Japanese

This course instructs on Japanese expressions (vocabulary, grammar, conversation) that are useful in university life. It equips students to express what they to say in basic Japanese; to learn about Japanese language culture and values, and to expand their world through learning Japanese language.  

This class offers blended learning which combines two learning methods: a self-directed learning (SDL) session in which students are required to learn individually using online materials (equivalent to one 100 min period/ week), and a real time session (Zoom) in a classroom with other students (one 100-min period/ week).  

This basic Japanese course examines Japanese culture and society while placing a special focus on learning kanji. Students are split into groups and discuss the meaning, origin, and usage of kanji compounds they encounter in everyday life. Upon completion of the course, students not only expand their kanji vocabulary, but also deepen their knowledge regarding various issues related to Japan and Japanese society. The program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections. 

This basic Japanese course is designed to improve writing 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. The program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections. 

This course is aimed at those who know the meaning, writing, and reading of basic kanji idioms.  It focuses on what has been learned so far to increase one’s knowledge of kanji – for example, students will learn how to convert simple words they already know into Kanji and how to use Kanji vocabulary that has similar meanings.  Furthermore, the course provides activities to write essays using kanji and to read and understand the content. 

Note: “Intermediate” Japanese language levels at the host university are comparable to UC upper-division courses.

This course provides an overview of the history of Japanese literature from ancient (上代) to pre-modern times. The goal of this class is to understand traditional Japanese literature deeply by examining certain representative works from each period, genre by genre. Students will learn about the background and analyze the content of each work, i.e. Heian Court literature, medieval military literature, pre-modern Chonin (町人) literature, to gain a broad understanding of traditional Japanese society. 

This course prepares students to participate in university lectures taught in Japanese. By studying various topics, students will acquire the Japanese language proficiency (listening, reading, discussion, and writing) required for university lectures and autonomous learning skills to improve these skills further. The target level is CEFR B2.2. Prerequisite: “J6: Japanese” or equivalent. Three class hours/week. 

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Listen and comprehend long conversations, lectures, discussions, and media messages if an argument's structure and point are clear.
• Understand lengthy and abstract text in their familiar field, provided they can use a dictionary occasionally.
• Conduct discussion, presentation, etc., neither making mistakes that lead to misunderstanding nor causing strain or inconvenience to the listener.

This course is designed for students learning Japanese for the first time. The course aims to enhance basic listening and speaking skills as well as communicate with basic vocabulary and sentence structure. The course design is based on sentence structures and grammatical patterns learned in the class “Essential Japanese 1M-1 & 1M-2." It is recommended to take “Essential Japanese 1M-1 & 1M-2” together with this course.

Designed for upper beginners to improve oral communication skills, the course enables students to converse about familiar topics using upper basic Japanese grammar and vocabulary. 

The course covers: introducing oneself and family; sharing hobbies and favorite things; introducing favorite shops and restaurants; discussing travel preparations; explaining one’s current university life; discussing childhood experiences; expressing worries; giving advice based one experiences, and conveying one’s hopes and intentions.  

An exploratory culture course for foreign students, Japanese Culture C 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. 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. 

This course examines the interconnection between the history and culture of the Tohoku Region, including the rebuilding efforts from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It also addresses the variety of ways people have expressed themselves at different periods of history.