This course covers the equivalent of a first-year non-intensive college course and is designed for students with little or no understanding of Japanese to achieve novice-high (or above) level Japanese language proficiency. Through extensive communication practice in classroom activities, you will develop all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) along with understanding of both traditional and modern Japanese culture. The course meets two hours a day, five days a week. Daily attendance to class is required. In addition, students must attend co-curricular activities at least three hours a week. In order to receive full credits for this course, students must pass final proficiency assessments, which tests the four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Achieve novice-high (or above) level Japanese language proficiency.
- Understand and participate in basic conversations (limited topics around everyday life for college students), using a sentence-level command.
- Understand and appropriately use the most basic grammar structures and vocabulary to participate in basic conversations.
- Read and write the Japanese hiragana, katakana, and approximately 161 kanji in context.
Course Requirements:
Student performance will be evaluated on the basis of (1) attendance and performance at class sessions, lunch tables, conversation tables, and other co-curricular activities; (2) fulfillment of homework assignments; (3) in-class quizzes and tests; (4) participation in a project and in-class speech; and (5) final proficiency assessments.
Intended Audience:
Students with the instructor's permission. The class is not intended for students without the instructor's permission and native speakers who: (1) speak Japanese as first language (2) completed their high school education at an institution where the language of instruction is Japanese only.
Class Format:
Combination of lecture and recitation