High School Japanese 1A and 1B
This is a beginning two semester course in Japanese language and culture. Students will learn conversational basics, including greetings and classroom phrases, and cover topics of family, daily routines, leisure activities, physical description, and weekend plans. Students will also learn to read and write the phonetic Japanese syllabaries hiragana and katakana, and about 25 Chinese characters or kanji. Information about Japanese culture is integrated throughout the course. The course will cover the 1st half of the textbook, Adventures in Japanese 1.
Enduring Understanding
To introduce students to the basics of the language and culture of Japan. At the end of this course students will be able to have simple conversations in Japanese and to read the phonetic scripts used in Japan.
Course Design
Because sections will be proceeding at very different paces, the due dates for assignments will vary greatly. Students with 45-minute classes will be completing one chapter (or lesson) every month. At the end of the first semester, they will complete Lessons 1-4. Students on the block schedule will be completing 1 chapter (or lesson) every 2 weeks. At the end of the semester, they will complete Lessons 1-8.
Additional Resources Needed
Required Textbooks:
- Adventures in Japanese I Textbook (2007) 3rd Edition Peterson & Hirano-Omizo
Paperback ISBN 978-0-88727-549-4
Hardcover ISBN 978-0-88727-575-3 - Adventures in Japanese I Workbook (2004) 3rd Edition Peterson & Steverson
ISBN 978-0-88727-450-1
All can be found at cheng-tsui.com
Required Technology:
- Computer that meets the minimum system requirements listed on the Live Classroom page
- Internet connection (Broadband preferred)
- Headset with microphone combination
- E-mail account (recommended)
- Printer
- Scanner
- DVD Player (in PC or consumer player)
- Web camera for computer (recommended)
- Writing tablet (recommended)- Bamboo [Small] Pen tablet with pen only - $70 - from Amazon.com)
Content Topics
Unit 1
Japanese Writing System: Students will learn about the history and current uses of the three Japanese writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Japanese Pronunciation. Hiragana: Vowels A, E, I, O, U
Unit 2
Japanese Pronunciation concluded, Conversation Topics: Classroom expressions and numbers 1-100. Hiragana: KA group.
Unit 3
Geography of Japan, Conversation Topics: Weather expressions. Hiragana: SA group
Unit 4
Conversation topics: Classroom expressions. Teacher’s directions, Please give me.” Classroom objects. Hiragana: NA group, MA group, TA group.
Unit 5
Begin Lesson 3: Family,Conversation Topics: My family. Counters for people and ages, Friend’s family. School and grade level, Nationality, Jobs Hiragana: YA group
Unit 6
Begin Lesson 4: Everyday Conversation Topics: What Language? What do you eat? What do you do at school? What did you do at home?
Unit 7
Hobbies: Conversation Topics: What is your hobby? What do you like? What are you good at? You are very skillful! What color?
Unit 8
Characteristics: Conversation Topics: Parts of the body, Adjectives for good, bad, big, small, and colors, More descriptive adjectives and verb phrases
Unit 9
Conversation Topics: Days of the week. Suggestions and invitations,Time of day, Direction verbs of coming, going, and returning, Leisure locations, Transportation
Assessments
There will be a variety of assessments used in this course. Homework will be assigned daily and will be approximately 40% of the total grade. There will be frequent quizzes on vocabulary and Japanese characters, and unit tests at the end of each chapter. The quizzes and chapter tests will be combined for about 40% of the grade. At the end of Lesson 4 and Lesson 8, there will be an exam. Each exam will be 10% of the term grade.