Nowadays, people travel and even migrate across borders all the time. In Japan, too, foreign workers work in a variety of fields, and the number is increasing every year. With the establishment of the Specified Skilled Worker residence status, it will become common for people from different countries with a variety of cultural backgrounds to live in the same community and work at the same workplace.
The Japanese-language coursebook Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan is a textbook for foreign people to learn basic Japanese communication skills that are needed for daily life and working in Japan.
The basic meaning of the word Irodori is “to color,” but it can also mean “to change a thing’s shape or appearance and make it more beautiful or more interesting.” We chose this title with the hope that this book would help you “color” your everyday life in Japan and make it more fulfilling by enabling you to build language and communication skills for speaking and interacting with the people around you such as your neighbors and coworkers.
Whether you are planning to come to Japan in the future and want to learn what you should be able to do before you arrive, or whether you are already living in Japan and wish to check your Japanese ability and increase the number of things you can do, we sincerely hope that this textbook will help you achieve your goals.
“Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan” is a Japanese textbook for people who are living in Japan, or who will be living in Japan in the future. It teaches Japanese for different daily situations in Japan, including working, shopping, having fun, eating, and interacting with other people.
The objective of this textbook is to increase what you can do using Japanese in real-life situations in Japan. These are called “Can-dos.” The textbook aims to build communication skills for everyday life in Japan through “Can-do” based learning.
Irodori is made up of three parts: Starter, Elementary 1, and Elementary 2. Starter corresponds to the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (※1) A1 level, and Elementary 1 and Elementary 2 correspond to the A2 level. At A1 level, you can make greetings and communicate in a very simple way by using expressions that you have learned. At A2 level, you can hold short, basic everyday conversations on familiar topics.
※1 The JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education represents levels of Japanese in six stages, from A1 to C2. These are the same as the Council of Europe’s CEFR.
A1 level
The Japan Foundation’s “JF Can-do for Life in Japan” were announced in 2019. These “Can-dos” describe fundamental Japanese communication skills that non-native Japanese speakers who come to Japan as “Specified Skilled Workers” will need in everyday situations in Japan. Irodori has established objectives based on these Can-dos, so by using this textbook, you can learn fundamental communication skills for daily life in Japan. Irodori can also be used for studying before coming to Japan or for preparing for the Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese (JFT-Basic), which measures these communication abilities.
Irodori emphasizes listening input. It is important for you to listen to a lot of Japanese so that you can use it in real-life situations. Therefore, Irodori provides plenty of audio files. In addition, reading and writing activities are based on authentic or quasi-authentic materials that are actually used in daily life in Japan, so you can practice your Japanese in close-to-real-life situations. With these audio files and materials, you can learn practical Japanese that you can use immediately.
Irodori is organized by topic. Each lesson deals with a different topic connected to everyday life in Japan. You won’t just study the Japanese language—you will also experience Japanese life and culture through many different subjects linked to everyday life in Japan and the Japanese context. There is also a section of useful information for daily life in Japan.
The objective of this textbook is for you to be able to use Japanese when communicating in real life, so the aim is not to study grammar, words, or kanji. However, you will need these elements for the Can-dos, so Irodori offers enough knowledge about them in the context of communication. Irodori covers a lot of the grammar, words, and kanji handled by general elementary level Japanese learning materials.
Irodori is available online, so you can download it from wherever you are in the world. It is provided as a PDF file, so you can print it out, or view it on a tablet or smartphone. The audio can be downloaded or streamed.
The topics and grammar points in each lesson of Irodori are loosely connected to “Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture” a Japanese coursebook for overseas learners created by the Japan Foundation. You can use Irodori and Marugoto together, use part of Marugoto as a supplement when you study Irodori, or use Marugoto-related websites, such as Marugoto+ (Marugoto Plus), to study Irodori.
The overall aim of learning with Irodori is mutual understanding between people, which is the fundamental philosophy of the JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education. Irodori contributes to developing communication skills in Japanese and cross-cultural skills. Through these skills, people starting life or already living in Japan can express themselves, get to know each other well, and interact, which will lead to mutual understanding.
Irodori is made up of three parts: Starter (A1), Elementary 1 (A2), and Elementary 2 (A2). Each of these learning materials have the following:
Starter, Elementary 1 and Elementary 2 each have nine topics, and are organized into 18 lessons. The suggested time for each lesson is around 150 to 180 minutes. However, the number of activities is different in each lesson, so please adjust the lesson time to match these.
Each lesson is organized as below:
There are four types of activity in each lesson: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Each activity can stand alone, but they are all loosely connected within one lesson. The number, type, and arrangement of activities is different in each lesson, but generally there are more speaking activities. The overall aims of the four types of activity are:
SpeakingThe aim is to become able to ask and answer questions in familiar situations, as well as to give simple explanations about yourself and things you know
ListeningThe aim is to become able to understand the important parts of everyday conversations, and to obtain the necessary information from simple news, public announcements, and similar broadcasts.
Reading The aim is to get the necessary information in written texts in everyday life, such as announcements, notices posted in public facilities, and menus at restaurants, as well as to read and understand the content of pamphlets written in simple Japanese for non-Japanese residents.
WritingThe aim is to learn skills such as filling in the forms needed for everyday life, sending messages to friends and other people, and creating simple social media posts about things that are familiar to you.
Each activity has the following steps:
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1 | Can-do objective | ||
2 | Preparation for the words | ||
Study the words that you will need for the activity by following the steps below. (Some activities have these, and some do not.)
