3rd Grade Arithmetic – Circles

I recently saw this video from Haichi Toaru (@haichi_toaru) referenced online as an example of 3rd grade math in Japan. At first glance, the whiteboard looks a little intimidating, with so much kanji and geometry packed on screen at once, but I think Toaru-sensei is pretty great and this is not only appropriate for a 3rd grader, but a fun lesson for an adult learner of Japanese to pick up on some new geometry-related vocabulary.

Maybe it’s because we emphasize math at our house so much and because our 3rd grader happens to be a natural, but this seems totally appropriate for that age.

Let’s break it down. First, some vocabulary

KanjiHiraganaEnglish
算数さんすうarithmetic
えんcircle (or Japanese Yen)
かたちshape
てんpoint
半径はんけいradius
直径ちょっけいdiameter
赤いあかいred
青いあおいblue
せんline
まん中まんなかmiddle
中心ちゅうしんcenter
長さながさlength
2倍2ばいdouble

Now, let’s have a look at the white board in English:

English version of the circle lesson

After Toaru-sensei has gone through the lesson, the whiteboard looks something more like this:

Answers for the English version of the circle lesson

After seeing this video online, I’ve been going through Toaru-sensei’s other videos and plan on going through some with my children in the future.

Transitive / Intransitive Pair: 落とす / 落ちる

Let’s face it. Things are going to get dropped, intentionally or not. It’s important to know how to describe it using the transitive / intransitive verb pair 落とす / 落ちる (おとす / おちる), meaning to drop.  Here are a few examples to illustrate their usage.

Vocabulary

KanjiKanaEnglish
そとoutside
ぬいぐるみstuffed animal
コップcup
leaves
かみpaper
つくえdesk
かれhe
剃るそるto shave
ひげbeard
スピードspeed

Examples

As always, note the use of を in the transitive case.

Transitive – 落とす (おとす)

外でぬいぐるみを落とした。 You dropped the stuffed animal outside.

コップを落とさないように気をつけて。Be careful not to drop the cup.

Intransitive – 落ちる (おちる)

葉が落ちた。The leaves fell.

紙が机から落ちました。A paper fell from the desk.

Other Uses

Note that in additional to the common use of 落とす / 落ちる to mean drop or lose, there are other uses you’ll encounter in different domains. For example:

彼はひげを剃り落とした。 He shaved off his beard.

スピードを落としよう。 Let’s slow down.

Transitive / Intransitive Pair: 脱ぐ / 脱げる

Another Transitive / Intransitive verb pair that comes up a lot in parenting is 脱ぐ / 脱げる (ぬぐ / ぬげる), meaning to undress.  Here are a few examples to illustrate their usage.

Vocabulary

KanjiKanaEnglish
シャワーshower
水着みずぎswimsuit / bathing suit
何でなんでwhy
靴下くつしたsocks
くつshoes
玄関げんかんentrance
かれhe
片方かたほうone of a pair

Examples

As always, note the use of を in the transitive case.

Transitive – 脱ぐ (ぬぐ)

何で靴下を脱ぎましたか? Why did you take off your socks?

水着を脱いでシャワーを浴びて下さい。Please take off your swimsuit and get in the shower.

玄関で靴を脱がなければなりません。  You must take off your shoes at the entrance.

Intransitive – 脱げる (ぬげる)

彼の片方の靴が脱げた。One of his shoes came off

Transitive / Intransitive Pair: 集める / 集まる

One Transitive / Intransitive pair that I’ve seen come up a lot since becoming a parent is 集める / 集まる (あつめる / あつまる), meaning to gather or collect.  Here are a few examples to illustrate their usage.

Vocabulary

KanjiHiraganaEnglish
積み木つみきblock
玩具おもちゃtoy
はこbox
彼女かのじょshe
はなflower
靴下くつしたsocks
明日あしたtomorrow
子供こどもchildren
公園こうえんpark

Examples

Transitive – 集める

積み木を集めて下さい。 Please gather up the blocks.

玩具を集めて箱に入れて下さい。Please collect the toys and put them in the box.

彼女は花を集めています。  She is gathering flowers.

Intransitive – 集まる

靴下が集まった。The socks were gathered together.

明日集まりましょう。 Let’s get together tomorrow.

子供は公園で集まりました。 The children gathered in the park.

そっくり

If you spend any time around kids, you’re bound to run into the phrase そっくり which translates to “the spitting image of” or “looks just like.” Japanese friends who know our our older son will be frequently shocked when they see our younger son and react with something like「お兄ちゃんにそっくりだ」noting that our younger son is the spitting image of his older brother.

I’ve also seen this phrase in the アニメ絵本 (anime picture book) of 「魔女うの宅急便」(Kiki’s Delivery Service). In particular, the scene where Kiki’s first customer asks her to deliver a bird cage containing a stuffed animal that happens to look just like her own black cat, Jiji. The word そっくり is used in the following sentence:

かごの中には、ジジとそっくりなくろねこのぬいぐるみがはいっています。

This translates to something like “Inside the cage, there was a black cat stuffed animal that looked just like Jiji.”


似る

When it comes to resemblance, you may also encounter the verb 似る which means “to resemble.” For example, to say that someone’s little sister greatly resembles her mother, you could say:

妹は母によく似ています。