Japanese Class Descriptions
BEGINNING JAPANESE
The Beginning Series focuses on the development of basic speaking, reading, and writing skills. Aspects of Japanese culture will be introduced, along with linguistic structures. Students will be able to read and produce both hiragana and katakana upon completion of the series.
Please note that Beginning 1 is for students with NO previous Japanese experience. Beginning 2, Beginning 3, and up assume some familiarity with the language. Also, common kanji compounds will be introduced from the Beginning 3 class.

TextBook
*Please check the edition used for your class from registration link.
JLPT level
n/a
Kanji
- Beginning 3 — Kanji will be introduced in this class
- Beginning 4 — 50-60 characters required
Course Content
Beginning Level | Content Covered |
---|---|
1 | Lessons 1-3 |
2 | Lessons 4-6 |
3 | Lessons 7-9 |
4 | Lessons 10-12 |
Placement Test
PRE-INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE
The Pre-Intermediate Series is for students who have completed the Beginner series (or Intermediate I~III – before 2019 Spring Semester) with JSNC or for those with previous Japanese language experience equivalent to the JLPT N5 level. It is required for students to read and write hiragana and katakana. Some knowledge of kanji is expected for this level (150 kanji). Students should understand grammatical items such as verb tense and aspect perfective/progressive, hypothetical/conditional statements, casual form to potential, adjective conjugation, and expressing a sequence of events/volition, etc.
Japanese is the primary language of instruction.

TextBook
*Please check the edition used for your class from registration link.
JLPT level
- Pre-Intermediate 2 — N5
- Pre-Intermediate 3 — N4
Kanji
- Pre-Intermediate 1 — 150 characters required
- Pre-Intermediate 3 — 300 characters required
Course Content
Pre-Intermediate Level | Content Covered |
---|---|
1 | Lessons 13-15 |
2 | Lessons 16-18 |
3 | Lessons 19-21 |
4 | Lessons 22-23 |
INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE
The Intermediate Series is for students who have completed Pre-Intermediate series (or Intermediate IV 1~4 – before 2019 Spring Semester) with JSNC or for those with previous Japanese language experience equivalent to advanced JLPT N3 level. Some knowledge of kanji is expected for this level (600 kanji). Students should understand grammatical items such as verb tense and aspect perfective/progressive, hypothetical/conditional statements, casual form to potential, adjective conjugation, and expressing a sequence of events/volition, etc.
Japanese is the primary language of instruction.


TextBook
*Please check the textbook used for your class from registration link. “QUARTET Ⅰ” will be used for new Intermediate class starts in Spring 2022. Ongoing Intermediate classes will continue using “Intermediate Japanese”.
The new textbook, QUARTET, will be used for new Intermediate class starts in Spring 2022.
JLPT level
N3
Kanji
600 characters required
Course Content with Intermediate Japanese textbook
Intermediate Level | Content Covered |
---|---|
1 | Lessons 1-3 |
2 | Lessons 4-6 |
3 | Lessons 7-9 |
4 | Lessons 10-12 |
5 | Lessons 13-14 |
6 | Lesson 15 and Review |
Course Content with QUARTET Ⅰ textbook
*New Intermediate classes start in 2022 Spring will use QUARTET series
Intermediate Level | Content Covered |
---|---|
1 | Lessons 1-2 |
2 | Lessons 3-4 |
3 | Lessons 5-6 |
Placement Test
PRE-ADVANCED JAPANESE
The Pre-Advanced Series is geared towards students who have a solid foundation in both conversational and written Japanese. This class focuses on the development of accurate and extended discourse as well as on the expansion of kanji knowledge in the reading of printed materials such as newspaper articles. Study materials are drawn from primary Japanese sources, and the class is conducted entirely in Japanese. The course textbooks for this level may change by term. Please refer to the registration page for more details.
Course Content
Pre-Advanced Level | Content Covered |
---|---|
1 | Lessons 1-2 |
2 | Lessons 3-4 |
3 | Lessons 5-6 |
4 | Lessons 7-8 |
5 | Lessons 9-10 |
6 | Lessons 11-12 |
7 | Lessons 13-15 |
Placement Test
ADVANCED JAPANESE

JLPT level
N2/N1
Kanji
1000 characters required
Course Content
Teaching materials and lesson content covered may vary from semester to semester.
Placement Test
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