Japanese Language Division

Japanese 1

Students will learn Hiragana reading and writing. They will also acquire age-appropriate vocabulary and simple sentence structures. They will be able to understand and follow directions in Japanese, read and comprehend what is in the textbook without difficulty, and talk and write about themselves, their families, daily life and special events. In addition, students will learn Japanese culture through various fun activities, such as origami, singing, calligraphy and traditional games.

Japanese 2

Students will learn Katakana and about 60 basic Kanji characters. They will continue developing age-appropriate vocabulary and be able to talk and write about their favorite events using the past tense. They will be also able to describe people and objects and conduct a basic daily conversation. Most instructions will be given in Japanese. Only important things and complicated matters will be explained in English. They will continue learning Japanese culture through traditional fun activities for children.

Japanese 3

Japanese 3 is a beginner’s class for older students. Students will acquire age-appropriate vocabulary and expressions as middle or high school students. They will start by reading and writing Hiragana, then Katakana along with learning from the textbook. Students also learn about 60 new Kanji characters. At the end of the school year, students will be able to talk about their daily life, introduce and describe people, indicate things, animals and people with numbers and counters.

Japanese 4

In this course, students will learn about daily life in Japan and Japanese cultures; describing people and things, shopping, ordering food in restaurants, asking permission, making requests, explaining reasons, and comparing people or things, etc. They will also learn some Japanese folk tales. Drills and situational practices are used for oral exercises.

In addition, listening, reading, and writing exercises are provided. The class is conducted mainly in Japanese, except for some difficult grammatical and cultural explanations, and other important messages. Students also learn about 100 new Kanji characters and 30 to 65 new vocabulary words in each chapter, while Katakana will be reviewed.

Japanese 5

Students will acquire various speech styles and forms, such as honorific and humble expressions, and male and female speech. They will be able to compare things, state reasons, predictions, and causes and effects with more complex sentence structures. They will be also able to understand different kinds of conversations from daily talks to formal interviews and read simple articles in newspapers. For speaking, they will learn how to express themselves in various situations. About 100 new Kanji will be introduced. Japanese culture will be also introduced through watching videos, making crafts and conducting research and presentation.