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3 | Listen to the example dialogs | ||
The aim of this activity is speaking, but first you should listen to the example dialogs and roughly understand their contents. You do not need to understand the grammar and expressions in detail for this step. Depending on the activity, you will either listen to several shorter example dialogs in several different situations, or listen to one longer example dialog in one situation. Generally, if there are several shorter dialogs there will be no script in the main text, but a “listening script” in the back. If there is one longer dialog, there will be a script in the main text. The steps for each of these is as follows:
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4 | Focus on the form | ||
Study the grammar and expressions that you will need to achieve the Can-do.
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5 | Speaking | ||
This part is the goal of the activity. Practice it step by step.
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6 | Can-do check | ||
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The steps for these activities are similar to those for the speaking activities, but the aim is listening comprehension. You have achieved the objective if you can listen and understand the necessary parts. | |||
1 | Can-do objective | ||
2 | Preparation for the words | ||
Study the words that you should know before listening. Some activities have these, and some do not. The steps are the same as for the speaking activities. | |||
3 | Listening | ||
This part is the goal of the activity.
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4 | Focus on the form | ||
Focus on the new grammar and expressions of what you have listened to. The steps are the same as for the speaking activities. The lesson will only have this part if there are new grammar or expressions. | |||
5 | Can-do check
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1 | Can-do objective | ||
2 | Reading | ||
This part is the goal of the activity.
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3 | Focus on the form | ||
Grammar and expressions that you should know for elementary level have been picked out from the text you have read. The steps are the same as for the speaking and listening activities, except there is no audio file for reading activities. Look at the text and fill in the words in the underlined blank spaces. Some activities have this part, and some do not. | |||
4 | Can-do check
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1 | Can-do objective | ||
2 | Writing | ||
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3 | Can-do check
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3 Other sections and their steps | |||
Kanji Words | |||
This is a section for you to practice elementary level kanji with words. The aim is to become able to see and understand the meaning of the kanji that you will need in everyday life, and, as necessary, to be able to type these on a smartphone or a PC. In each lesson, this section covers around 10 kanji words from the activity. (You will learn 429 kanji in total in Starter, Elementary 1, and Elementary 2.) The steps are below: | |||
1 | Check how to read the kanji words and their meaning | ||
| Focus on how to read the kanji while checking the meaning of the word. The kanji are written in three different fonts, so that you can get used to different styles. | |||
2 | Read the kanji words in a sentence | ||
Read a sentence that contains the kanji words, checking if you can read and understand them. | |||
3 | Type the kanji words | ||
Type the kanji words on your smartphone, tablet, or keyboard, and check if you can type the kanji correctly. You do not have to be able to write the kanji by hand, but you can do so if you are interested in kanji and want to practice your handwriting.
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Grammar Notes | |||
These are explanations of the grammatical points in each lesson. They cover grammar and expressions from the “Focus on the form” part of each activity. Read this section to check the answers to the questions These explanations cover the form, the meaning, and the usage of the grammar and expressions in the activity. There are also additional information and extra example sentences with grammar usages that are not included in the activities in the textbook. In addition, there are conjugation tables and comparisons to similar expressions, so you can organize your knowledge of grammar. In class, for the “Focus on the form” part, learners should first think about how to use the grammar and expressions themselves. Afterwards, they can read the explanations, or the teacher could explain them. Another option is to touch on this section simply in class, and then the learners can read the explanation for homework. This textbook does not offer focused grammar exercise. If necessary, please use another textbook, such as “Marugoto’s Rikai” (coursebook for communicative language competences). However, teachers should set grammar exercises that are related to the Can-dos. The explanations in this section should be read in English (or a local language※). The Japanese is only reference for the teacher, so there is no need for any learner to read and understand this Japanese. ※ Editions in languages other than English will be successively released. | |||
Tips for life in Japan | |||
This column covers useful knowledge for life in Japan. You can learn about life in Japan and Japanese culture with many photographs and illustrations. The topics in each lesson are picked up from the main text, especially if they might be unknown to learners who have never been to Japan. There is also reference information included, which will be useful to know when you are living in Japan. After an activity, you can read this section yourself, or look at it in class. If you want an explanation about something you see in the activities, you should check this section. Like “Grammar Notes,” this section should be read in English (or a local language※). The Japanese is only reference for the teacher, so there is no need for any learner to read and understand this Japanese. ※ Editions in languages other than English will be successively released. | |||
Translation
Kyaw Thu ( Associate Professor and Head )
Win Win Thant ( Associate Professor ) / San San Nu ( Associate Professor ) Saw Eaindar Nwe ( Associate Professor )
Soe Khin Khin ( Lecturer ) / Nan Myat Saw ( Lecturer ) / Wai Wai ( Lecturer )
Khine Khine Zin ( Lecturer ) / Wah Wah Shein ( Lecturer ) / Moe Yu Nwe ( Lecturer ) Kyaw Tun Naing ( Lecturer ) / Hnin Hnin Nwe ( Lecturer ) / Soe Soe Than ( Lecturer ) Ei Ei Mar ( Lecturer ) / Khine Thu Thu Tun ( Lecturer ) / Hnin Htet Htet Phway ( Assistant Lecturer ) Saw Su Lat ( Assistant Lecturer ) / Myat Thu Aung ( Assistant Lecturer )
(Teachers at Japanese Department, Yangon University of Foreign Languages)
Translation Edition
May Zon Thinar Htoo/ Thinn Thinn/ Pwint Thel Cho/ Kaung Swe Hein/ Moe Pwint Eain
(Japanese Language Education, The Japan Foundation, Yangon )
All rights reserved. This book including text, visual and audio items must not be reproduced and sold without the permission of the Japan Foundation.
to help you to think about the meaning of the grammar and expressions and how they would be used. The learner should think about this and discover the rules of Japanese themselves, instead of the teacher explaining the grammar first.