At what grade level are Kumon Japanese J materials?
Kumon Japanese J is the equivalent of the first year of high school.
Kumon has a group called "J Friends" for students who have completed the J materials, and this material is a milestone for them. In addition, students who have completed this material in the first year of junior high school can receive a trophy as a "highly advanced learner.
What kind of material is Kumon Japanese J?
From Kumon Japanese A to I, each material is divided into two parts, I and II, and it is necessary to complete 400 printouts to advance one letter of the alphabet.
Let's check the official information about the Kumon J materials.
The Kumon J materials form the solid groundwork for a new learning stage called "critical reading based on material study. Acquire the ability to accurately grasp the point of view and areas of reference of the author (critic) of the source text. Cultivate the skill of "summarizing arguments, etc., while also accurately citing the source texts.
While the first two materials deal with modern Japanese, the J materials include material from the classical Japanese. The explanations, however, focus more on developing critical reading comprehension skills by viewing ancient texts as "source texts" rather than focusing on vocabulary and grammar of ancient texts.
The J materials have many elements that are surprising.
The most significant topic is the change in genre from modern to kobun (ancient Japanese).
Although kobun is written in the same Japanese as modern Japanese, it is not the kind of text that can be read by anyone who can read Japanese. No matter how much you like to read, it is unlikely that you will be able to read the original texts of The Tale of Genji or The Pillow Book. The meanings of the words and the assumed knowledge are quite different, even though they are extensions of modern Japanese. If you have ever memorized words from ancient Japanese, you have probably realized that it is a completely different language.
The J materials are a different kind of language, and it is important to note that the vocabulary of the kobun is different from that of the kobun.
It is important to note that there is no part of the course that requires memorization of ancient vocabulary.
In most cases, Kumon is the first time for children who study the J materials to read kobun in earnest. When learning a new language, whether English or Japanese, it is standard practice to start with simple words and sentences and gradually increase the difficulty level. However, rather than starting with less difficult passages, the J-textbook takes the approach of presenting modern translations at the same time as the kobun.
Some believe that this is more specific to the study of kobun than to kobun. It is true that there are few cases in which students begin their study of the kobun by memorizing vocabulary. However, in school classes, the approach is often to translate each sentence into the modern language. In the process of translation, vocabulary and grammar are explained, and reading comprehension and knowledge acquisition are gradually advanced. Since they are not completely different languages, it can be said that learning by actually reading is an orthodox learning method.
Kumon goes one step further from here, dealing with multiple paragraphs from the beginning material. It is very difficult to give children the opportunity to read a lot of ancient texts, and it is unlikely that they will be as interested in this field as they are in modern literature, but in Kumon's J materials, students can read a whole series of famous ancient texts. The amount of reading of ancient texts is one of the main characteristics of Kumon's ancient texts.
Kumon encourages students to read a lot in the early stages of their study of the ancient Japanese language.
Then, why is it possible for Kumon to handle a large number of texts from the beginning of the study of the ancient Japanese language? The reason lies in the reading comprehension skills cultivated up to I material.
In addition to differences in vocabulary and grammar, there is another major barrier in reading ancient Japanese. That is cultural differences. Even if you could understand the meaning of the text, the environment and circumstances in which people lived a thousand years ago are completely different from those of a thousand years ago. In an age when we can connect with people all over the world via cell phones, there is no way that we can easily understand people who communicate with each other through waka poems.
Therefore, it is usually necessary to devote more energy to understanding the cultural background than to reading the text itself. In many cases, even in school, you will spend more time on the background of the text than on the meaning of the text itself. Many people have experienced that an hour-long class can end with just one page of text.
However, those who have studied Kumon materials up to this point have become accustomed to the different nature of Kumon. Although there have been no instances of ancient texts in the Kumon materials up to this point, your child has still come this far by reading texts in science, literature, and other fields that have their own unique "difficulty" in reading.
Therefore, the "difficulty" of reading ancient texts, the act of reading texts written by people with different backgrounds, is something that has already been addressed in the course materials up to this point. Therefore, it is not "easy," but it is something that we have already done before, to read and understand these texts while struggling with them.
Be aware of the unexpectedness of the J materials and be prepared for it!
The attitude that parents should take in light of the above is not to make more fuss than necessary about the fact that they have begun to deal with ancient Japanese texts.
From the parent's point of view, they will be surprised at the sudden appearance of ancient Japanese. Even parents who have been studying Kumon up to the J-learning materials will be upset when they suddenly find a large amount of text without having memorized vocabulary and grammar. Some parents may feel that this may be too much and want to give additional materials, and some may even have doubts about Kumon Japanese itself.
This is especially true if you are a parent who is thinking of taking an entrance examination. After all, there is basically no ancient Japanese for junior high school and high school entrance examinations. It is also undeniable that ancient and Chinese texts are rarely used outside of the entrance examinations. No matter how you look at it, parents will be less motivated than when they were mainly focusing on modern literature. It is easy for them to move on to other study materials if they are in no hurry to move on any further.
However, it has been explained so far that the child is not as similar as the parents think. For children who have developed a tolerance for different texts, reading ancient texts may be difficult, but the difficulty itself is not unknown to them.
And the ancient and Chinese literature is one of the least burdensome subjects in the university entrance examinations. They can be tricky subjects if you underestimate them because they are Japanese, or if you are not good at them, but once you get used to them, you can use them as a weapon at an early stage. In examinations, knowledge and comprehension of texts are often required, and the ability to think and apply knowledge is not often required in the subject of ancient Japanese literature. Kumon emphasizes the basics in all subjects, so it is a subject that is a good match.
Although the J materials deal with ancient texts, children have acquired the ability to cope with them. Recognizing this, parents should watch their children's efforts so that they do not fall prey to skepticism.