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Japan chooses 'disaster' to describe 2018

2018 - Level 0

This year is nearly over. Was it a great year? Japanese people have chosen the kanji (Chinese character) they think describes 2018. They chose the kanji, "disaster". This was because there were natural disasters in 2018. Japan had typhoons, earthquakes, heavy rains, and a deadly heatwave. These killed hundreds of people.

Japanese people have voted for a word of the year since 1995. The kanji "peace" was second this year. Last year, "north" won because of North Korea's nuclear tests. The world also had disasters. There were wildfires, hurricanes and tsunami. There were wars in Syria and Yemen. People want next year's kanji to be "happiness".

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2018 - Level 1

This year is nearly over. For some people, it was a great year; for others, it wasn't. Japanese people have chosen the kanji (Chinese character) they thought described 2018. The winning kanji means "disaster". This was because of the many natural disasters in Japan in 2018. Japan was hit by typhoons, earthquakes, heavy rains, and a killer heatwave. Hundreds of people died in these disasters. Many roads and housess were destroyed.

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has found a "kanji of the year" since 1995. This year, 193,214 people voted. The second most popular kanji was "peace". Last year, "north" was the winner, because of North Korea's nuclear tests. The world was also hit by natural disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes and tsunami. There were wars in Syria and Yemen. There was suffering because of immigration. People hope next year's kanji will be "happiness".

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2018 - Level 2

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This year is nearly over. For some people it was a great year, and for other people it wasn't. In Japan, an organization asked people for the word they thought described 2018. The winner was the word "disaster". The kanji (Chinese character) that people chose means "disaster or misfortune". The organization said this because of the many natural disasters in Japan in 2018. Japan was hit by typhoons, earthquakes, heavy rains, and a killer heatwave. Hundreds of people lost their lives in these disasters. Many roads and homes were destroyed.

The organization is the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. It has found a "word of the year" annually since 1995. This year, 193,214 people chose a word. The second most popular word was "peace". Last year, "north" was the winner, because of tensions over North Korea's nuclear tests. The world was also hit by natural disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes and tsunami. Wars also raged in Syria and Yemen. There was also a lot of suffering because of immigration - people trying to move to other countries to find a better life. People hope next year's word will be "happiness".

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

2018 - Level 3

The year 2018 is coming to an end. For some people it was a great year, and for other people it wasn't so great. In Japan, an organization conducted a survey to ask people for the word they thought best described 2018. The winner of this survey was the word "disaster". The kanji (Chinese character) that Japanese people chose means "disaster or misfortune". The organization said people chose the kanji for disaster because of the many natural disasters to hit Japan in 2018. Japan was hit by deadly typhoons, earthquakes, heavy rains that caused widespread destruction, and a killer heatwave. Hundreds of people lost their lives in these disasters and many roads and homes were destroyed.

The organization is called the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. It has conducted a "word of the year" survey annually since 1995. This year, it received suggestions from 193,214 people. The second most popular kanji was the character for "peace". Last year, "north" was the winner. This was because of increasing tensions over North Korea's nuclear tests. The rest of the world was also hit by devastating natural disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes and tsunami. Wars also raged across the world, especially in Syria and Yemen. There was also a lot of suffering because of immigration - people trying to move to other countries to find a new life. People hope the next kanji will be "happiness".

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