Japanese signs at Kanji Club, 注意!

15 July 2021

We had great fun at Kanji Club in June with our theme of signage, looking at lots of really interesting and quirky signs, reading and pronouncing the vocab and sentences. We wrote some common ones such as 注意 chuui be careful! And Blair showed folk the origins of the kanji character parts and radicals in these fascinating and meaningful kanji.

Many thanks to the participants who sent pictures! Including those of deer martial arts and assassin fish amongst more sensible ones such as indicating the way to the rest room.

Some of the kanji we had at for the quiz were 田 den – field、心 shin – heart/mind、立 ritsu stand、音 on -sound、忠 chuu – loyalty、and we had some compound words too.

The next date is August 9th, see you then, matene またね! 
https://kanji-club-aug-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

お弁当 Obento lunchbox fun, here we go!

3 June 2021

We had a 美味しい oishii tasty foodie theme of Obento lunchbox and takeaway meal at our May Kanji Club! 🍙

Looking at our own example obento box and how to use it got the group started  🍱🥢 This has been enjoyed and used many times! 😊

The old meanings from China related to the Japanese word Obento お弁当 , as well as the pictorial parts of each kanji were very interesting to explore. We wrote the kanji, learning the stroke order and pronunciation also, and the radicals. Then we practiced some vocabulary related to eating, such as ekiben rail station obento, and in our jigsaw like quiz we looked at how several kanji were created from a single radical, and had some fun playing around with the kanji pieces. Thanks to participants for sending photos.

See the next event date

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

Discovering the meanings of Hanami 花見

4 May 2021

At our April Kanji Club group, we celebrated Spring with Hanami 花見, the Japanese custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, often cherry blossoms. 

We explored the visual meanings of the two kanji and sounds, as well as some other kanji characters and their radical parts, and we practiced related vocabulary. Also we enjoyed our lighthearted kanji quiz which helped bring sounds, connections and meanings to each of the kanji parts and so make more sense when brought together as various kanji. 

Also we read some kanji, katakana and hiragana in sweets packaging Blair had collected – the cute and sugary Koala’s March! 

The next date is May 10th (the second Monday of the month), here is the Eventbrite link –
https://kanji-club-may-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

Celebrating 雛祭り Hinamatsuri at Kanji Club

1 April 2021

The theme for March was 雛祭り Hinamatsuri Dolls’ Festival. Otsukaresamadeshita – well done to those who joined! 

Hinamatsuri was on March 3rd – it is a popular festival known as the Girls’ Festival or Dolls’ Festival. Impressive carpeted platforms display beautiful ornamental dolls of the Emperor, Empress, knights, musicians and offerings in Heian period clothes – most households have one, and some of them can be really large and colourful. 

After Blair discussed the kanji and history and meanings and sounds, we wrote them in kanji and also hiragana, and looked at the the parts of the kanji and the radicals, before enjoying some related vocabulary practice and then fun quiz time with some very varied kanji and words.

Tanoshikatta ne – and we hope you also enjoyed it! 

Please join us at any of our Kanji Club groups on zoom, you don’t need any language or writing experience.

Our next online session by Zoom↓😉
Monday 12th April 7.00pm – 8.30pm UTC+1
https://kanji-club-apr-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

The last day of winter 節分 Setsubun

1 March 2021

At our cultural and language group Kanji Club on zoom we enjoyed marking 節分 Setsubun – the end of winter in the Japanese calendar – even although many of us had snow and ice where we were! 

A couple of us followed tradition and threw some cooked beans at demons to keep out the bad luck and bring in good fortune. In Japanese culture oni demons are much loved, often cute with horns and red bodies.

We learned about the parts of each kanji character, and how to write them in Kanji (Chinese characters, also used in Japan) and Japanese Hiragana. We also practiced pronunciation of this and the chosen vocabulary for the month, before Blair brought out the fun and educational Kanji Quiz game!

Our next online session by Zoom↓😉
Monday 8th March 7.00pm – 8.30pm UTC+0
https://kanji-club-mar-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

Discovering Japanese and Chinese characters at 漢字 Kanji Club

2 February 2021

The theme for our first Kanji Club was お正月 Oshougatsu – New Year! It was a lively and lovely group, thanks to everyone who took part and embracing the language and cultural elements of the class.

We learned about Japanese and Chinese characters, finding out from Blair how to engage with them, and looking at the fascinating history and evolution of styles over thousands of years. 

We had time for our writing practice, and vocabulary related to New Year and the chosen kanji for the group, and our enjoyable kanji quiz game which opens up the meanings and sounds of the characters. 

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club