understand it and chant along with it. But the first time is really just listening.

- Next I use flash cards to chant the months (Japanese one side, English the other).
- I then say a number, and the students say the month. Pretty easy but can be fun.


Matching pictures - Months is another good lesson where you can throw a bit of cultural information into the mix. If you know your Japanese culture then you can do this alone. If not, or you want some more unusual ideas then ask a teacher to help you.

I prepare 2 sets of cards. One with pictures of English festivals, events etc and one with Japanese.

I start with easy cards (Christmas, Setsubun, Graduation etc), and show the pictures to the students, and get them to guess which month it happens.

I continue this using more difficult cards. You can really show the students some interesting culture here, from graduation in England being different to Japan, to pancake day existing or the fact we have fireworks in winter, which usually gets a big reaction! Of course you will use festivals and events from your own home country.

Chant - As before. But the students should be able to chant along now.

Game - Karuta. I know, I know, Karuta again! But they love it! And soon we will be looking at more at grammar points, rather than vocabulary and won't have as much chance to play!

I play as many rounds of this as time allows.

1. I say the months, they grab the months. Easy!
2. I say a number, they grab the corresponding month. Not so easy!
3. I say a festival/event, they grab the correct month! Difficult!

Finish - Time allowing I will play the chant once more, but usually just a quick hi-five on the way out.

Mobile Phone Guide #5: Paying your bills

Although Japan is well know for its stodgy and, some might say, not exactly customer friendly financial institutions, there are plenty of ways to pay your phone bill without even setting foot in a bank. Just follow our fool-proof guide to paying for your wireless service and you will never have to worry about finding your phone shut down and the debt collectors knocking on your door.

Payment Method	How to Pay
Credit Card	Register a Japanese or home country card
Bank Transfer	Using a personal Japanese bank account
Pay by Institution	Major convenience stores, mobile phone shops and banks
Pay-Easy	ATMs displaying the PayEasy mark and compatible Internet banking service

All mobile phone providers accept major credit cards, automatic bank transfer, and pay-by-institution. Both overseas and domestic cards can be used in most cases. However, you should double check with your local card issuer if you are paying with a non-Japanese credit card to prevent your account being flagged and locked as fraudulent due to “suspicious” overseas transactions.

Bank Transfers

If you wish to pay via automatic bank transfer (自動振込 jidou furikoumi), make sure to bring a bank book, personal seal, and/or bank card. Many large banks such as Mitsubishi UFJ, Yucho, Mizuho and others have deals with major providers that require only your bank card and PIN number to sign up for bank transfer.


Make sure your name (as written in roman characters) and your katakana spelling are the same on your bank book as they are on your mobile phone contract. Also, setting up a bank transfer can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month provided there are no errors or problems with your application, the most common of which are discrepancies or misspellings in your katakana name and/or an illegible seal imprint. Your mobile provider will send you a notice in the mail if there are any problems with the application. If you set up bank transfer via a card and pin number then the processing time should only be a business day or two.

In Cash

As far as pay-by-institution is concerned, the company will send you a bill that can be paid in cash at a bank, convenience store, or at the company’s local store/outlet. In some cases, in order to make a contract, the shop may require that you register your bank account and/or credit card for at least one year. Keep in mind that, in most cases, these bills must be paid with cash only, even if the institution you are paying at accepts credit cards. Also, bills that are past their due date cannot be processed and you must wait for a follow up bill that usually includes penalty interests or late fees. 


Finally, if you pay via this method don`t forget to change your address when you move. Even if you use mail forwarding, it only lasts for one year and eventually your bills will stop coming. Address changes can be completed online or simply go to your local retailer with a valid ID and ask for a change.

Pay-Easy

Finally there is the “Pay-Easy” method. Pay-Easy is essentially an alliance of various companies, public agencies, and financial institutions who have teamed up to allow you to pay your bills at the ATM or via internet banking. So far, only NTT DoCoMo offers this service but other providers may follow suit. Basically all you need to do is take your bill and bank card to a Pay-Easy-enabled ATM (usually these are marked with decals or stickers--see below) or internet banking service, type in your customer and billing numbers and either insert the money directly into the ATM or have it deducted from your account. Unfortunately the on-screen instructions are all in Japanese and a full description of how to use the service goes beyond the scope of this article. However, the PayEasy trade group offers a handy guide easily accessible for anyone who can read intermediate to advanced Japanese.

