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Learn Japanese and about Japanese culture with JapanesePod101.com. While you’re making plans for spring break, Japanese students are getting ready to graduate! Today we introduce to what’s going on in Japan. Don’t miss today’s edition of JapanesePod101.com’s JCC!
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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 18th, 2006 at 10:27 am and is filed under Japanese Culture Classes . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
33 Responses to “Japanese Culture Class #11 - Graduation!”
Saturday at 10:49 am
皆さん (mina-san), hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! We are aiming to get the release time back on track next week. よろしくお願いします!Yoroshiku, onegai shimasu!
Kanji close-up due out Monday.
Saturday at 11:20 am
Wow, did Sakura show me up!!!
Go Sakura!
Saturday at 11:33 am
Sakura showed you up?…
And I wish we also had something like that of a graduation in Israel. Here, we only shake the hand of the principal in a big hall, with people, like parents and such, watching and get our diplomas…. After that, everyone goes to a “graduation party”, which is basically an excuse to get drunk and get high… (hey, don’t look at me, I don’t do any of that)
Saturday at 12:51 pm
Lots of interesting information about graduating today! Also, I never heard of the Daphne plant until today, even in English, but I looked it up and there are apparently 95 species of it all over Asia, Europe and northern Africa!
Also, we don’t get anything near as grand as either America or Japan for graduation in England. For secondary school, we didn’t do anything, nor did we do anything for college. There is a graduation ceremony for people at university, with the robes etc, though.
Also, we never got year books. The only thing which was kind of close to what Peter said is in secondary school, on the last day of term, people wear their worst school uniform shirt, and they get everyone in their year to sign it (there’s only 150 people in each year, if anyone reading has thousands!). That’s quite good to go back and read over, and it’s also a good symbol as after secondary school there is no school uniform any more.
Saturday at 12:58 pm
Another super-interesting culture class.
“It’s a miracle!!” Hahaha. That was great, Peter!
Just one quick question about the Japanese school year. If the school year starts in April and ends in March, how long are the vacations in between? It seems like a really long school year, so I’m curious about whether or not there are any long vacations.
By the way, I received my Namie Amuro “Space of Hip Pop” Concert DVD yesterday, and it was great!! Any other Amuro fans here? I love listening to J-Pop. I think my iPod has more Japanese than American music on it!
As a good tip for anyone wanting to improve their Japanese pronunciation, I strongly suggest listening to Japanese music, learning the words, and singing along! It really helps!
Saturday at 1:32 pm
Suge-! You guys have more lessons now than I know what to do with!
I want to get started on them right away!
You guys do so well!
がんばってくださいよ!
Saturday at 2:48 pm
あぁぁぁぁ。このレッスンは色々(いろいろ)なことを思(おも)い出(だ)させました。懐(なつ)かしいなぁ。(私(わたし)はまだ大学院生(だいがくいんせい)だけど。。。)
I’m from a very small town and even the towns around it aren’t very big either, so our elementary, jr, and high schools were all on the same campus. I guess it could get kinda boring with the same surroundings every year, but I think it helped keep everyone close. Everybody always looked forward to getting their copy of the yearbook.
There was an interesting phenomenon with our school. I don’t know if it’s still this way, but it certainly was when I was in high school. All the classes in high school were really close to both the class right above them and right below them. So when I was a junior, my class was really close with both the seniors and to the sophmores. That was kinda nice, but there was also almost a wall between classes more than a year apart (though I had friend several years younger).
IIRC, when you graduate here in America, you start with the tassle on the right side of your cap. After you shake hands with the principal or dean and get your diploma, you move it to the left side. That may be backwards, but I’m pretty sure that’s right.
When I graduated and got my bachelor’s degree here at college, I borrowed an older cousin’s gown instead of buying one. But it was too long, and when I went up the stage steps to recieve my diploma, I stepped on the bottom of the gown on every step and almost fell down.
So let that be a lesson to any younger people here who haven’t graduated yet. Make sure your gown fits.
We threw our caps in the air when we graduated high school, but not when I graduated college. The ceremony was held for the entire basic sciences department, and there were a LOT of us. So I guess throwing our caps all at the same time would have probably turned into quite a mess.
I don’t know the name of it, but there’s one graduation song they use in just about every anime with a graduation scene. It’s starts “Aogeba tou toshi.”
