Publisher's Synopsis
Ima! 2 invites us to Keio Fujisawa Junior High School near Tokyo, not so much to attend lessons as to follow three groups of students in their after-school and leisure activities. One group of girls takes us off to a tennis tournament where we experience the drama of team selection and the pressure of competition.
The boys get on their mobile phones and organise to meet for a meal in town while another group of girls shop till they drop in a nearby depaato. Meanwhile the tennis girls trade their racquets for microphones as they shed their inhibitions at a local karaoke studio. We also go on unescorted excursions to Tokyo Dome for some big league baseball, to Tokyo Disneyland to explore new adventures in Donald's Wacky Kingdom, to World Square where we tower over miniature replicas of famous monuments and to a colourful festival in Nikko where we witness the traditional exploits of the archers and become inspired to cook okonomiyaki.
The course continues its topic-based approach, with new topics including friends, food, shopping, clothes and leisure activities. Ima! 2 contines to introduce these topics in photo stories which remain an area of focus for the key language points and the cultural content of each chapter. Ima! 2 also has some photoons combining photographic realism with cartoon fantasy.
As in the first level of the course, students learn to read Japanese scripts in a range of authentic materials. Katakana is introduced in this context and is practised in a variety of reading, speaking, listening and writing activities. Ima! 2 also introduces more than 20 new kanji.
Like its predecessor, Ima! 2 presents language in authentic cultural contexts and provides opportunities for learners to use it in a wide variety of real, purposeful activities.
