Japanese

"I want to make people laugh, but it's too difficult." "Everyone else is laughing, but I don't find it funny."... Are these difficulties related to "humor" due to personal preference, language ability, or socio-cultural background? This course explores thinking about the Japanese language and culture using funny stories, learning about the differences and commonalities between Japan's and other countries' senses of humor through comparing with other cultures and translation activities. (This course is conducted in Japanese.) 

Eligibility A2.1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N3 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives 

-Deepen understanding of the Japanese language, culture, and values. 

-Deepen understanding of the language, culture, and values of the students' home countries and regions. 

-Cooperate with Japanese and international students in group work and group presentations. 

-Improve communication skills in Japanese. 

This course provides training to acquire skills necessary for writing academic reports and papers. In class, each student chooses a theme, writes a report, and conducts peer review of these reports. 

This course is designed for students who have mastered intermediate kanji to expand knowledge of kanji compound words and idiomatic expressions. While examining the structure of kanji compounds, students study kanji systematically by learning opposite and similar meanings of kanji as well as by applying suffixes and prefixes. By expanding their kanji vocabulary, students will be able to select the most appropriate kanji based on the context.

This course provides training in reading modern Japanese literature works, thereby increasing knowledge of Japanese literature and reading comprehension skills. The course discusses an overview of Japanese literature by genre, following the history of Japanese literature. 

This course aims to help students gain Japanese proficiency for academic purposes through engaging with topics on society and culture. The target level is CEFR B1.2.

The course requires students to complete various tasks using Japanese, so they can acquire the language skills necessary to perform the tasks while increasing their knowledge of Japanese vocabulary, grammar patterns, expressions and Kanji.
This course includes an elective component "Expand your World in Japanese.

This course covers basic grammar and vocabulary needed for everyday life and attending university classes in Japan, learning reading and writing skills.

Eligibility: A2.1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N4 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives: A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education Review. The expressions/sentence structures learned at the basic level (A1-A2.1); learn new expressions/sentence structures, and when, where, and how to use them, to achieve the below goals:  

・ Comprehend texts on every day, specific, familiar topics (reading). 

・ Writing concise texts about events, past activities, and personal experiences using simple conjunctions to connect ideas (soshite, shikashi, nazenara, etc.) (writing). 

Students will learn kanji and vocabulary necessary to read and write texts such as reports and academic articles by doing practical exercises. 

Eligibility: A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N3 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives: 

・ Acquire a wide vocabulary and read texts containing frequently used common expressions.

・ Read specialized articles outside of one's own field using a dictionary.

・ Write messages explaining questions or problems.

・ Use appropriate kanji in e-mail, reports, and presentations.

The course covers basic grammar and vocabulary needed for everyday life and attending university classes in Japan, learning listening and writing skills. 

Eligibility: A2.1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N4 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives: A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education. Review the expressions/sentence structures learned at the basic level (A1-A2.1); learn new expressions/sentence structures, and when, where, and how to use them, to achieve the below goals:  

・ Comprehend concise conversations and monologues about familiar topics in everyday and classroom situations (listening). 

・ If one prepares in advance, they can enumerate events; briefly describe them; tell stories, and express their thoughts and feelings (spoken production). 

・ Interact with other people with little difficulty within everyday situations (spoken interaction). 

This course provides an overview of Japan's history from the late Middle Ages to the present day. It aims to deepen one's understanding of the process by which the current Japanese society was established and understand historical events seen in current Japanese society.

In addition, students learn expressions in Japanese language  that have historical background.

This course provides the opportunity for students to listen and speak elementary level Japanese (A2 level in JF Standard or CEFR), while practicing conversation and presentation. The course covers topics such as family, seasons, weather, town, outings, foreign countries, health, etc., with the purpose of comprehending sentences and commonly used expressions relevant to immediate needs and engage in basic and routine communication tasks.
 

For efficient improvement of Japanese ability, it is recommended to enroll in "Japanese 1 (Grammar II)-51" simultaneously.
 

This course covers the first half of the A2 level; the latter half of the A2 level is covered in the next semester.