The Pay-Easy logo as found on compatible bills and ATMs

As usual, check back for our next mobile phone installment where we will show you how to use one of the most popular features of Japanese mobile phones, mobile e-mail.

Other posts in this series:

Part #1: The Basics

Part #2: Important Paperwork

Part #3: Pre-Paid Phones
Part #4: Post-Paid Phones 
Part #5: Paying Your Bills

Part #6: Mobile E-mail Guide

Part #7: Multi-Lingual Phones

Part #8: Renting and Roaming

Being an ALT #14: Brushing Your Teeth At School

Japanese people are in the tradition of brushing their teeth directly after meals (or at least lunch). This will happen in the workplace, too. After lunch at school, literally everyone will be at a sink brushing away; which is why they have so many long stainless steel sink areas.

Some Westerners, not being in the habit of doing this, have received less-than-polite comments from co-workers.

BUT, there is a general consensus amongst Western dentists that this practice is bad for the enamel of your teeth. Read on before making your own mind up.
A brief search on Google will provide a seemingly endless list of sites advising against brushing right after meals. It seems that the process of chewing and swallowing foods, especially those with high acidity, naturally weakens the enamel layer of your teeth. Brushing during this weakened phase will gradually remove that enamel.

Dentists seem to say that after an hour, enamel will have re-hardened to a stage at which it is safe to brush.

One thing I wasn't aware of before my "brief search on Google" was that in addition to this danger, brushing your teeth more than twice a day is at best unnecessary, at worst harmful to your teeth and gums. Prolonged exposure to brushing will, again, wear away the enamel.

According to the link above, you should limit your brushing to two times a day, for around two minutes a time. You should also (though how you are going to calculate this without a ridiculous toothbrush is beyond me) apply a pressure of 150grams (confusingly referred to as the same as "holding an orange").

Well, now you know.

However, all of Japan seems to follow this practice. Who is to say they are wrong to do so? Many people who have worked with Japanese children will complain about the really horrible state of their (the children's) teeth, but how many of those have worked with children elsewhere and can compare the two?

One more thing which foreigners in Japan seem intent to mention is the lack of fluoride in Japanese toothpaste. Dentists generally recommend a fluoride-containing paste. However, the two stock responses to this are:

1. Japanese toothpaste actually does contain fluoride, though the comparative ratios are not currently known (by me),
2. There is an on-going debate about whether or not fluoride actually helps (quite well summarised here).

In any case, my philosophy here is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I've never had a cavity brushing the "English way", and will happily continue doing so.

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

Q&A: Dating Younger Men

Last time on Q&A, we talked about lecherous old men and how they will pay young women to do terrible things like write friendly e-mails for money in this country. Today let's turn the tables a bit and look at a self-help guide for Japanese women hoping to make it with a younger guy.

How to Skillfully Date a Younger Guy

1. Don't Hurt His Pride

Guys are prideful things, huh? And for a couple with an older woman, it seems like the woman is always taking the lead.

But at the same time, she'll accidentally say things like "I can't count on you," or "It's not like you'll be able to anyway, so just let me handle it" without thinking about it.

Especially in front of other people, be absolutely sure not to take an attitude that makes him feel unappreciated. If you look down on him, you'll deeply wound his pride.

2. Don't Overdo Anything

Younger boyfriends are cute because there's something helpless and uncertain about them. If he's troubled by something, most of us just want to give him a hand and help him out, right?

At first, he might smile, and you'll feel happy for making him feel that way. But if you continue helping him at every problem, he'll start to take it for granted that you'll do everything for him.

Then rather than being a couple, you'll be like his mom. No matter how overjoyed you were to be taking care of him at first, you'll find yourself dissatisfied and saying things like, "I'm not your mother! And I'm not your maid!"

This isn't a good relationship to be in. So, to make sure it doesn't happen, you need to be careful about lending him a hand or taking care of things for him too often.

3. Get Good at Depending on Him

In a couple with an older woman and a younger man, the woman always seems to be the stronger one in the relationship. And among those couples there are some where the woman is clumsy about finding ways for herself to depend on the man.

Guys like to be relied upon! They want you to let them take care of things! When they spend time with a woman that lets them do those things, they think you're cute and want to protect you.

