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Japanese 1 (LL129)

Summary

Level:

Absolute beginner. This module is offered to students with no prior knowledge of Japanese. Please note, final year students are not normally permitted to take non-accelerated beginners modules.

Main Objectives:

The module aims to equip students with basic and practical communication skills to carry out everyday tasks.

Credits:

This 30 credit module is also available for 24 credits.

Teaching: <Please note each class is a 2 hour session>

2 hours language class each week for 21 weeks.
Students are reminded that 1 credit = 10 hours of study, therefore the minimum expected amount of study is 240 hours, which averages over 10 hours per week. A substantial amount of independent study is therefore required.

Availability/Location of module within courses:

This module is available as an approved module in undergraduate programmes for departments in the Faculties of Arts, Sciences and Social Studies.

Course Texts:

<We recommend this book for home study>

Japanese for Busy People: Kana Version Bk. 1, Revised 3rd Edition, AJALT, Kodansha International 2012 ISBN-13: 978-1568363851 (Please note that there are similarly titled books. Please do not buy an old 1995 version or Romanised version.)

Japanese for Busy People I Workbook Bk.1 AJALT, Kodansha International 2012,ISBN-13: 978-1568363998
The stimulus material (aural, written and visual) not only provides an introduction to Japanese grammar but also gives the students an insight into everyday life in Japan.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

General: Carry out communicative tasks with basic language proficiency in predictable social situations, using basic grammar and vocabulary.

Reading: Understand short texts and letters written in Hiragana and Katakana scripts.

Writing: Write Hiragana and Katakana accurately and produce short texts, such as letters and simple narratives.

Speaking: Develop a reasonable standard of pronunciation and be able to communicate orally in basic daily situations.

Listening: Understand short exchanges or monologues in familiar daily situations, such as shopping, making arrangements for meeting or talking about holidays.

Syllabus:

Final year students are not normally permitted to take non-accelerated beginners modules.

Communicative situations (based on chapter headings from the textbooks)
  • Introductions;
  • shopping;
  • confirming schedules;
  • giving compliments;
  • expressing gratitude;
  • invitations;
Grammatical content
  • Particles (postpositions);
  • interrogatives;
  • sentence patterns;
  • adjectives;
  • verb conjugations;
  • present and past;
  • demonstratives;
  • common Japanese names;
  • counters;
  • extent, frequency, quantity.

Note: Words written phonetically using the Latin alphabet (romaji) will be only used in the very initial stage to aid learning pronunciations. Hiragana and Katakana will be used throughout. Kanji (Chinese characters) will be touched upon, but not assessed.

Assessment Scheme:

Interim tests (Reading and Writing) (Term 1)

1 oral examination and 1 final examination (Term 3)

Exam summary and Skills weighting: Assessment

Marking criteria (written): Marking criteria (written) Chinese/Japanese levels 1/2

Marking criteria (oral): Marking criteria (oral) levels 1 and 2