Materials
- A copy of the attached worksheet for each student, printed double-sided. The trips (directions) are on the front, and the places to write their answers are on the back. You will find the answers for the teachers' use in the same document.
- A map of the Osaka Metro, printed in color and on A3-size paper. For groups of 3-5, one per group is fine, two if they want an extra. I didn't bother laminating them but you can choose to. I just folded all the maps in half so it was easy to carry.
- You can download the Osaka Metro map from the website here (https://subway.osakametro.co.jp/en/guide/routemap.php)
Lesson Flow
I usually have to walk through Trip 1 with the whole class to explain the activity.
Introduce key vocabulary like
- get off at ____ = ____に降りる
- Change to the ____ line = ___線に乗り換えて
- North = 北, East = 東, etc.
They will find these vocab hints on the back of their worksheet. I would also point out where to start counting for "seventh station" -- you start at 0 and the next station over is the first, then the second, etc.
The Osaka Metro Map has the list of train lines at the top, so they should refer to that to help them locate the stations.
I had them them write their answers in romaji to practice romaji.
Closing
Enjoy! Even super low level JHS students like mine could do and enjoy this activity. It's a fun way to practice directions.
Files: