Curriculum

The classes are delivered in both Japanese and English or Japanese only, depending on the level. Students are encouraged to speak Japanese as much as possible. Instructors are all native speakers.

Classes for all courses meet once per week. Students may repeat various courses until they are ready to progress to a higher level.

BP-100 - This course block is intended for those who take Japanese classes for their first time. Students will practice Japanese pronunciation and learn basic communication skills. Also, students will be introduced to two of the three forms of Japanese writing, Hiragana and Katakana. Japanese culture will be introduced as well throughout the lessons. The text, Japanese For Busy People I 4th Edition is used as well as supplementary material.

  • Learn basic sentence pattern for: positive statement, negation, question and answer.
    pronouns and modifiers, time, numbers, money, things same & different.

    unit 1 At the office
    - Introductions
    - Possessions

    unit 2 Shopping
    - Asking about business hours
    - Shopping, Part 1
    - Shopping, Part 2

  • Learn grammar and sentence patterns: motion verbs, conjugating verbs, ask and answer about place, dates, calendar, existence of people and things, locating things, in, on, nearby, how many things, where is something, look, listen, where something happens, writing and making phone calls.

    unit 3 Getting Around
    - confirming schedules
    - visiting another location

    unit 4 Eating Out
    - Going to restaurants
    - Habits and Meetings

    unit 5 Visiting a Japanese Home
    - Describing things
    - Describing Impressions

  • Learn about: Adjectives, giving and receiving, how something to taste, give one's opinion, ask for opinion, describe someone or something, talk about weather, how far is something, who gave what to whom, presents, birthdays, special occasions, talk about clothing, inviting, suggesting, offering, te-form, sequence of actions, do before or after, give direction.

    unit 6 Weekend Trips
    - Going to Nikko
    - Asking for a Place
    - Giving and Receiving

    unit 7 Making Leisure Plans
    - Preferences
    - Making an Invitation
    - Stating a Wish

  • The nai-form, get on and off public transportation, departure and arrival time, how long to get somewhere, how long stayed, flight itinerary, permission to do something, refuse, give assistance, borrow a pen, forbid to do something, give a reason, 'ing', connect two clauses, ask and answer where someone lives, ask if someone knows something, state what someone likes, skilled at, understands, not understands, describe someone.

    unit 8 Business Trips
    - Talking about plans
    - Making a request

    unit 9 Seeing a museum
    - Going to an art museum
    - At an art museum
    - Being warned or advised

    unit 10 At the office
    - Busy at the moment
    - Responding to an inquiry

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BP-200 - This course block is intended for students who have a grasp of reading Hiragana/Katakana and basic sentence structure to continue their study of Japanese language. A more advanced component of Japanese writing, Kanji will be introduced. More emphasis is placed on reading and speaking. The text used for this block is Japanese For Busy People II, 4th Edition.

  • Learn about: Making comparisons (superlative and comparative degrees, and describing an item), stating a wish as a preliminary to a question, stating and asking about a preference, describing characteristics, expressing decisions, referring to indefinite things, places , people or time, “going somewhere to do something”, consulting together to decide on something, plain for verbs, plain form adjectives and “noun+です”, stating opinions, soliciting suggestions, using direct and indirect quotation, “doing something to test it out”, “going somewhere to doo something and coming back”, connecting related sentence or adjectives, and describing a state in effect.


    Lesson 1- 6
    - This is the Most Popular One
    - I Prefer that T-shirt
    - In Shibuya, There Are More Young People Than in Ginza
    - I Think We Need More Time
    - She Said It Would Be Ready Today
    - It’s in a Big, Blue Box

  • Learn about: Talking about past experiences, asking for and offering explanations, the particle も，giving examples of actions or events, describing simultaneous actions, offering to do something, expressing potentiality, giving reason (1)", “When” (1), expressing a sequence of events: “After”, describing a change of state, “When” (2), forming modifying clauses, “visible/audible”, and expressing frequency.

    Lesson 7 - 12
    - Have You Ever Been to Hakone?
    - I Soaked in a Hot Spring While Gazing at Mount Fuji
    - Can I Join the Meeting
    - I Came Here When I Was a Student
    - Your Japanese Will Get Better
    - A Lounge that Overlooks Osaka Castle

  • Learn about: Expressing a strong suggestion, using adverbial forms of adjectives to modify verbs, expressing obligation, expressing lack of obligation, “not yet”. giving a reason (2), emotional expressions, expressing volition, connecting の to particles, nominalizing sentences, “in case”, “it sometimes happens that…”, “when” (3), “while”, “plan to”, and translative and intransitive verbs.

