General Course Outlines and/or Objectives

BEGINNING CONVERSATION -- Textbook: Japanese For Busy People  I  Romanized VERSION  (Lessons 1-10) by Kodansha International. Introduction to conversational Japanese. The development of survival listening and speaking skills, and basic vocabulary.  Upon completion of this course, you should be able to: talk about nationalities and occupations; introduce yourself and others; talk about a nearby object and its owner; ask for telephone numbers; talk about the times of meetings and parties; ask the hours of services in stores and hotels; ask the prices of items in a store and make a purchase; ask what the size, color, and country of origin of an item is, and buy them; buy items telling the clerk how many you need; talk about where you will go, when, and with whom; talk about traveling destinations, places and people to visit, dates and times, and means of transportation; talk about tourist destinations; describe what is inside a building; talk about numbers of things or people that exist in a particular place; talk about the whereabouts of things and people; talk about everyday doings--what you will do, when and where. NO WRITING IS TAUGHT IN THIS CLASS.

INTERMEDIATE CONVERSATION -- Textbook: Japanese For Busy People  I  Romanized VERSION (Lessons 11-20) by Kodansha International.  (Prerequisite:  45  contact hours of Japanese or  its  equivalent).  Continuation of BEGINNING CONVERSATION. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to: say how frequently you do something and give a brief reason for why you do it, order food at a restaurant; talk about characteristics of things and people, use basic greetings when visiting people and receiving guests; talk about giving and receiving gifts, praise someone's possessions; express your thoughts about experiences, gratitudes, make telephone calls; talk about events, invite someone or be invited to an event; make plans with someone; talk about what you own, offer to help someone or accept or reject someone's offer, give reasons for offering someone something, invite someone to do something, or refuse someone's invitation; talk about weekend plans and travel plans, say what you will do in what order; ask to have something delivered by a specific means from a store or office, ask someone to do something for you, give directions to a taxi driver; talk about going to a museum, length of stay, ask about travel times; ask for permission, grant or refuse permission.  NO WRITING IS TAUGHT IN THIS CLASS.

BEGINNING 1 -- Textbook: Japanese For Busy People  I   Romanized VERSION  (Lessons 1-7) by Kodansha International / AJALT.  Workbook:  Handy Katakana Workbook   by  Pearson Custom.   Introduction to elementary Japanese writing  (i.e., HIRAGANA)  and sentence structures.   Emphasis, however, will be on development of conversational skills.  Upon completion of this level, you should be able to: talk about nationalities and occupations; introduce yourself and others; talk about a nearby object and its owner; ask for telephone numbers; talk about the times of meetings and parties; ask the hours of services in stores and hotels; ask the prices of items in a store and make a purchase; ask what the size, color, and country of origin of an item is, and buy it; buy items telling the clerk how many you need; talk about where you will go, when, and with whom; talk about traveling destinations, places and people to visit, dates and times, and means of transportation.

BEGINNING 2 -- Textbook: Japanese For Busy People  I   Romanized VERSION  (Lessons 8-16) by Kodansha International / AJALT.  Workbook:  Handy Katakana Workbook   by  Pearson Custom.   Introduction to KATAKANA characters,  used for telegrams and foreign names or places and people,  will be introduced.   Upon completion of this level, you will be able to:  talk about tourist destinations; describe what is inside a building; talk about numbers of things or people that exist in a particular place; talk about the whereabouts of things and people; talk about everyday doings--what you will do, when and where; say how frequently you do something and give a brief reason for why you do it, order food at a restaurant; talk about characteristics of things and people, use basic greetings when visiting people and receiving guests; talk about giving and receiving gifts, praise someone's possessions; express your thoughts about experiences, gratitude, make telephone calls; make plans with someone; talk about what you own, offer to help someone or accept or reject someone's offer, give reasons for offering someone something, invite someone to do something, or refuse someone's invitation.  It is strongly recommended that the student purchase the Japanese For Busy People  I  Kana version  as well  at this level.

BEGINNING 3 -- Textbook: Japanese For Busy People  I   Kana version (Lessons 17-25) by Kodansha International / AJALT.   Upon completion of this level,  you will be able to:  talk about weekend plans and travel plans, say what you will do in what order; ask to have something delivered by a specific means from a store or office, give directions to a taxi driver; ask about travel times; ask for permission, grant or refuse permission;  forbid someone from doing something, forbid something and give a reason for doing so, ask someone not to do something;  talk about what you are doing now, talk about where you live and work, who your acquaintances are, ask someone about something you are interested in;  talk about someone's likes, skills, and interests, introduce someone with details; talk about what you want to do or where you want to live, exchange information abut a mutual interest.  Some essential Kanji, Chinese characters, will be introduced.

INTERMEDIATE 1 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 1-4, Vol. 1: Notes & Drills) by Bonjinsha. Continuation of BEGINNING 3. More KANJI will be introduced. Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: introduce himself or herself and others, start and end a conversation, buy things and send mail at the post office, order meals and pay at the restaurant, ask whereabouts of things and people, confirm information.

INTERMEDIATE 2 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 5-8, Vol. 1: Notes & Drills). Continuation of INTERMEDIATE 1. All sentences are written in Japanese. Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: ask information about a word, confirm understanding, ask for instructions, give an alternative, ask for telephone numbers, make an appointment, ask permission, and give a warning.