So even if in daily life you're taking the lead in your relationship, you need to let yourself be coddled.

Conclusion

Not only for couples with an age difference but for all couples it's important to think about each other's wants and feelings. We all want to be in relationships that make both people feel good, right?

...
......

So there you have it: The #2 Google ranking and one-stop-font-of-knowledge for "How to Date Younger Guys" in Japanese. If you haven't encountered the Japanese in Point 3 before, this might be a good chance to take note of it:

The Japanese verb 甘える (amaeru), loosely meaning "to express dependence on another," is a cultural phenomenon discussed extensively by Japanese psychoanalyst Takeo Doi in his book The Anatomy of Dependence (甘えの構造). Among Doi's insights in the book is the idea that Japanese are born into then aspire to an ideal state in which they are indulgent in the goodwill of all those around them. Doi suggests that the Japanese language reflects this ideal with its customary use of keigo and teineigo used to address both infants and people in position of high social status, from grandparents to company executives.

Whether you think Doi has some good points or dismiss it as a bunch of bunk, 甘える remains a well-known and well-used word and concept in Japan that can be difficult to express concisely in English.

Have any thoughts about it? Screams of rage about the slanted views on older women babying oedipal boyfriends only to later scold them for acting like an actual child? As usual, we welcome you to share in the comments below. :)

WS: "I have..." 1st G JHS

This is a simple idea for an "I have" activity, also using "And you?"



Students write words from the vocab pages at the start of the book (or words you have selected) at random on the bingo sheet.
Then they stand up and make pairs.
Janken.
The winner says "I have a ____. And you?"
Is the other student also has written that word, they say "Me too", otherwise "No, byebye"
If they match the words, they can circle that bingo square. If not, they have to cross it out. 3 circles in a line = bingo = a sticker or something.

Quick and easy game. 10-15 mins with explanation.

Here's my sheet for download.

Mobile Phone Guide #4: Contracts

The most popular phone option by far in Japan is getting a contract plan from a major provider. 


Read all about it.

In the past, mobile phone companies were more than happy to subsidize a handset provided you promised to stay with them for about 2 years. However, as mobile number portability (MNP) was introduced (see our other article on MNP) and phone penetration hit nearly 100 percent, the incentive to attract a dwindling number of fresh customers with fancy free or nearly free handsets has declined. Most mobile phone providers, instead of giving the handset away for nothing, divide the payment over a 12 to 24 month period depending on the length of your contract, making you pay a bit of the phone every time you pay the bill. Of course, if you don’t want to make the multi-month commitment then you can buy the phone outright but be prepared to shell out 40,000-70,000 yen. Japanese phones may be feature filled and flashy but the certainly are not cheap. However, if you aren’t a technophile then some shops offer free or nearly-free phones in order to get rid of older or outdated models.


Also, keep in mind that when you sign a contract you are liable for early termination fees as well as paying off the money you owe for your phone. These fees generally start at 5000 yen and go up depending on the length of the contract, terms, conditions, etc. So don't be surprised to shell out over 10,000 yen if you cancel early. 

There are a two basic components to the basic Japanese mobile phone plan which you can see below:

     A) Calling Plan/Tariff

The first is the calling plan itself, of which there are several varieties. One of the more popular plans is Softbank’s “white plan” that is essentially a 980 yen a month plan with no free talk time included. From 1am to 9pm calls to other Softbank subscribers are free and all other calls are billed at a rate of 21 yen per 30 seconds regardless of who you call. There is also a slightly more expensive “Double White Plan” that has a higher basic fee but lower per minute cost. Other providers have similar plans and, if you sign a contract of one to two years, then you may be eligible for promotions such as a month or two of free service or unlimited calls.

More conventional plans tend to include “free yen” allotted to calling time. After the free yen is used up then extra charges are tacked on. These plans often charge differently based upon the termination point (i.e. where you are calling) with mobile to land line calls being the most expensive. In some cases, its actually significantly cheaper to call overseas than it is to call domestically! Many companies allow to add extra services such as paying extra to call designated numbers for a reduced per minute rate. Also, keep in mind that most plans do not include voice mail, call waiting, and call forwarding and must be purchased separately for about 300 yen per item or in a pack. Most handsets have built in recording systems but those only work when connected to a network.

