​In recent Japanese lessons, PLC and SLC students learned how to celebrate success and encourage themselves using Japanese expressions. We focused on the positive celebration words やった！ (Yatta! – Horray / I made it!) and できた！(Dekita! – I did it / I can do it!) to build confidence and a sense of achievement in learning.
Students first used playdough to trace the shapes of these Japanese words, strengthening their fine motor skills while becoming familiar with the character forms. After this hands-on practice, they moved on to tracing hiragana for the first time, carefully following the strokes and direction.
Each time students completed a trace, they celebrated with a special class gesture — raising both fists — and proudly called out “Yatta!” or “Dekita!” together. This routine helped connect language learning with positive emotion, effort, and achievement.
Through learning how to celebrate success in Japanese, students developed early writing confidence, persistence, and joyful engagement with new language skills.

In recent Japanese lessons, YYLC and CLC students explored how to use Japanese “kind words” during cooperative learning. They practised saying and applying “ありがとう (thank you)”, “すみません (sorry/excuse me)”, and “だいじょうぶ / 大丈夫 (are you okay / it’s okay)” while working with classmates, helping to build respectful and supportive communication in group tasks.
 
Students were also introduced to the Japanese four-panel comic format known as **yonkoma**. They learned the traditional story structure “起承転結” (ki-shō-ten-ketsu):
 
Ki (起) – setting the scene
Shō (承) – developing the situation
Ten (転) – an unexpected turn or climax
Ketsu (結) – the conclusion and reflection
 
After learning this structure, students created their own mini comics using Japanese kind words in the dialogue. Through this process, they deepened their understanding of Japanese culture and storytelling style and produced many humorous and creative works that showed both language learning and collaboration skills.

​Recently, YYLC and CLC students explored Japanese reading order and applied their understanding by creating mini comics using Japanese kind words. Meanwhile, PLC students practised tracing Japanese characters and celebrated their learning with the encouraging words “やった！ (Yatta!)” and “できた！ (Dekita!)”, positively recognising their effort and achievement.