Japanese

Target Students: Those who would like to improve Japanese proficiency in business.
Goal: To learn Japanese expressions and manners useful for problem solving in Japan.
Contents: Utterance exercises and role-plays to learn honorifics as well as acquisition of basic business manners and etiquette in Japan.

Students will practice discussing and presenting on various topics, acquiring the Japanese language skills necessary for studying and researching at the university. They will also learn proper pronunciation.

Eligibility: B2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N1 in the JLPT).

The objectives of this course are as follows:
 

1. Students will learn the structure of a presentation and be able to make a proper presentation. They will elaborate on supporting matters, reasons, and relevant cases, as well as develop and substantiate arguments.
2. Students will be able to speak with clear pronunciation, paying attention to pauses and intonation.

This course provides the opportunity to study and practice sentence patterns, vocabulary, and listening comprehension in the first half of the intermediate level, which corresponds to the N3 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Therefore the goal of the course is for students to acquire the Japanese proficiency the need to pass the N3 level of the JLPT.

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. 

The purpose of this course is to acquire intermediate-level grammar, letters, and vocabulary (JLPT N2-N3 level). In the class, while giving some weight to the N2 level, explanations and exercises on general intermediate level grammar, letters and vocabulary are provided.
The course aims to deepen your knowledge and understanding of intermediate-level Japanese, focusing on grammar, letters, vocabulary, etc., reaching a level at which you can pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level N2.

This is an advanced Japanese course for students who have completed Japanese VI or the equivalent of fourth year level at UC and is comparable to fifth year level of study. It prepares students to effectively participate in university classes taught in Japanese and to successfully participate in discussions and complete their assignments. Students acquire mastery of the language and are introduced to new kanji.

<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.

This course is for students who have mastered hiragana and katakana, approximately 150 kanji characters, and the first half of beginner-level grammar. It is designed to develop practical skills in the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking Japanese. The class provides many exercises based on situations that students will encounter in their daily lives, aiming to enable students to communicate in Japanese outside of class immediately.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Improve their listening, by understanding simple conversations on topics related to daily life;
2. Improve their speaking, by communicating on everyday situations in Japanese and making short presentations in Japanese;
3. Improve their reading, by reading short texts in hiragana, katakana, and about 195 kanji characters, and
4. Improve their writing, by writing short passages using hiragana, katakana, and kanji characters.

This course is recommended for students who plan to study at Hitotsubashi University for one semester or more, and want to learn Japanese at a slow pace.

This course examines the traditional arts of humor between the 17th and 19th centuries. Selections were chosen based on the connection between images and words. These include pictures, gesaku (popular fiction written in the mid-18th century), and short novels. 

This course is designed for students who have completed three years of university-level Japanese. The course aims to improve communication skills to and from intermediate to the advanced level.