Doshisha University

Japanese art has not been cultivated purely within the country of Japan. As a member of the East Asian cultural sphere, Japan has nurtured art through rich exchanges with China and South Korea from ancient times and the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In modern times, we cannot help but think about the influence of Europe and the United States. What art has Japan selected from the foreign cultures of China, South Korea, and the West, and how has Japan accepted these and transformed them to create its own art? The goal is to understand this while looking at the slides of paintings and designs. Each week the class will write impressions (interpretation, description, evaluation) after viewing artwork.

<Level V>
Target Students: Those who have partially completed intermediate level studies.
Course Goals: To develop understanding and command of the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 6,000 basic words and 1,000 to 1,200 basic Chinese characters.

<Written Expression A>
Goal: To be able to write well-formed passages of approximately 800 words in length.
Contents: Writing letters and simple essays on topics familiar to students.

This course is for students with at least one year of prior study of Japanese. The goal of this course is for students to acquire well-balanced basic proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and to develop an understanding and command of basic grammar and its usage. Students practice listening comprehension and pronunciation using videotapes and CDs. They learn conversational expressions and phrases necessary in daily life, fundamentals of written expression, and how to read and write short passages on topics familiar to them using previously learned sentence patterns and vocabulary. By the end of term, students master 1500 basic words and 300 basic kanji. 

<Level V>
Target Students: Those who have partially completed intermediate level studies.
Course Goals: To develop understanding and command of the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 6,000 basic words and 1,000 to 1,200 basic Chinese characters.

<General 1-5>
Goal: To develop balanced, intermediate-level proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, and writing.
Contents: Learning the 100 important intermediate sentence patterns and vocabulary and improving reading comprehension with an upper intermediate level textbook. Developing command of intermediate Japanese through short sentence composition exercises. Mastering the points learnt at the intermediate level to proceed to the advanced level smoothly. Increasing vocabulary by learning both the words introduced in the textbook as well as additional related words.
Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing by understanding the textbook and exchanging opinions on it.

<Level VII>

Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered intermediate-level studies.

Course Goals: To master the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns and develop understanding and command of the 100 important advanced sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 10,000 basic words and 2,000 basic Chinese characters.

<General 1-5>

Goal: To develop a balanced, advanced level of proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

Contents: Mastery of intermediate sentence patterns and introduction of 100 important advanced sentence patterns, using Doshisha University’s original textbook and support materials. For students to be able to use all the expressions in an appropriate manner, exercises will be of typical situations where each expression is used, without categorizing them into grammar or vocabulary issues. Vocabulary building with an emphasis on collocation. Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing through summarizing, reading, and listening comprehension of the materials; role-play using expressions learned in class, and composition exercises.

<Level IV>
Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered elementary level studies.
Course Goals: To develop understanding and command of the 100 important intermediate sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 4,000 basic words and 800 basic Chinese characters.
<Written Expression>
Goal: To be able to write well-formed passages of approximately 600 words in length.
Contents: Writing letters or simple essays on topics familiar to students.

This is an independent research course with research arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific research topics vary each term and are described on a special project form for each student. A substantial paper is required. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.

This course comprehensively reviews the points studied at the elementary level;  enhances expressions skills, and improves command of such skills. The course covers various conversational situations frequently encountered in daily lives in Japan such as shopping, visiting doctors, expressing feelings and traveling; practice using newly learned phrases and sentence patterns in various role-play activities with peers and Japanese native speakers; and designing written scripts and presenting them in class. The course emphasizes understanding Japanese customs and Japanese way of thinking, which aids in understanding the dynamics of Japanese conversation. 

This course summarizes the learning contents for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1 level. From the categories of "characters/vocabulary," "grammar," "reading comprehension," and "listening comprehension," exercises will focus on questions that have been newly introduced in the new exam or questions that have been changed in contents and format. The course also provides practice problems aimed at overcoming weaknesses. Also, for students to get used to the question format, a mock test will be conducted just before the proficiency test.

Target Students: Those who have partially completed elementary level studies.
Course Goals: To master the grammatical expressions learnt at the elementary level, as well as to develop understanding and command of upper elementary and intermediate level grammar and to improve the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. To master the 2,000 basic words and 500 basic Chinese characters.
Contents: Mastering the elementary level grammar and developing understanding and command of grammar using an upper elementary level textbook, followed by introduction of basic sentence patterns of the intermediate level using an intermediate level textbook. Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through various class activities designed for developing each skill. Mastering the 2,000 basic words and 500 basic Chinese characters.