    Lesson 13 - 18
    - You Should Go Home Early
    - I Have to Carry Them
    - I’m Relieved It Ended Without Any Problems
    - I’m Thinking of Learning Japanese Cooking
    - This Is My First Time Learning Japanese Cooking
    - When the Frying Pan is Hot, Put in the Chicken

  • Learn about: Stating there is a possibility, making hypothetical statements, starting what you realizes as a result of an action, showing the completion of an action or event, making conditional statements, showing there is little of something, “it looks like”, “if it’s the case…, then”, speaking of natural or habitual results, expressing suppositions, giving more than one reason, expressing continuation from past to present, expressing continuation from present to future, and stating what you want (to obtain).

    Lesson 19 - 24
    - What Will You Do if You Receive a Special Bonus?
    - When I Opened a File, My Computer Got Frozen
    - If You Take the Shinkansen, You’ll Make It on Time
    - It Looks Delicious
    - Go Up to the Second Floor and It’s on Your Right
    - We’re Going to Start Thinking of Oversees Markets

BACK TO LANGUAGE SCHOOL

BP-300 - In this course block, students will complete their mastery of beginning Japanese and progress smoothly to the intermediate level. Learners will be equipped to talk meaningfully about more social topics, expressing their opinions and asking others for theirs. It will also deal with sophisticated business situations. The text used for this block is Japanese For Busy People III, 4th Edition.

  • Learn about: Expressing likelihood and likeness, expressing you have perceived a sound, taste, smell, etc., “give (to me)”, describing the act of giving or receiving a benefit or favor, describing a change in ability, habit, or situation, describing making change, describing something is exceeding the appropriate amount, describing your efforts to make the desired action a habit, conveying information obtained elsewhere, expressing purpose, indicating means or attendant circumstance, nominalizing sentences, describing preparatory actions, expressing the result of an intentional act and state of being, expressing a situation that remains unchanged, giving a reason, and expressing “it would be nice if”.

    Lesson 1- 6
    - It Smells Good
    - I Had My Instructor Make a Training Program for Me
    - I’m Trying Not to Drink Coffee
    - I Volunteered to Support the Victims
    - Detailed Advice Is Given on the Website
    - Please Go into the House with Your Shoes On

  • Learn about: Passive structures whose subject is an object, “ought to”, “should”, passive structures whose subject is a person, prohibit, expressing the following noun by generalization, embedded questions, expressing potential and ability, “even if”, giving orders or prohibitions, expressing beliefs or conjecture based on information gained elsewhere, expressing “so as to”, “have just done”. expressing whether doing something is easy or difficult, “not so…as…” and expressing “ the more something is the case, the more…”.

    Lesson 7 - 12
    - Tofu Is Made from Soybeans
    - I Was Scolded by My Parents
    - I Will Think about What We Can Do
    - Go for it, Mirakuru!
    - I’m Going to Pray for Our Team’s Win
    - The More You Practice, the Better You’ll Get

  • Learn about: Expressing inferences/predictions based on reliable information and knowledge, “in spite of the fact that”, attempting to achieve an action, expressing intention, expressing completion of an action at a specified point in time, expressing the stage of action, causative structures, causative-passive structures, expressing use, usefulness, and purpose, stating that you want someone to do something, stating other people’s emotions, expressing decisions, expressing something is decided upon, and expressing “that is why…”


    Lesson 13- -18
    - I Thought I’d Reserved a Seaside Room…
    - I Was about to Turn a Corner When I Fell
    - Have the Samples Arrived?
    - I Want to Let Him Continue Soccer
    - It’s Useful for Deciding on Dividing the Chores
    - I’ve Decided to Take Childcare Leave

  • Learn about: Keigo Honorific expressions: Special words and basic patterns, indirect speech with instruction, Keigo Humble expressions: Special words and basic patterns, Keigo Polite expressions, Keigo expressing respect using giving-receiving verbs, Keigo polite instruction, conjunctions, words indicating sequences, adverbs with multiple meanings, adverbs used in negative sentences, formal and refined words.

    Lesson 19 - 24
    - The Chairperson Will Be Visiting (Honorific)
    - Please Let Us Know Your Impressions (Humble)
    - Which One Would You Like to Buy? (Honorific)
    - I Will Leave ABC Foods
    - I’m Looking Forward to the Wedding
    - Thank You for Attending the Product Launch

BACK TO LANGUAGE SCHOOL

AV-500 - In this course block, students will study: Conversation, Reading, Vocabulary, Kanji. Grammar, Conversation Practice (textbook), Role play, Listening, Fast reading, as well as advanced topics selected by teacher considering students' interests including JLPT exam preparation (N1..N2).

  • You would be able to talk about complex and abstract topics, including technical subjects in a specialised field (company worker, teacher, nursing etc.)

    JLPT N2 content, recognize 1000 kanji, 6000 words

  • Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.

    (b2) JLPT N2/N1 content, recognize 1300 kanji

  • Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors

    (c1) JLPT N1 content, recognize 1600 kanji

  • Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

    (c1/c2) JLPT N1 content, recognize 2000 kanji

BACK TO LANGUAGE SCHOOL

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