Author Archives: 076-kcastillo

R4 – School Life

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Japanese schools are extremely different yet simultaneously similar in many ways. For example, in Canadian schools, we don’t have class monitors but it is possible to find hall monitors and other similar roles. You (normally) don’t bring a toothbrush to school in Canada but students in Japan brush their teeth at lunch. Maybe that’s a good idea considering some people forget about basic hygiene. I believe that kids in Canada should have more responsibilities. Responsibilities such as cleaning duty should be enforced rather than simply implied. Of course all students are expected to clean up after themselves but I believe that there is no harm in recruiting students dedicated to cleaning. Maybe students can earn rewards like a free lunch from the cafeteria or something like that.
Speaking of lunch, students in japan can participate in じゃんけん (rock paper scissors) to win leftovers. Me, personally, I’m an absolute demon at rock paper scissors. I would be able to destroy everyone in じゃんけん and I would be the leftover king.

(me after winning all leftovers)





Advertisement Persuasion Project

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My Advertisement

Persuasion and Advertisement Techniques

Persuasion and Advertisement Unit Reflection

  • Considering all of the examples of ads you saw and the one you created, what did you learn about who benefits from advertisement?
    I learned that nearly everyone involved in the making of advertisements has some sort of benefit. For example, models can gain exposure, the product or service will generate income, and the production team will work on more projects in the future.
  • Why is the “who” important to remember when you view an advertisement?
    When you see an advertisement with someone you hold in high regard, you will feel a stronger obligation to buy into the service or product depicted.
  • Discuss the effectiveness of each form of persuasion: logical, ethical and emotional on an audience
    Logical and ethical are the strongest of the persuasion forms while emotional is the weakest. An outstanding example of logical advertising is the price announcement of the iPad years ago in 2010. They first introduced the price of the iPad at $1000, before descending all the way down to $500. The price was never going to be $1000 but the 50% drop makes it look like a better deal. Ethical persuasion can use techniques such and bandwagoning while emotional persuasion relies on the viewers willingness to help.

    Overall, this is what I learned about advertisements and persuasion techniques.






Core Competency Reflection

I used to think it was difficult to make a good advertisement but now I know it’s not that difficult if you inform yourself of the different techniques.
When my group was not productive, we brainstormed ideas and maintained a positive attitude in order to get things moving in the right direction.
When there was disagreement within the group, I found it helpful to meet in the middle and find a compromise.

R3 – Japanese Mascots

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The mascot I chose, Kuroko from Saitama.

Kuroko Paragraph

This mascot is an all-black silhouette from the city of Saitama. I chose this mascot because unlike the other mascots, it’s not bright and colorful. It’s an all-black silhouette that leaves the viewer with nothing to look at except their own thoughts and nightmares! I don’t know if this mascot is popular, but it would probably have something to do with it standing out among the colorful yuru-chara.

Reflection Paragraph

Learning about Yuru-Chara was a fun and enjoyable experience. There are definitely a lot more Japanese mascots than there are Canadian mascots. The only time I could see mascots being used in Canada is when there is a sports team that has one. Yuru-Chara is obviously very important in Japanese culture and that is something I think is cool!

ADL Math Project

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Investments into stocks in a gain year.

Equation: Stocks x 1.075 + 10,000 = Grand total
Grand Total becomes stocks money for next year

Investments into stocks in a loss year

Equation: Stocks x 0.931 + 10,000 = Grand total
Grand Total becomes stocks money for next year

Justification

Putting your money into stocks is a high risk high reward way to reach your down payment goal. The reason for this is that you could either end up well above your target at $131,000, or end up just above what you started with, at $82,533. It really comes to how much risk you want to take, if you are smart and analyze the markets, and how quickly you want to reach your goal.

Collaboration Assessment

I worked well with my group to persevere and answer and many questions as we understood.

Core Competency Reflection

I can work with others to achieve a goal. I worked well with my group by using what we had to achieve what we needed. We had people working on separate tasks to efficiently find the answer to our questions.


R2 – ようかい

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Which Yokai did you pick? Why?

