In Kumon Japanese, you will learn the concept of "contraction" between the G and L materials. The word "summary" appears in all Japanese language materials, but the word "contraction" may be unfamiliar to you. In this article, we will try to understand what kind of skills Kumon is trying to help you acquire by organizing the concept of "contraction" that you will learn in Kumon Japanese.
Difference between "contraction" and "summary
The word "contraction" is not an original word of Kumon, but a general term. Let's check the meaning with a dictionary.
To reduce the size of something and make it simpler. Also, the thing itself.
The nuance is similar to "summary," with one major difference. While "summary" is mainly used for texts, "contraction" is used for something other than texts.
When "summarizing," it is similar to extracting important sentences. The more logically structured a document is, the more likely it is to have a specific place in the structure where the theme of the entire document or paragraphs can be written. Summarizing is the process of extracting the important sentences, and it is particularly powerful in Western-style papers.
On the other hand, "condensation" has a stronger nuance of "shrinking" than "extracting. For example, the aspect ratio of an image or map is also called a scale, and the word "condense" has the image of reducing the size of the scale to summarize the entire text.
There are many texts that do not fit the Western format, such as narrative texts, essays, and Japanese (Asian) papers written a long time ago. Even if it is structurally impossible to extract important sentences from such texts, it is possible to shrink them. It can be said that "contraction" is a technique that can be used to understand a wider range of texts.
Contraction" in Kumon Japanese
So how is "contraction" handled in Kumon Japanese?
Contractions" are covered in the six Kumon Japanese courses (GII, HII, III, J, K, and L), with G to I covering single sentences, and J to L covering contractions based on both material and critical texts.
It is noteworthy that the material from J onward deals with multiple sentences. In examinations, most questions deal with single sentences, and the degree of difficulty depends on the difficulty and quantity of the sentences. However, once you advance to the university level, you will have to read and comprehend the texts while referring to previous studies and experimental results.
In the first place, most of the texts you read in real life are not as complete as a thesis. Books published by publishers are often formatted differently than papers, and news and blogs are even more broken. News and blogs are even more broken up, and emails and chats are even more incomplete and fragmented, but you are much more likely to read them in your work.
Let's use "contractions" to acquire more practical reading comprehension skills!
I have mentioned the concept of "contraction" handled in Kumon Japanese. While most general Japanese language studies often deal with "summary," "contraction" is unique in that it covers a wider variety of texts. Although some have questioned whether or not Kumon's unique approach can truly help students acquire reading comprehension skills, the reading skills that Kumon aims to have students acquire are rather more extensive and practical than those of other materials.
This attitude is clearly expressed in the theme of "contraction.