Strength and Mysteriousness of Japanese

I read the book “Kanji and Japanese,” which I bought at bazaar last month. When we write a Japanese sentence, the sentence is a mixture of Kanji and Hiragana. Only a blend of both Kanji and Hiragana can make the sentences. Moreover, each character of Kanji has meaning. We cannot recognize the meaning of Kanji if we just hear the sound in isolation of the sentence. Hiragana, on the other hand, does not have meaning in each character, but it does have meaning unique in its sounds. Only Japanese is this way.
For example, if you hear “katei no mondai” in Japanese, you must guess ”katei” 『家庭(family)』『課程(process)』『仮定(Assumption)』by hearing the other word in the sentence. We must hear the context in order to derive meaning. It is normal for us, but it is also weird. In most other languages, we can get meaning just by hearing the sentences. In Japanese, we need to get the meaning of Kanji to understand the each kanji character’s meaning. Maybe this is the tough part of learning Japanese, but it is also a good hint for how one must learn it.

Mr. Koji Shimada visited at JLSP

Our former council member, Mr. Koji Shimada and his wife visited us at JLSP on October 14, 2017.

 

He dedicated our Japanese School

in the beginning. Also, he led JLSP to use Friends central school.

Mr. Shimada talked with our council member. During the fire drill, he talked with students.

4th graders interviewed him about the history of JLSP, which he answered.

The Connection between Friends Central School and JLSP

In the early Meiji era, two students from Japan, Ms. Umeko Tsuda, Mr. Kanzo Uchimura, became friends with Mrs. Mary Morris. Later, Mrs. Mary Morris held a Quaker meeting for the Japanese students every first Saturday at her house. She treated the Japanese students very nicely. This meeting became “Grand Central Station” for Japanese students in Philadelphia. In the middle building of FCS, more Japanese people in Philadelphia gathered. These included such people as Mr. Hideyo Noguchi, Mr. Jo Niijima, and Mr. Shinpei Goto.
Originally, JLSP started at church in October 1972, with 16 Japanese students. Later, we moved to Friends Central School in April 1984.

CHANGE of School Day

Due to a Friend’s Central School meeting, which will now be held on Saturday, November 11, we cannot use the school. Instead, we will have class on Sunday, November 12. Thank you for your understanding.

 

Kanji Proficiency Test

If you have applied, do not forget to take the test.
Please check the date, the time, and the class for your Kanji Proficiency grade.

Grade 2-7 Main Building 2nd floor, room #20
8:05-9:05

Grade 8-10 Main Building 2nd floor, room#22
8:10-8:50