I chose the Shojo Yokai because it’s translation stuck out to me. Shojo roughly translates to “Drunken ape”. It was also funny learning about what the drunken apes do. All they do is drink alcohol on the beach, and sometimes prank sailors.

Name some characteristics and provide a background/history on your Yokai.

As I said before, the Shojo only really get drunk and mess around. They sing, dance play on the beach, and just enjoy life. They prefer not to bother humans, but if they do come across them, they can understand and even mimic the human language. Drunken apes absolutely love sake and other alcohols, and can even brew their own. Although uncommon, when encountering humans, they are friendly and gentle. When drunken apes are feeling devious, they sometimes steal sake from sailors and jump in the sea.

Do you think Japanese Yokai differ from Western monsters and mythical creatures? Explain. 

Yokai are a lot scarier in my opinion compared to western monsters. The scariest monster I can think of from the west would be a skinwalker, maybe bigfoot. I read one of the Yokai stories and in that story a girl got assaulted, hit by a train (losing her lower half in the process), and she now crawls around at 150 kmh with a sickle, trying to find people to chop in half. Japanese Yokai definitely have a longer history and are in my opinion, a lot scarier.

Do you believe in Yokai, monsters, ghosts, or mythical creatures? Why or why not?

I would sure hope that some Yokai are real, more specifically the drunken apes, I can’t say I believe in them. The same thing goes for monsters or mythical creatures, but ghosts are a different story. I actually do believe in ghosts, at least the idea that when you die you can float around and mess with people.

A drunk ape

R1 – Independent Children

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I remember doing chores from a pretty young age. I started doing small chores around the age of 5; simple things like dusting or cleaning my room. The independence of Japanese children is admirable. Children younger than 5 are taught to be independent and run errands while alone. If I ever had kids I would want them to be able to do the same, however, while I would trust my kids, I wouldn’t trust the other people around my kids. Japan’s low crime rate is an important factor in the independence of the children. I would make sure my kids are responsible enough to get to school themselves. Whether they have to take the bus, walk, or ride a bike, I would make sure that they know the proper route to get to and from school; as did I when I entered elementary school.

Core Competency Goals

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One strategy or activity that stimulates my imagination is…

Listening to music. If I am ever stuck and in a creative rut, putting on some music is a great way to help me get back into the flow of work. Music helps me not overthink because it is something that makes me feel very comfortable.

Some of the things I do to stay mentally and physically healthy include…

Taking breaks. Mental and physical breaks are necessary. The gap between middle school and high school is very large and so far quite difficult. You have more responsibilities and work to keep up with so taking an occasional break helps me. Anything from music, video games, or exercise helps offload some stress of high school.

How do you learn best?

I learn best in a group of 2-3. I have a terrible memory and I don’t retain information very well so working in a small group helps me learn best. I can do work fine on my own, but in order to truly reach that extending on the proficiency scale I would probably need to work in a small group.

Why Japanese?

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Inspiration – What inspired you to learn Japanese?

I wanted to learn Japanese because Japan is the country I will most likely travel to if given the opportunity. Another reason is that when we were choosing electives, Japanese sounded more appealing to me than Spanish did. Lastly, it was always my life goal to become a Filipino-Canadian that doesn’t speak Tagalog, but does speak Japanese.

Goal – What do you hope to do with your new language skills?

As I said in the inspiration paragraph, I hope to put my Japanese to use if I ever go to Japan. I want to be able to use basic sentences and questions to help navigate Japan’s diverse landscape. I’m also hoping to one day understand a form of Japanese media without needing a translation. For example, listening to Japanese music or watching anime without subtitles. On a smaller scale, I want to use my Japanese skills to bug my parents/siblings.



Motivation – How will you keep yourself motivated throughout this course? What will you do if you are struggling?

I would be pretty disappointed with myself if I failed a class in my grade 9 year, so I will try my hardest not to. The most important thing I can do if I am struggling, is to simply ask for help. I tend to overthink a lot, and I feel like asking for help whenever I need it will lead to an easier time in and out of class.