Promoting Local Bed and Breakfasts to Japanese Tourists Visiting
the
DC-Metropolitan Area
Japanese Brochure-Making Module in the
GW-CIBER
JAPN 122W Spring 2009
Mitsuyo Sato (satom@gwu.edu)
and Shoko Hamano (hamano@gwu.edu)
Goal
The goal of this module was to produce Japanese brochures
promoting Washington DC-Metropolitan area Bed and Breakfast inns (B&B) for
Japanese tourists and to distribute them to local Japanese businesses and
organization for promotional purposes.
In achieving this goal it was expected that the project
would give
students an opportunity to apply their language skills to a tangible business
task outside the classroom while providing service to local businesses and
enhancing the sense of community between the local community and a university
classroom.
The
students would also learn common hospitality-industry vocabulary and
expressions as well as cultural differences between
American B&B and minshuku, a Japanese equivalent of B&B.
Further,
it was hoped that through corresponding with Japanese professionals and
preparing commercial brochures the students would improve their skills with the
Japanese honorific language, an essential component of Business Japanese.
Class
Japanese
122 (Advanced Conversation & Composition II) is a 3-credit course for
fourth-year Japanese students. The students must have taken Japanese 121
(Advanced Conversation & Composition I) or must have spent at least a
semester in Japan and demonstrate an equivalent ability in conversation and
writing skills.
The
class focuses on productive skills at the extended discourse level and
topic-specific practice on commonly used speech patterns and writing formats.
The class met twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes
between January 13 and April 28, 2009 for 15 weeks.
Time Table
The project took the first 5 weeks of the Spring Semester
(January 13 to February 17, 2009) and one additional day for group
presentations of the brochures.
Participants in the Project
Instructor Preparation
Before this module started, the instructor did the
preparations in the following areas:
For class instruction
For the brochures
Finding reviewers of the brochres
Identifying outlets for the brochures
StudentsÕ Tasks
Class Schedule
Week |
Task |
Quiz, Composition, Assignment |
1 |
Explain
overview of the project. Reading 1 (various types of accommodations in Japan (ホテルと旅館の違い and 民宿とは from ウィキペディア 全日本百科全書).
Discuss the difference and similarity of B&B and minshuku. Discuss
various types of accommodations in America (e.g. hotel, B&B, motel, guest
house). Make a list of words which are used frequently on minshuku website (宿ネット(http://www.yadonet.ne.jp/index.shtml), 楽天トラベル ペンション・民宿予約(http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/pension/). ぶらり日本の旅 旅館・民宿・ホテル検索(http://www.burari.biz/). The words list was
categorized under Facilities, Sightseeing, Money,Transportation, Contact,
Food, Frequently-used verbs and Others (handout) |
Vocabulary
Quiz from Reading 1 |
2 |
Reading
2 (observation on hotels in America from a Japanese who works in American
hotels, 私が見たアメリカのホテルHotel
in USA (http://appleworld.com/aal/bbs/column/hotel_in_usa/index.html)) |
Vocabulary
Quiz from Reading 2 |
3 |
Discuss
sightseeing places in DC to include in |
Each
group starts to make the first draft of the brochure |
4 |
Learn
how to write a formal letter in Japanese (handout). Review Japanese
honorifics |
Composition
Assignment: write an email to introduce yourself to a Japanese professional
(rewrite after the instructorʼs
correction) |
5 |
Peer-review
the first draft of the brochure |
Redo
the first draft based on peer-review |
6 |
Presentation
of the final draft of the brochure |
Composition
Assignment: write a formal letter to a Japanese organization (rewrite after
the instructorʼs correction) |
Product Samples
Brochure 1
Brochure 2
Brochure 3
Brochure 4
Brochure 5
Brochure 6
Brochure 7