JAPAN Course Descriptions

Japanese (2009-2010)

An introductory course for students who have little or no knowledge of Japanese to develop basic listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Practical oral and written exercises incorporating the Hiragana Writing System are used to provide a firm grammatical foundation for further study.

Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills acquired in JAPAN 101R are further developed. Practical oral and written exercises incorporating the Katakana Writing System will be used to develop a more solid grammatical base.

An introductory course to develop basic comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing skills specifically related to the Japanese business culture. This course is designed for students with little or no previous knowledge of Japanese.

A continuation of JAPAN 111R designed to further develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Language skills required for the business environment will be stressed.

A continuation of the study of grammar and vocabulary through development of listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. Some study of Japanese culture is also included. By the end of the course, 120 Kanji (Chinese characters in their Japanese readings) will have been introduced.

In this course, students will continue to develop their language skills with an increased emphasis on spoken Japanese. In addition, students will work on improving grammatical accuracy and vocabulary development as well as continue to acquire more basic information about Japanese culture. The writing of an additional 200 Kanji will be taught.

This course will concentrate on advanced conversation, polite forms, and idioms. It will provide an opportunity to revise and practise the Hiragana and Katakana writing forms. Upon completion, students should be able to write 800 characters and use a Japanese dictionary with ease.

This course builds on the materials learned in JAPAN 301R by employing current newspaper articles for reading practice, thematic discussions, and writing exercises in order to enhance students' skill in the use of the Japanese language.