This course is an introductory, skills-oriented course in Japanese. The primary goal is communicative fluency in a limited variety of situations in Japanese. In this course, you will learn greetings, self-introduction, describing things and people, describing and commenting on places, and talking about daily routine. You will learn by using Wimba Voice Tools (introduced and explained as we go through lessons) and various types of online materials. I have a strong belief in the communicative approach in language learning. Therefore, you will actually speak to me and to classmates with the help of technology. As one of my colleagues love to say, this is not your grandmother's online course!! My hope is that your class will become a collaborative learning community where learners work together and help each other, rather than working in isolation. 

Also, it has been apparent during my years of teaching that a student's success in learning Japanese is mostly determined by class attendance, participation and diligence in completing the assignments in a timely manner. Language learning is like preparing for a marathon. To be able to go the distance, an athlete has to go through a cumulative and often repetitive process over a period of time. Learning Japanese is a similar process. It requires at least half an hour of listening/speaking out loud with the CD/sound files everyday, and 2-3 hours of total preparation will be required for each week. "Cramming" right before the test will definitely not work here. Please make Japanese a part of your daily routine. It is not an easy path, but if you decide to choose to take this journey, I will try my best to help you want to learn more. I promise you that you will be rewarded very nicely if you put forth some effort in this class. After all, language is one of the most powerful tools you can acquire.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to;

1. Understand short, learned utterances, and occasionally sentence-length utterances where context is clear. Comprehension is limited to vocabulary and some simple questions/statements related to everyday events, such as greetings, introductions, descriptions of rooms/housing, campus/towns, and daily schedule/activities.
   
   
2. Make short statements and ask simple questions, primarily by relying on memorized utterances and set phrases. Occasionally, expand to sentence-level production to accomplish tasks in contexts similar to those stated above. Ask for meanings of unknown words in Japanese and expand their vocabulary.
   
   
3. Understand written materials in hiragana and katakana. Comprehension is limited to vocabulary and some simple questions/statements related to contexts similar to the aforementioned contexts. Occasionally comprehend some unfamiliar materials in which the context is clear.
   
   
4. Write short phrases and sentences in hiragana and katakana with accuracy. Write self-introductions and compose simple memos.

Possible Assignments Include: (Subject to change each semester. The actual assignments are available in the Syllabus in the Blackboard course site on the first day of classes.)

Your final grade may be based on the following scale. Please note that you must also pass at least 60 % of the Final Exam in order to pass the course, regardless of your scores on the other assignments.

There are 2 online exams in this course.