Japanese

This course studies short stories depicting different aspects of the postwar period (roughly from 1945 until 1968) to provide an insight into the postwar period as a whole: how it shaped Japanese society at the time and how that process of shaping still bears upon the present. One short story at a time is studied. The texts will be made available to the class a week in advance on the Keio website, and all students will be expected to have read the relevant story before each class and to come prepared with comments and questions. All texts will be discussed on the basis of their English-language translations and the language of discussion will be English. However, the original Japanese texts will also be made available and native speakers of Japanese are particularly encouraged to use their knowledge of the original language to contribute to the discussion.

This course is for students learning Japanese as a mother tongue, first language, or heritage language. Through this course, students will acquire such basic skills as vocabulary building, reading comprehension, writing passages, and oral expression necessary for university students. Prerequisite: “Introduction to Japanese for First/Heritage Language Speakers” or equivalent. Six class hours/week. 

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
read coherent sentences with consideration of keywords, the main points of paragraphs, and the overall structure,
summarize your own opinions about what one has read or heard and tell them to others,
summarize your own opinions and thoughts in writing using an appropriate style.

This course is designed for students at the advanced level. Based on reading assignments related to Japanese society and culture, students learn various ways to discuss and present their opinions. The course is offered in Spring and Fall semesters with different course content. 

This advanced course prepares students to take courses taught in Japanese. Given clear organization and a solid point of argument, students comprehend long conversations, lectures, debates, and spoken media language, students become able to understand long, abstract texts on a familiar field with the use of dictionaries, write clear and lucid sentences with consistency and coherence in compositions and reports, and firmly distinguish and express facts and opinions separate from each other. Students also improve their ability to speak and perform presentations without producing misunderstanding or bringing a sense of discomfort or tension to the audience. 

This course covers writing basic compositions on a variety of topics using beginner and intermediate level grammar and vocabulary.  The course aims to:

・Write compositions on a wide range of topics using beginner and intermediate level grammar and vocabulary.
・Write in an appropriate style according to the topic and the audience.
・Write one's thoughts logically in Japanese.
・Improve one's ability to monitor compositions using various Japanese composition support tools.