Peter-san mentioned us having a valedictorian here in America, but we also have a salutatorian who is the student with the 2nd highest grades. They usually both give a speech at the graduation ceremony. We actually had a 3 way tie for valedictorian when I graduated between me and 2 girls.
Remembering all this makes me feel old now. -____-
Saturday at 3:03 pm
Saturday at 4:20 pm
> Wow, did Sakura show me up!!!
Samui, ne!
Saturday at 7:45 pm
Hi! Just came across with this podcast and it is very helpful with my japanese classes. Now I have to catch up three months worth of lessons.
Saturday at 9:34 pm
Nicole, is there any music that you suggest? I’m not too into hip hop, but I would like to listen to some Japanese music. Thank you for any suggestion that you may have.
Saturday at 9:40 pm
Nicole-san, I believe the break between years is a few weeks. I have no idea about the others though, except for Golden Week.
Sharon-san, I’m not Nicole-san but I personally love the pillows and Bonnie Pink.
Saturday at 10:07 pm
Nicole-san,
I don’t think you can hear a word of English on my iPod (aside from the JP101 crew)
It’s probably around 97% Japanese music/podcasts, with a little Thai, French, maybe a couple others. I do like Namie Amuro
And here’s a link for you about the general Japanese school year schedule:
http://www.japan21.org.uk/teachers/schoollinks/japanyear.html
Judif-san,
Welcome to the community!
Jason-san,
That is actually the name of the song, as well - 仰げば尊し (aogeba toutoshi). You can find the lyrics here (with a link to the midi at the top):
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~pst/douyou-syouka/03nihon/aogeba_k.htm
CP-san,
If you’re saying “that’s cold” like we would about an act in English, I think you would use 冷たい (tsumetai). 寒い (samui) is generally only used for weather.
Monica-san,
Tuloy po kayo sa JP101
Sharon-san,
Let me know what kind of music you’re looking for and I’ll try to give you a couple suggestions!
Sunday at 1:40 am
Nathan-san - I don’t suppose you know of any good radio dorama’s? I’m trying to expand the amount of real Japanese broadcasts on my iTunes, and one of them is a dorama, and it’s quite easy for understanding, more easy than a general radio programme. If you have some, can you post the link please? Thank you!
Sunday at 1:40 am
That’s me above, btw, for some reason my email doubled itself!
Sunday at 7:27 am
Sharon-san, I have TONS of music I could suggest! What kind of music do you prefer? Namie Amuro isn’t really Hip Hop (that’s why the name of her album is Hip Pop- it’s a mix between Hip Hop and Pop). As for pop music, I suggest artists like Utada Hikaru, Hamasaki Ayumi, Otsuka Ai, and BoA (they are some of the most popular)among many, many others. I also love Bonnie Pink and I highly recommend her Even So album. You can find any genre you like in Japanese music. If you have a preference, let me know and I would be glad to help you find something you’d like!
Jason-san, thanks for the info. on Japanese school years, and I also love Bonnie Pink!
Nathan-san, our iPods must be related! Mine, too, is mostly Japanese, and I also have Spanish, Russian, French, Korean, and Chinese music sprinkled in. Isn’t variety wonderful?
And thank you for the very helpful link on the Japanese school year!
Sunday at 11:52 am
Hi Sharon-san,
Like yourself I’m interested in japanese music and one of my favourite artists is ‘Utada Hikaru’. I also like a japanese reggae artist called ‘PUSHIM’ and went and saw one of her concerts in Hamamatsu a couple of years ago. Heres a link to her website. Let me know what you thing of her sounds …
http://www.pushim.com/
Mata ne ..
Shannon
Sunday at 12:40 pm
なんて美(うつく)しい歌声(うたごえ)ですね。^_^
Sunday at 8:00 pm
Rob-san,
I don’t have any on-hand, but a quick search came up with this (short-lived though it was):
http://www.voiceblog.jp/robotan/
Also, for Japanese language podcasts, check out the VoiceBlog main site - there are tons to choose from!
Nicole-san,
They must be! If my iPod had more room, I’m sure there would be quite a few more languages on it
And I’m glad you found the link helpful!
