Japanese

Demons, ghosts, and monsters have populated the cultural landscape in Japan for centuries. Appearing in anime, manga, games, and movies, mysterious creatures continue to form the core of contemporary popular culture, sparking a global obsession with Japanese monsters. This course explores the cultural history of the strange and supernatural in Japanese literary, visual, and performing arts. Engaging with primary and critical sources from the eighth century to the present, it considers the social roles that representations of “the weird” have played in Japan.

This course is designed for beginners of Japanese or those who have only studied Japanese for a very short time. Students learn basic expressions to interact in Japanese to carry out conversations about familiar everyday topics. The course covers language revolving around greetings, introductions, family members, food, home, daily routines, making appointments, hobbies, holidays, shopping, and asking for directions.

In addition to the 160 basic kanji characters taught in K150, this course instructs how to read, write, and type 160 new characters, aiming to provide various methods of kanji learning, thereby expanding students' vocabulary of words that contain kanji. It focuses on teaching kanji for food, hobbies, family, school, adjectives, verbs, works, etc. 
 

Eligibility: Students who have learned about 160 kanji characters and are at least A1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N5 in the JLPT).
 

The course is designed for students to improve their reading and writing skills focusing on variety of patterns of simple and compound sentences applying basic writing skills. The goal is to improve clarity and cohesion in sentence writing.

This advanced level course instructs logical dialogue and conversation about abstract topics through reading, listening, writing, and viewing materials that deal with social themes. The course aims to improve Japanese expression, information analysis, and logical thinking skills through presentations, discussions, and writing. 

Students will learn to read, write and type 160 basic kanji characters. They will become familiar with the basic methods of kanji learning and expand their vocabulary of words that contain kanji.
Eligibility: Those who are learning kanji for the first time and are currently taking a C1 class or have Japanese proficiency of C1 class or above.
Learning Objectives
・Learn the meanings and readings of 160 kanji and words using those kanji.
・Be able to write the 160 kanji vocabulary words with the help of example models.
・Be able to type short sentences containing the 160 kanji on a smartphone or PC.

An exploratory culture course for foreign students, Japanese Culture A offers insights into various aspects of the living culture of Japan. The course comprises of three basic approaches: Discussing certain cultural characteristics of the nation; reading some representative literature and conducting fieldwork at venues of cultural significance. This course examines the interconnection between the history and culture of the Tohoku Region, encompassing the rebuilding efforts from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to outreach to the rest of the world. 

Students can also enroll in Japanese Culture C; the course contents of both classes alternate between fall and spring semesters. Fall-only students can enroll in one class but may join fieldwork activities of the other class if there are openings available. 

A continuation of Japanese Language Pre-Intermediate. Teaching enables students to speak, read, and write Modern Japanese at a lower to mid-intermediate level of the language, equivalent to Japanese Language Proficiency Test level between N4 and N3, or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages level A2/B1.

This basic Japanese course is designed to improve speaking skills. A different theme concerning Japanese culture and society is chosen for each course and students are split into groups to engage in activities, discussion, and group work concerning the selected topic. The overall goal of the class is for students to widen their perspectives and deepen their knowledge regarding various issues related to Japan and Japanese society. Meeting three times a week, the program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections.  

This advanced Japanese course choses a different theme concerning Japanese culture and society to discuss each week. Students are split into groups to engage in activities, discussion, and group work concerning the selected topic. The goal of the class is for students to widen their perspectives and deepen their knowledge regarding various issues related to Japan and Japanese society. The program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections.