Japanese Class Descriptions

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.

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.

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.

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.