Term (Contact hours) ............... WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, & FALL (33 hours each)
Class & Section .......................... BEGINNING 1 SM, SA, ME, or WE,
Instructor ........................................ TBA
Meeting day & Time ................... Saturday 9-12noon, Saturday 1-4pm, Monday 6-9pm, or Wednesday 6-9pm

COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to: introduce yourself and others; greet and take leave; talk about yourself; give information about self; express apologies; make requests; use numbers; ask, tell, and confirm prices; attract someone's attention; make offers; express gratitude; give orders using numbers; connect two sentences; count objects; take taxis; give directions; make purchases; recommend something in Japanese. Form correctly all the characters and combinations of characters in HIRAGANA.

TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS
1. Required:  a) Pegasus Language Services. (1987). Basic Functional Japanese (Lessons 1-8). << purchased only from these online booksellers, not at the Kinokuniya. Tokyo, Japan: The Japan Times.   b) Shimazu, Y. M. (2005). Handy Katakana Workbook (1st ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Custom. [also available at Kinokuniya Bookstore, San Francisco--Geary at Webster. Phone 415-567-7625].

2. Recommended:  Mizutani, O., & Mizutani, N. (1977 & 1979). nihongo notes (Vols. 1 & 2). [Available at Kinokuniya Bookstore, San Francisco Japan Center. Phone 415-567-7625.]

3. Audio cassette tapes  related to the textbook lessons--also signed out in Room 201, office.

4. Practice online:  KANA, vocab. etc.
http://www.iknow.co.jp/lists/24339-soko-gakuen-beginner-1-vocab-list
http://www.ichigo.se/kanaflash/kana.swf
http://www.realkana.com/hiragana

EVALUATION
1. One final exam (2.5 hours).
2. Upon successful completion (80% or higher attendance rate and 80% or higher final exam score) of the course, a STUDENT PROGRESS REPORT will be written if requested at the time you take the final exam.
3. Your final exam score (%) and attendance (%) will be kept in a digitized form @STUDENT GRADES AND INFORMATION REPOSITORY.

TEACHING STYLE
The instructor will create a relaxed, low-anxiety atmosphere through which you can acquire the previously mentioned course objectives with less effort and with ease. The instructor will use an eclectic teaching method.

PROCEDURES
1. The instructor will follow the CALENDAR /Weekly Schedule printed on the back page.
2. In class, student and teacher (and student and student) will engage in interactive language activities, a variety of exercises, using Japanese as much as possib le. The instructor, however, will use some mechanical and meaningful drills, when necessary, to develop your kinetic memory for the training of the perceptual motor skills.
3. Students will reinforce and develop vocabulary, structure, listening (audio cassette tapes checked out regularly) and conversational skills through weekly assignments.
4. The class, however, may be conducted in accordance with the needs of the students in class within the course objectives.

CALENDAR / Weekly Schedule

Week 1.  Introduction, orientation & Lesson 1 ......... [HIRAGANA] a,i,u,e,o, ka,ki,ku,ke,ko ga,gi,gu,ge,go,

Week 2.  Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 ......................................................sa,shi,su,se,so, za,ji,zu,ze,zo ta,chi,tsu,te,to, da, de,do,

Week 3.  Lesson 2 and Lesson 3 .................................................... na,ni,nu,ne,no, ha,hi,fu,he,ho ba,bi,bu,be,bo, pa,pi,pu,pe,po

Week 4.  Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 .................................................... ma,mi,mu,me,mo, ya,yu,yo,

Week 5.  Lesson 4 and Lesson 5 .................................................... ra,ri,ru,re,ro, wa,wo,n

Week 6.  Lesson 5 and REVIEW QUIZ. ........................................ Double Consonant Sounds

Week 7.  Lesson 6 .......................................................................... Contracted Sounds

Week 8.  Lesson 6 and Lesson 7.................................................... Long Vowel Sounds

Week 9.  Lesson 7 and REVIEW ................................................... Practice Long Vowel Sounds. Review and Practice Quiz

Week 10.  FINAL EXAM

Week 11.  Lesson 8 (Last Day of Class).

*Weekly assignments on specific dates will be available from your instructor in class.

PLEASE NOTE
1. You are expected to listen to the audio cassette tapes, memorize new words, read the grammar explanation in the textbook and to complete all assignments before coming to class.
2. From time to time short KANA quizzes may be given in class.
3. Please be on time for class; otherwise, you interrupt the lesson for others. Regular class attendance and participation are essential for language learning.
4. Excessive absences (more than 3 class meetings) may be cause for repetition of the course.
5. When you obtain a score of 80% or higher on the final exam, you move up to a higher level class. Soko Gakuen's exit criteria for each class/level are based on the 1987 ACTFL Japanese Language Proficiency Guidelines.
6. The teacher expects a lot of errors from you in class, and accepts those errors as a natural phenomenon integral to the process of learning a new language. You should not be marked down for each minor speaking and writing error because this practice destroys your confidence and forces you to expend so much effort on details that you may lose the overall ability to use language (Walker, 1972).

POLICY ON FINAL EXAM
If you are unable to take the final exam on the scheduled date due to circumstances beyond your control, the exam will be given only in a similar test-taking situation (under supervision of an instructor at Soko Gakuen). Unless the final exam is made up, NO CERTIFICATES can be issued.