INTERMEDIATE 3 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 9-12, Vol. 2: Notes & Drills). Continuation of INTERMEDIATE 2 . Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: consult a doctor, ask for advice, decline politely, cancel your order, ask for and give directions, confirm information, and express capability, and use levels of speech with great facility.

INTERMEDIATE 4 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 13-16, Vol. 2: Notes & Drills). Continuation of INTERMEDIATE 3 . Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: apologize and give an excuse, make and accept an offer, describe things, thank or decline offers of help, propose a joint course of action, substantiate a point with reasons, phone a taxi and give directions to the driver.

INTERMEDIATE 5 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 17-20, Vol. 3: Notes & Drills). Continuation of INTERMEDIATE 4 . Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: invite someone, accept or decline an invitation, ask to speak to someone, arrange to call again, leave a message, express praise, start a conversation, explain a procedure, express an opinion. Various aspects of Japanese culture will be introduced and discussed in class.

INTERMEDIATE 6 -- Textbooks: Situational Functional Japanese (Lessons 21-24, Vol. 3: Notes & Drills). Continuation of INTERMEDIATE 5 . Upon completion of this level, the student will be able to: complain, express anger, apologize, ask about the patient's condition, symptom, progress;  make a request, accept someone's request, make a proposal, voice disagreement, support someone else's view, ask for someone else's approval, avoid a definite statement.

INTERMEDIATE COMPOSITION -- Textbook(s): TBA. (Prerequisite: 150 contact hours of Japanese or its equivalent). After a few quarters of this course, the student will be able to: meet a number of practical writing needs; write short, simple letters involving personal preferences, daily routines, everyday events, brief synopses and paraphrases, summaries of biographical data, work and school experience, write a number of frequently-encountered Kanji, demonstrate a basic control of both simple and complex sentence structures; distinguish formal and informal styles.  [Currently Not Offered]

READING 1&k -- Textbook(s): 1. TBA (high interest selections such as short ONLINE stories, essays,  newspaper & magazine articles,  general stories  from the Internet and other sources).   2. Basic KANJI Book (Lessons 1-18,   Vol. 1)  by Bonjinsha  and  teacher-made materials.  Introduction to basic reading and writing of KANJI (Chinese characters).  Acquisition of basic communication skills through reading modern Japanese.  Approximately  200  essential KANJI characters  will be introduced and taught  through reading excercises.  Through reading Kanji  in Japanese sentences and paragraphs,  the students will increase their knowledge of Kanji and sentence patterns.  The contents of this course will change from quarter to quarter.  Prerequisite: 150 contact hours of Japanese or equivalent.

READING 2&k -- Textbook(s):  1. TBA (high interest selections such as short ONLINE stories, essays,  newspaper & magazine articles,  general stories  from the Internet and other sources).   2. Basic KANJI Book (Lessons 19-32, Vols. 1&2).  Upon completion of this course,  the student should be able to:  know  and use  in sentences  the ON-KUN readings for approximately  370 KANJI characters.   Fifty plus percent of class time will  be spent on reading short stories and essays to increase your knowledge of word collocation and sentence patterns.  The contents of this course will change from quarter to quarter.  Prerequisite:  Reading 1&K or its equivalent.

READING 3&k -- Reading  3&K  --  Textbook(s):  1. TBA (high interest selections such as short ONLINE stories, essays,  newspaper & magazine articles,  general stories  from the Internet and other sources).  2. Basic KANJI Book  (Lessons 33-45,  Vol.  2).   Upon completion of this course,  the student should be able to:  know  and use  in sentences  the ON-KUN readings for approximately  500  KANJI characters. Through reading Kanji  in Japanese sentences and paragraphs,  the students will also increase their knowledge of Kanji.  Fifty (50) to 70% of class time will be spent on reading short stories and essays to increase your knowledge of word collocation and sentence patterns.  The contents of this course will change from quarter to quarter.  Prerequisite:  Reading 2&K or its equivalent. 

PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION -- Textbook(s): Prepared by instructor. (Prerequisites: 300 contact hours of Japanese or its equivalent & PT300). After several quarters of this course, the student will be able to: (a) expand vocabulary, comprehension, and other communication skills; (b) develop linguistic and communicative competence, understand "Speaking Rules" and the relation between linguistic form and function in Japanese; and (c) recognize degree of formality, uses of silence, appropriateness of questions, types of questions, gender and age-related restrictions depending on to whom and when he or she talks. The contents of this course will change from quarter to quarter.

JLPT Prep. Course -- Textbook(s): Nihongo Noryoku Shiken by Bonjinsha.  Students develop Japanese language proficiency (NIHONGO NORYOKU).  Acquire vocabulary, advanced grammar, and idioms to increase comprehension. Improve Kanji reading and writing skills.   Get to know the real NIHONGO NORYOKU SHIKEN's format, question types, and scoring.  Practice and learn key test-taking strategies for the Nihongo Noryoku Shiken.  Gain experience and confidence with practice tests, exercises, and essays.  [Offered in summer & fall]

READING FOR COMPREHENSION -- Textbook(s): TBA (high interest selections such as short stories, essays, newspaper & magazine articles, general stories, etc.). (Prerequisites: 350 contact hours of Japanese or its equivalent & PT300). The instructor will help students analyze, synthesize and interpret general reading materials including some with abstract concepts; increase speed and comprehension in silent reading; develop the skill to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from context; read for enjoyment; and at the same time gain new vocabulary words and sentence structures.  [Offered in winter & spring]

BEN YOSHIKAWA SCHOLARSHIP Founded 2003
 

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