Today we taught a kindergarten class about flags and the names of countries in English. We had ten flag cards to show. Surprisingly, they all recognized which country each flag represented, but in Japanese of course. As we told them the English names, I hit upon the idea to ask them what each country was known for. Here are their responses. Remember, these came without any prompting from me or the Japanese teacher. This is what kids in the class answered based on their previous knowledge. Where more than one response was given, I have listed their responses in the order we heard them.
What these countries are famous for according to a class of 5 and 6yr-old Japanese kids.
Japan – famous for money and TV.
India – famous for curry
Brazil – famous for soccer
America – famous for having lots of robbers, lots of stores, and baseball
Italy – famous for pasta
France – famous for French bread and the Eiffel Tower
Germany – famous for the World Cup and having lots of rich people
China – famous for Chinese dresses and fried dumplings (a.k.a. gyoza or potsticker)
The U.K. – famous for Beckham
Canada – famous for me and my stuffed moose, Rocky.
The first response for what America is famous for cracked up all the teachers in the room. I guess the kid watches a lot of movies. Next week they get five more countries.