     B) Mobile Data and E-mail

The next charge is for mobile internet. The most famous brand of mobile internet is NTT DoCoMo’s iMode service. For a small subscription fee (usually 300 yen or so), this service allows you to connect to the mobile web, use an e-mail address (see below), and access normal internet sites. The amount of data you use determines your bill and Japanese phones use a weird measurement which is called a “packet” (about 128 bytes) which is used as a standard billing unit. Normally, one packed is a yen or less but with all the mailing and surfing you will inevitably be doing, this adds up super fast, especially considering that Japanese mobile phone e-mails (see below) are chalked full of flashy animations and pictures. Therefore, most providers offer a “pake-hodai” plan that effectively allows for unlimited use. The most common type of plan is a tiered data plan that starts off at a relatively low number (500-1000 yen typically) and goes up to a maximum (4000-6000 yen or so) based on a preset cost per packet. 


Even if you hit the upper limit, you can keep using without worrying about getting charged further. So basically, if you use a lot of packets then you will top out at the max price level and if you are packet frugal then you can keep your bill extra cheap. This measurement includes internet and regular mail, keeping in mind that phone companies often distinguish between specialized mobile phone only websites and regular everyday sites (often called “full browser”). Some carriers have a higher max cap for non-mobile specific websites.

Furthermore, now that smart phones are all the rage these days (think Android, iPhone, Black Berry, etc), many carriers have the option of a “flat packet” service where you pay a fixed price for unlimited usage. As a matter of fact, many carriers require this option if you are planning on using a smart phone and often it is a bit more economical if you find yourself constantly hitting your top packet price on the pake-hodai plans.

As usual, stay tuned for our next mobile phone installment where we show you how to pay your bills.

Other posts in this series:

Part #1: The Basics

Part #2: Important Paperwork

Part #3: Pre-Paid Phones
Part #4: Post-Paid Phones 
Part #5: Paying Your Bills

Part #6: Mobile E-mail Guide

Part #7: Multi-Lingual Phones

Part #8: Renting and Roaming

Being an ALT #13: Demo Lessons

Most ALTs will be expected to perform demo classes during the year. Some will be just for in-school staff, some for the PTA, and sometimes you'll have to perform in front of a pretty large crowd of teachers from the area. Very occasionally, you'll find TV/radio crews, too.


Don't be put off by this. As an ALT, most of the attention is on the Japanese teacher. If you are lucky enough to have a big role in the demo, take it as a sign of their trust in you and your ability.

Anyway, other than the crowd, it's just a regular lesson (except some teachers will plan weeks in advance, sometimes even making the demo the second time those students have been taught the lesson).

However, there are some things which you can get out of this experience:

• First is an exposure and profile boost: do well and your audience and teacher will have a better opinion of you. This is nice.
• Secondly, and most importantly, is the chance to take stock of your own ability and presentation. Most (big) demo classes are video taped by at least one member of staff. If you can, ask them if you can watch it back. As horrible as it is to watch yourself, it's an ideal opportunity to see what does and does not work. You might notice that your explanations need work, that you sometimes talk a little bit too fast or too quietly without realising it, that you miss struggling students, that you stand kind of camply... stuff like that. This chance to review your own performance is invaluable if you take your teaching seriously. Not only can you fix problems, but you can increase your own confidence by doing so.

In short, these things are good for you. Fighto.

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: Is it Really This Easy?

Make Your Own (Legal) Japanese Postal Stamps

I don't know about your home country, but in mine (England) postal stamps are the realm of the government. Usually you just stick the queen's face on your post. Sometimes you can use limited edition Christmas trees or Wallace and Gromit stamps, but that's it.

Here in Japan, you can make your own online! Whatever picture you like can become a stamp. Here's how.


Japan Post has a website, all in Japanese, where you can upload photos and make stamps of them.

The price is 1,200yen for a sheet of 10 domestic stamps (stamps have an 80yen value).

