After living in Japan for over a decade, John Clayton is using his mastery of Japanese to teach the next generation of Kentucky Governor’s Scholars the spoken and written aspects of this language.
Scholars in the Japanese Language and Culture focus area have spent the last two weeks learning Hiragana, one of the three writing systems used in Japan. On Tuesday, they got to practice this new skill by writing one of the most famous haikus in Japanese history.
The haiku, titled “Old Pond” and written by Matsuo Basho, is known for the variety of translations it has. Scholars got to see the different versions people have come up with over the years, and Japanese was heard throughout the room as the class practed reciting the haiku. The haiku goes as follows:
Furu ike ya
Kawazu tobikomu
Mizu no oto
Photographer: Grace Conley
Students speaking Japanese wasn’t the only sound coming from this group. Laughter rang through the room as John came around to correct writing, fixing the students’ errors and telling them the nonsense translations their mistakes created. There wasn’t any shame in making a mistake; everyone was having a great time, working together and helping each other with the assignment.
This activity helped to show the level of growth students have had in this subject in just a few weeks. Scholars were able to explain how different characters worked, special circumstances where they could be used, and when different writing systems were used in the language. They also practiced reading from different styles, such as cursive Japanese.
One student spoke about how one thing different about Japanese culture is how polite they are. Personal information and stories are rarely told, even to close friends.
The Japanese Language and Culture focus group is excited to see what the following weeks will hold, and look forward to deepening their understanding of this unique area of learning.
Photographer: Grace Conley
Ready to learn more about our other focus areas at Murray GSP? Click below to read about the next one!
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