漢字しりとり　("Kanji" Shiritori Game)

「みなとGlady」では「しりとり」を良くします。平仮名・カタカナをマスターして様々な言葉（単語）をある程度学んだ子どもたちと「しりとり」をします。
日本語を勉強し始めた子どもたちにとって「言葉（単語）」をどれだけ多くマスターしたかは「勲章」の様なものです。

受験の時に「英語○○語　暗記ブック」なんてものを毎日必死にやって○○語も覚えたぞ！と私も随分やりました。
数・量は一つの力、自信になるのです。
でもそれを単に「今日は○語覚えた、明日は○語覚えるぞ！」というのでは、まさに受験勉強（私の４０年前？）と同じ。少なくとも小学生や中学生には単に数をたくさん覚えた！ということではなく、その言葉（単語）を知っているから「しりとり」ゲームで勝てた！、そしてこんなに日本語ができる様になった！と感じて欲しい！と思っています。

「しりとり」ゲームにはそんな魅力があるのです。平仮名のしりとりでは、しりとりが強くなってきなぁという子どもには少し意地悪をします。
例えば「〜る」で終わる言葉をたくさん見つけて、相手にぶつけます。
なぜなら「る」で始まる言葉は「ルアー」「ルーツ」「ルール」「ルーレット」と、そもそも少ないので！　

そんな小さな意地悪をすると子どもはそれに気づいて、それはそれで楽しみます。
そして必死になって、知っている限りの色々な言葉を言ってくるのです。それで良いと思っています。
だって「しりとり」の勝ち負けが目的ではなくて、楽しく「日本語」を勉強することが目的だから！　
あの意地悪な先生に勝つために、「もっと日本語の単語を勉強しておくぞ！」と思ってもらったら、それで良いのです。

そして平仮名・カタカナの学習が終わり、「漢字」もある程度は学び始めた子どもたちには「漢字しりとり」をトライします。
「漢字しりとり」は漢字を次から次へと繋げていくゲーム！
漢字を楽しみながらマスターしてもらうには一つの良い教材（？）だと思っております。

子どもたちは時に画面の向こうでこっそり辞書や携帯？を使って漢字を調べているのかな？と思う時があります。
子どもの視線が下を向いていたり、一時的に画面をオフにされて、かつ少し時間がかかり、この単語は流石に知らないだろう！という言葉まで出てくることがあるので…！　
でも、もちろんそれでOK!　
むしろ辞書や携帯で言葉を調べようと、自分からトライしてくれるのであれば指導としては成功では！と考えています。

そして１レッスン終わる頃には沢山の言葉、単語の山が画面上に溢れます。
それを一つ一つ再確認すると子どもたちの目には少し自信が生まれた様に見えます。

「みなとGlocal」のレッスンはたかだか「２５分」。「２５分」で教えられることなど、本当に限られています。
でも、その「２５分」を楽しく充実させた時間にして、「なんだ！日本語の勉強って簡単じゃん！」「日本語の勉強楽しい！」「自分でやってみよう！」と思ってもらえるように頑張ります。

"Minato Glocal" enjoys "Shiritori" Game. We play "Shiritori'' game with children who have mastered hiragana and katakana and have learned various words to some extent.
For children who have started studying Japanese, the number of words they have mastered is like a medal.

When I took the entrance exam, I desperately tried to use something like the "English ○○ memorization book" every day and even memorized ○○ words! And I did it quite a lot.
Numbers and quantities are a source of strength and confidence.
But if you simply say, "Today I memorized XX words, tomorrow I'll remember XX words!'', it's exactly the same as studying for entrance exams (as I did 40 years ago?).
At least for elementary school and junior high school students, it is not enough that they simply memorized a lot of numbers of Japanese words!
I hope that they feel it is key point to win the "Shiritori" game with mastering a lot of Japanese words , and I expect them that they feel "I have mastered Japanese words a lot" and "I can speak Japanese so much!"

That's the charm of the "Shiritori" game. In the Hiragana version of Shiritori, I am a bit mean to children whose Shiritori is getting stronger.
For example, find a lot of words that end in "～"ru(る)"" and share them to children.
This is because there are very few words that start with "ru(る)", such as "rure(るあー)", "roots(るーつ)", "rule(るーる)", and "roulette(るーれっと)"!

If you do something small like that, a lot of children will notice it and enjoy it.
Then, in desperation, they will say all the words they know.
I think that's fine. Because the purpose is not to win or lose in Shiritori, but to have fun studying Japanese!
If you have them to have strong mind to win over that such a mean teacher, and to make them think, "I'll study more Japanese words!'' That's fine! Wonderful!

Then next stage, for children who have finished learning hiragana and katakana and have begun to learn some Kanji, we try "Kanji shiritori.'' "Kanji Shiritori" is a game where you connect Kanji one after another! I think this is a good teaching material (?) for helping students master Kanji while having fun.

Some children seem sometimes secretly to use dictionaries or cellphones behind the Zoom screen.
Why I think so is that the children's eyes are looking down, and/or they sometimes temporarily turned off the screen, and I am surprised because such children answer some too difficult Japanese words which even Japanese doesn't know!
But, of course, that's OK!, I believe.
In fact, as long as they try to look up the word in a dictionary or on their cell phone, I think it is a success as my lesson!

By the end of one lesson, a lot of words and a mountain of vocabulary will be overflowing on the screen.
If you reconfirm each of these with them, you will see a little bit of confidence in the children's eyes.

"Minato Glocal" lesson is just 25 minutes.
There are really only so limited things you can teach in 25 minutes.
However, if you turn that 25 minutes into a fun and fulfilling time for children, you will have them to think, "What! Studying Japanese is so easy!'' "Studying Japanese is very fun!'' "Let's try it on our own!''

I will try my best to do so!

(*1="Shiritori" is one of Japanese word games in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the ending kana of the previous word. Basic rules are follows. 1,Two or more people take turns to play. 2,Only nouns are permitted basically. 3,A player who plays a word ending in the N (ん) loses the game. 4,Words may not be repeated again.

投稿　みなとGlocal 　岩渕 拡嗣　（Minato Glocal Koji Iwabuchi)