J10A: Intermediate Japanese A (5 Units)

The goal of this course is to deepen individual and lifelong interests in socio-cultural aspects of Japan to foster intercultural communication in a global society. Covered cultural aspects include geography, speech style, technology, sports, food, and religion. This course aims to develop an understanding of both the language and the culture essential for communicating effectively. Students will learn to integrate basic structures and vocabulary acquired in Japanese 1A/B and study new structures and vocabulary to perform various communicative functions. A major component of the course is the final project, providing students the opportunity to showcase their language proficiency and critical thinking skills. An increased amount of reading and writing will be covered, including approximately 200 new kanji. Prerequisites: J1B, or consent of instructor.

*This course may be in-person or in mixed modality mode.

Can-Do Statements:

• To be able to think critically and express opinions and perspectives on a variety of abstract topics, utilizing developed language skills.
• To be able to understand and discuss key aspects of Japanese culture by comparing to their own and other cultures with an attitude respectful of others.
• To be able to incorporate new grammatical structures, vocabulary, and kanji into language use, improving listening and speaking skills, as well as reading and writing abilities.
• To be able to expand reading comprehension strategies.
• To be able to enjoy reading.
• To be able to develop a central idea from readings.
• To be able to extract important information from texts without focusing on minute details.
• To be able to continue the process of becoming independent readers.
• To acquire the attitude and develop skills to become a lifetime learner of Japanese.

Students who have not taken Japanese 1B at UCB may wish to contact Kyoko Takahara-Ahn to have their language proficiency assessed.

During J10A, we study the first half of Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning Through Content and Multimedia (Mayumi Oka, et al. Kurosio Publishers, 2009).