How to do it
If you need a translation or explanation, here it is:

• Look at the page linked to above. The images of stamps are examples of border templates.
• The white button (商品詳細を見る) is a preview of the sheet of stamps you will receive (the black lines over the 80円 are just to void the images
• The pink button (申し込む) takes you to the order page:

• The grey button will take you to the next page, where you can adjust the layout of your picture. It's self explanatory, but リセット means reset. 
• Of the two grey buttons, the one on the left will take you back, the one on the right will take you to the next step.
• The following page is a preview of your stamp sheet. 
• Again, button on the left to go back, right to continue. 
• After you click the continue button, the site will do some data legwork which can take a little while depending on the size of your image.
• Smash the button on the next page to agree to terms.
• Then you'll see your bill. Here you can change the number of sheets you want to order. Postage is as follows:
• 5 sheet or less: 500yen
• More than 5 sheets: free
• Progress as follows:

This one

Then this one

And this one

You don't have to pay by credit card. You can also furikomi or pay at any Japan Post. Select the tick box below the card details for that.

• Finally, click the する button at the end (as a general rule, buttons marked 戻る are go back, and those ending in する are to continue).

Anxiously await your stamps.

WS: Eigo Noto 2: Let's Play

Let`s play is a level up from the previous chapter, where students actually use the skills learned in the last lesson (this can be done in the same lesson but I have found it better to spread it over a few as it is a bit much for the students). Read on for my plan...

Lesson 1 - Let`s play

Greeting - Hello, how are you etc. 

Karuta - a good warm up game (see karuta for details)

Let's listen -  pg. 6, Students listen to the teacher/CD and follow the instructions to make a 'new letter' this took my students less than 5 minuets and was more of a 2nd warm up game.

*Let's listen page 7 was left for the HRT (home room teacher) to do another time.

Let's play 1- pg. 8 students have to match two parts of a `broken letter` to fix it. My students spent about 5 seconds on this. At this point they were becoming restless so I abandoned the textbook, as the HRT could easily do the remaining sections using only a CD.

Whisper game - easy! Students are usually in 6 lines, the person at the back comes out/to the back of the room and you whisper/show them a letter to them. On your cue they whisper it to the student sitting in front of them and so on. I lay 5 sets of karuta cards (one set less than the amount of teams) at the front of the room and the student at the front of the line has to grab a card and bring it to the ALT/HRT.

You can award points in a number of ways. I give the 1st team 5 points, 2nd 4, 3rd 5 and so on with the last team receiving a big fat ZERO.

Back game - When the students have finished/are bored of the whisper game I change it slightly so instead of whispering they have to write with their finger on their friends back.

Award points in the same way.

Last game -
My last game is a little cheeky. From the previous game there are 5 sets of Karuta cards mixed up. So the final game is more of 'help Laura prepare for her next lesson' than a game. Albeit fun!

I keep students in their lines (apart from the losers from the previous game who come to the front of the classroom and shout letters out at random to put the other teams off), and spread the mixed up cards at the front of the classroom. 
On your say the first person from each team runs to the front of the class and collects an A card, they then swap with the next team member who needs to get B. This continues until all the teams have a full set. The first team to bring you their set is the winner!

Finish - As always feedback sheets should technically be completed, but a quick "See you!" usually does the job.

June Blog Roundup

Well, it's definitely summer, isn't it? In a couple of weeks we'll post about how you can tame that crazy heat in your house. For now, here's what you may have missed on AccessJ this month:

Speaking of the heat, I posted a short while ago about How to Not Sweat Like a Beast. Vital reading to minimise those huge sweat patches.

A very popular post covered the best way to learn the Japanese hiragana and katakana alphabets. More posts on learning Japanese to come in the next couple of weeks.

We brought back the Being an ALT series this month, with entries covering working in multiple schools, getting molested at those schools, and an explanation of why it doesn't have to be so easy to be an ALT. More to come.

We showed all those out there with the Japanese IME or a Japanese computer how you can type some really cool symbols. In fact, you can type so many that it needed a second post.

Let's not forget the inclusion of a brand new writer at AccessJ: Dan has been busy putting together a guide on Japanese cellphones. You can read about The Basics, Important Paperwork and Pre-Paid Phones. Expect a new entry on that each Friday until literally everything has been covered.

And speaking of new writers, Laura has decided to help us out on our Worksheet Sunday series. We've used several of her ideas in the past, and she's now busy writing up a guide to teaching the Eigo Noto textbook series in elementary schools. Her first entry went live this month. Other WSs this month included "Will you...?", "He was, they were" and "Are You From...?" for Junior High.

As always, there's plenty more where that came from, so check the archive pages at the top of this page for other great articles from AccessJ.