What a Relief kits: Teaching Resources based on Japanese in the New Zealand Curriculum

At the beginning of 1999, 'What a Relief' Kits were launched at Massey University's College of Education. The Kits comprise three separate sets of stand-alone lessons with full instructions, worksheets, CDs and more. They were designed originally for use by relief teachers with no background in Japanese, but as they are the only full resource based directly on the 8 levels of the 'Japanese in the New Zealand Curriculum', the Kits have in fact proved most useful to Japanese teachers themselves.

The Kits comprise 152 lessons. Click here for order form. Email Naomi Collins to request free sample lessons or indexes of any set (see below for Relief Kit Set 1: Summary of content).

In response to suggestions by some users, the sets remaining in print were upgraded in 2002.

Prices remain the same (exclusive of GST):

Set 1: Levels Intro, 1 and 2: $59 (32 lessons)
Set 2: Levels 3, 4, 5: $74 (56 lessons)
Set 3: Levels 6, 7, 8: $59 (64 lessons)

In 2007 the cassettes were converted to CDs.

Teachers who already have the Relief Kits with cassettes, and would like to upgrade to CDs, can purchase these separately at the following prices (all prices include postage and GST):

Set 1 (Levels Intro, 1 and 2): 2 CDs: $15
Set 2 (Levels 3, 4, 5): 4 CDs: $25
Set 3 (Levels 6, 7, 8): 2 CDs: $15

OR the full set for $50.

Relief Kit Set 1: Summary of content

  • Introducing oneself; presenting Meishi.
  • Labelling a map: Kyoto, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Tokyo, Kobe, Hakodate, Osaka, Hiroshima, Sapporo.
  • Introducing someone in Japanese.
  • The Japanese writing systems.
  • Performing a Traditional Story.
  • Recognising kanji numbers 1 - 1000; solve maths problems.
  • Classroom instructions.
  • Asking someone their age, saying your age.
  • Writing a simple sentence in Hiragana.
  • Asking where someone lives, saying where you live.
  • Expressing likes and dislikes: Food.
  • Writing a description giving name, age, occupation; using adjectives.
  • Asking and giving the time.
  • Chinese Zodiac (dates); months and birthdays, giving dates.
  • Word order in a Japanese sentence.