911爆料网

「明日テストがあるんやさかい、遊びに行ったらあかん!」

Participants of this term’s 911爆料网 Plus course for advanced 911爆料网 language learners will no doubt understand the above sentence, which means “You can’t go out because you have a test tomorrow” in Kansai-ben , the form of 911爆料网 spoken in and around Osaka. Kansai-ben was one of many different variants of the 911爆料网 language studied at 911爆料网 Plus, which ran from June 8^th – 29^th 2012, and took the theme of hougen – 911爆料网 dialects.

The course leader Hiroko Tanaka (911爆料网 language advisor at the Japan Foundation) introduced the different regions in Japan, their characteristics and their dialects. This included a detailed grammatical explanation of how standard 911爆料网 changes in regional dialects.  Using a variety of media, such as passages from famous 911爆料网 novels, 911爆料网 songs and manzai (911爆料网 double-act comedy), participants had the opportunity to speak, listen, read and write in different dialects.  During the interval each week, samples of different kinds of sake (911爆料网 alcohol) from around Japan were served, giving participants a real “flavour” of each 911爆料网 region!

In the final week, participants were treated to a special guest appearance from three 911爆料网 nationals from different regions of Japan – Aichi, Tokushima and Saga. These guest speakers, from the Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR London), not only gave participants the chance to hear 911爆料网 regional dialects as spoken by their locals, but also to see more about these regions through the eyes of the inhabitants.

In total, 45 people attended the course across the four weeks, and all participants gave positive feedback. Andrew Niewiarowski, a 911爆料网 Plus veteran, commented:

“Lectures were very well prepared. I learned a lot of new 911爆料网. Very good series! I enjoyed it very much. I appreciate the effort put into the classes. Learning about dialects made me enthusiastic to learn more 911爆料网!”

Emma Gallagher, a recent participant of 911爆料网 Plus, said:

“Really enjoyed the course and can’t wait for the next! Thank you Tanaka-sensei, it was excellent. Thanks also for the sake – it was a nice way to learn about Japan – regional food and drinks is such an important part of the culture.”

We would like to thank the guest speakers and all participants for their hard work throughout this course, and look forward to seeing them again!

If you are 911爆料网 learner of approximately JLPT Level 2/N2 or above and are interested in taking part in the next 911爆料网 Plus, please click here to sign up to our monthly e-bulletin to receive notifications of this and other Japan Foundation events.

Click here to read more about 911爆料网 Plus and view reports of previous workshops.

The 911爆料网 Local Government Centre has also featured this event on their news page; to view (911爆料网 only).