Shannon-san,
I listened to a few tracks on the website (the player seemed to have some troubles). It was interesting… seemed like a lot of variety between tracks. It’s always great to hear artists outside of the spotlight
Monday at 4:05 am
Nathan-san: just a note on the samui/tsumetai words. As you said “tsumetai” could be used when someone is “cold”, as in personality etc. But japanese often use “samui” when refering to a bad joke etc. You may have heard “futon ga futtonda”. This has two meanings, “the futon blew away” and “a futon is a futon” (when said out loud, you dont hear the little tsu). If you said this to a japanese person, the reply would probably be “samui!”
Did this make sense?
Jonas
Monday at 4:29 am
Wow! Graduation. I haven’t had one of those in so long I have forgotten what that is like. My last one was over 25 years ago. Yes I am dating myself, but have gotten to the point of not caring anymore.
ネイト
Monday at 2:16 pm
Hi Guys!!!
Haven’t posted in a while, just transfered to another department, with very little internet connection and time for it.
Anyway, Is Monica San from the Philippines as well? Nathan welcomed her in Tagalog. If so, WELCOME KABAYAN!
Before I have the luxury of listening to the podcasts here in the office, now, all I need to do is download it and bring it back home and listen to it.
Mata Ne!
Monday at 5:33 pm
Jonas-san,
Interesting, thanks for pointing that out!
JP-san,
Was wondering where you had been! What department are you in? I assumed Monica was in the Philippines from glancing at her blog, so…
Monday at 11:22 pm
Hi Nathan,
Sorry for not being here lately, I transferred to another department, we don’t really use the internet much so I just sneak in my officemate’s pc from time to time to check the pod!
btw, I was initially with Customercare and recently transferred to Repair. So my time will be more on the “boards” to repair than working on the computer.
Anyway, I’m 3 podcasts late, so I have to catch up early next week. I have exams by friday and on monday, all my projects are due. Totemo Isogashii desu!!!
Btw, the chukyuu lesson was great, until now, I’m still wired to it…
Mata Ne!
JP
Monday at 11:26 pm
…
I thnk she’s, judging from her blog!
Monica, kamusta? Swerte mo sa company mo, pinagpaaral ka para sa JLPT. Saan ka sa Pilipinas?
Translation: How are you Monica? You’re so lucky with your company for being sponsoring your education for this december’s JLPT. Where exactly are you in the Philippines?
Kitakits, (Mata ne!)
JP
Monday at 11:30 pm
correction for the translation:
Translation: How are you Monica? You’re so lucky with your company for sponsoring your education for this december’s JLPT. Where exactly are you in the Philippines?
Mata Wa,
JP
Saturday at 7:18 pm
Alexander-san, thanks for the info on what’s going on in Israel! Keep the posts coming.
Rob-san, thanks for making me feel better about myself!
Nicole-san, they have about a week at the end of April/beginning of May. Next up is summer vacation beginning July 20th (please see the link) through August. Then a winter recess at the end of the year beginning of April, and I believe most of March. I am at University, and our winter break starts around the 17th of December, and I don’t go back until April.
However, I have seen classes going on. Hopefully these two links will help!
http://web-jpn.org/kidsweb/calendar/july/summer-v.html
http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japaneseholidays/a/holidaycalendar.htm
Be back shortly.
Saturday at 7:33 pm
Judif-san, thanks! And we’ve got a whole lot more on the way!
いっしょにがんばりましょう!
Jason-san, amazing post! salutatorian!!!! I never knew that! Please keep your great posts coming!
Monica-san, thanks for stopping by! Thanks for joining the community!
Sindy-san, hello! I am sure lots of graduates appreciated the kind words.
CP-san, she tossed me a beating!
JP-san, great to hear from you!! Give us a more detailed update when you get the chance! Yoroshiku!
Saturday at 7:46 pm
Really? Wow, I thought all American high schools chose both.
Saturday at 9:27 pm
Jason-san, only remember one girl speaking. Maybe the other girl shining her shoes was the salutatorian.
Friday at 10:59 pm
I had not heard of “daphne” either. Japanese seem to know a lot more about flowers than Americans.
I guess the Japanese for “daphne” is 沈丁花 or じんちょうげ。
John
Friday at 12:45 pm
well how appropriate I just graduated yesterday, unfortunately I did online school in my graduating year and could not get the money together to go to the ceremony
Monday at 8:20 am
Sakura san…..aishitteru! You are so cute and quirky
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