The Sussex Centre for Language Studies
Open courses in modern languages
Japanese Elementary (Stage 2)
Mark Taniguchi
A course for those moving on from a beginners' course, for those whose knowledge
is rusty or those who may not feel confident to go forward to an intermediate course.
The emphasis is on speaking and understanding, but grammatical structures will be
learned and some reading and writing skills will be developed. A course book is
sometimes used to allow you to work on your own and to form a framework for your
learning. The course aims to give those moving on from a beginners' class more
confidence to deal with everyday situations. You will be encouraged to work out
your own strategy for learning and, within the framework of the syllabus, learn to use
language structures and functions to suit your own needs - for example, very basic
business/academic language.
Everyday situations to be developed include: Personal information - family/social
arrangements • Directions - time/numbers • Travel/transport • food and drink/ buying
and selling • Accommodation - hotel/lodgings/business • Holidays and leisure.
Grammar and functions revised are: • articles • present tense of common
regular/irregular verbs • negatives • questions • descriptions • adjectives • personal
pronouns • polite/familiar forms • prepositions • possessives • idea of future • one
main past tense • time phrases/quantities.
New grammar and functions include: comparative/superlative forms • adverbs •
future forms • other past tenses.
You will be encouraged to learn Japanese scripts (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji)
and will be given an insight into the culture of the country within the framework of
your language studies. You will be encouraged to work out your own strategy for
study in line with the syllabus and your own perceived needs. There will be an
opportunity to study personal cultural interests linked to the language.
Course learning outcomes
By the end of the course you will have broadened your knowledge of structure and
vocabulary for basic situations. You will be able to take part in "free practice"
exercises. Your comprehension of written and spoken stimuli will be quite good
within the context of the syllabus. You will have gained a better appreciation of the
relationship between the language, history and culture of the country. You will have
developed greater confidence and enhanced autonomy in your language learning.
Teaching and learning methods
Your knowledge of the language will be revised and developed via the four skills,
listening, speaking, reading and writing, usually in tutor-led group situations. Both
authentic and specially prepared audio-visual and written material will be used to
introduce new structures and to allow you to broaden your vocabulary and
communicate more freely in the topic areas of the syllabus. Preparation work will be
set and some written tasks assigned which may be taken from a course book.
Built into the course will be a number of assignments to allow you and your tutor to
gauge progress made. These assignments naturally form part of the course and will
usually be multi-skilled, involving some reading, writing, speaking and listening. It
will be important to complete a learning/study plan and take an active part in the
classes by completing the assignments set. You will be given an opportunity to
pursue your own personal research into a topic of cultural interest which contains
some analysis or debate.
Certificate of Completion
At the end of the course a certificate of completion will be awarded if the tutor
considers that you have gained as much as possible from the course by achieving
the learning outcomes and participated fully in class activities.
A Record of Learning for each individual will be issued as well, giving details of the
course and your own specific achievements in each of the four language skills.
This course is based on lessons 12 - 25 in “Japanese for Busy People I.
Japanese for Busy People I, Romanized Version” Revised 3rd Edition
ISBN : 978-4-7700-3008-5
Publisher : Kodansha International
Bilingual dictionary:
Webster’s New World Japanese Dictionary (Webster’s)
Collins Shubun English-Japanese Dictionary (Collins)
Self Study:
Japanese for Busy People I : The Workbook - 3rd Edition.
(Kodansha International) ISBN: 978-4-7700-3034-4