Can-Do Statements: Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to: 

·         Use counters for general objects and things

·         Describe what they have in their homes

·         State/ask about locations of objects in a room

·         Write an email inviting someone to their home

·         Read street signs (e.g., names and addresses)

·         Talk about their daily routines and schedules

·         Tell the time they do something

·         Talk about when to have a party

·         Write a birthday card

·         Talk about their hobbies

·         Talk about what they do on their days off

·         Read posters and calendars for events

·         Say whether they will attend an event

·         Talk about whether they can go out with their friend

·         Read and write in katakana and hiragana

·         Type and handwrite simple sentences in Japanese

·         Demonstrate familiarity with a limited number of kanji words related to the course topics, building on what they learned in Beginner 1 

·         Read and write the first 14 kanji characters that appear in Kanji Master N5 Chapter 1: Number

Use of the Language: This course has been designed in such a way that most of the class time will be devoted to communication and will be taught in the target language (i.e., the language that you are studying).  As you already have some experience with the language, you are encouraged to use the target language as much as possible from Day 1.  You are not expected to understand everything, and you can expect to be pushed beyond your comfort zone. However, your instructor is there to make sure you can succeed in meeting the goals of the activities and of the class in general.  Our goal is for you to be able to communicate in the target language, and we cannot learn to speak a language without speaking it.  Please remember that we learn best by making mistakes, and we encourage you to try to do your best.  Don’t forget that your instructor is there to support you in class and is also available via the Matrix messaging system for assistance.

Expectations/Time Commitment:  Japanese has been identified by the Defense Language Institute (DLI) as a Group 4 language; this means that it is more challenging for students whose first language is English, and it takes more contact hours to develop proficiency compared to other languages closer to English.  Despite the challenges, many students whose first language is English develop proficiency in Japanese and find that it is a language that provides many opportunities both in our region and globally.  It is strongly recommended that you schedule about 3 hours per week outside of the weekly 2-hour class to engage with this course material.  Your instructor will give you both required out-of-class activities as well as optional out-of-class activities for you to complete if you have time.   Please plan accordingly by scheduling your time on your calendar now. Active engagement in all course activities (e.g., class participation, module completion, homework, written assignments, studying vocabulary, etc.) will contribute to your learning and success in this course.      

Required Materials (Note: the coursebook and workbook may be purchased from the vendor of your choice; one possible source for each is linked below)

1. MARUGOTO KATSUDO coursebook: Japanese language and culture  Starter A1 Coursebook  for communicative language activities (ISBN-13: 978-4384057522) 

MARUGOTO+ (free, supplemental digital resource site where users can learn about Japanese language and culture alongside the Marugoto coursebook)

2.  Kodansha's Katakana Workbook: A Step-by-Step Approach to Basic Japanese Writing (ISBN-13: 978-1568364773)

3. Kanji Master N5 Revised –  (ISBN-13: 978-4384059656)

4. Kanji practice notebook (150 letter or lower)

Strongly recommended (free) apps:

1. Kana Bimoji Japanese Master

Android

iPhone

2. Katakana Memory Hint [English]

Android

iPhone

3. Kanji Memory Hint 1 [English]

Android

iPhone

This course will cover Lessons 7-12 in Marugoto.

4. Matrix LMS 

Android https://play.google.com/store/search?q=matrix%20LMS&c=apps&hl=en_US

iPhone https://apps.apple.com/us/app/matrix-lms/id955407963