About
* This class begins July 16 and ends Sept 10
Instructor: Naoko Takeda
Objective: Learners in this class will build on skills developed during the Beginner 1-6 levels. Practice will focus on basic expression, description, and interacting with others by creating simple sentences and asking appropriate follow-up questions for personal topic (e.g., self-introduction and family) as well as societal topics (e.g., going to a picnic, comments about food, business trip, etc.). The instructor will continue to guide the learners in cultural exploration within these topics
Can-Do Statements: Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:
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Talk about your involvement in the culture of another country
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Offer help to someone with a problem/ Accept an offer for help
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Read the program of the event
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Discuss what to take for a picnic
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Write a memo to say who is taking what for a picnic
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Ask/say what specific food or drinks your friend/you would prefer for a picnic
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Talk about food you don’t know much about
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Comment briefly on the food
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Offer a dish to your friends /Respond to an offer
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Talk about someone visiting your office a business trip and the date of his/ her visit
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Greet a visitor arriving at the airport
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Check the hotel room and tell your visitor if it is ok
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Read a business trip schedule
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Introduce your colleagues to a visitor
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Ask to use things in the office
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See a visitor off at the airport with some parting phrases
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Read a message from a colleague in the overseas office when your return from a business trip
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Read and type up to 31 kanji words including jukugo 熟語 (kanji compound words) related to the course topics
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Read and write 23 additional kanji characters that appear in Kanji Master N5
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: It is strongly recommended that you schedule about 4 hours per week outside of the weekly 2-hour class to engage with this course material. 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 coursebooks may be purchased from the vendor of your choice; possible sources are linked below)
1. MARUGOTO RIKAI: Japanese language and culture Elementary 1 A2 Coursebook for communicative language competences (ISBN-13: 978-4384057577)
2. MARUGOTO KATSUDOO: Japanese language and culture Elementary 1 A2 Coursebook for communicative language activities (ISBN-13: 978-4384057546)
3. Kanji Master N5 Revised Edition – (ISBN-13: 978-4384059656)
Strongly recommended (free) apps:
1. Kanji Memory Hint 1 [English]
2. Kanji Memory Hint 2 [English]
3. MARUGOTO+ (free, supplemental digital resource site where users can learn about Japanese language and culture alongside the Marugoto coursebook)
4. Kanji alive - A free study tool for reading and writing kanji
5. Kana Bimoji Japanease Master
Android
This course will cover Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Katsudoo textbook Lesson 11-14, Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai textbook Lesson 11-14.