JAPAN 401

Elementary Japanese

This course focuses on the development of all language skills (listening, reading, and writing) within an historical and cultural context, reflecting the widely diverse and dynamic intellectual and artistic response of the Japanese to their own culture and the world around them. The study of Japanese within an integrated framework of historical and cultural references promotes an essential awareness of cultural difference. Vocabulary, idioms, and grammar are taught in a synthesis of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Students are required to master: the hiragana syllabary of 46 basic hiragana and 23 additional phonemes; the first 45 out of 2,136 kanji (everyday-use Sino-Japanese characters); and acquire a passive knowledge of the katakana syllabary.

Units: 4.0

Hours: 72 hours LEC