JAPAN 1
Elementary Modern Japanese
Description: Lecture, two hours; discussion, three hours. Not open to students who have learned, from whatever source, enough Japanese to qualify for more advanced courses. Introduction to modern Japanese with attention to conversation, grammar, and written forms. Conversation drill based on material covered in class. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - Hayashi sensei is such a nice person who cares a lot about her students. The class is relatively easy. The workload is also very small. A few pages of workbook each week. Also her tests and quizzes are very easy because she just chose random questions from the practice tests.
Fall 2019 - Hayashi sensei is such a nice person who cares a lot about her students. The class is relatively easy. The workload is also very small. A few pages of workbook each week. Also her tests and quizzes are very easy because she just chose random questions from the practice tests.
Most Helpful Review
For a beginner class, I'd say Ikeda was OK, but the homework and discussions are more crucial than the lectures themselves. It's these that will allow you to develop your Japanese a lot better. Ask your TA's a lot of questions since you will learn and understand the majority of the material in the discussion. If you're like me and watch a lot of anime, grammar and vocabulary in Japan 1 should be fairly easy to learn with not a lot of practice; however, the Kanji is so, so important in the nine language courses, that you have to keep track and memorize each character (you will be tested on them, and you will be marked down in later assignments for not using Kanji). The class is structured as follows... -Five vocabulary quizzes (for the latter three, you must be able to write Kanji) -Homework (due every discussion) -5 Reading Logs (read assigned texts and write a "journal") -Four Lesson quizzes (no Kanji required, just tests your grammar) -A composition essay and recording (you need a recording, rough and final draft essay about yourself) -Discussion participation (15% of your grade, go to each one) -Final oral test (an interview) and a cumulative written test. Stay on top of your grammar, and religiously practice writing Kanji on your homework from the get-go, and you will do well in this class.
For a beginner class, I'd say Ikeda was OK, but the homework and discussions are more crucial than the lectures themselves. It's these that will allow you to develop your Japanese a lot better. Ask your TA's a lot of questions since you will learn and understand the majority of the material in the discussion. If you're like me and watch a lot of anime, grammar and vocabulary in Japan 1 should be fairly easy to learn with not a lot of practice; however, the Kanji is so, so important in the nine language courses, that you have to keep track and memorize each character (you will be tested on them, and you will be marked down in later assignments for not using Kanji). The class is structured as follows... -Five vocabulary quizzes (for the latter three, you must be able to write Kanji) -Homework (due every discussion) -5 Reading Logs (read assigned texts and write a "journal") -Four Lesson quizzes (no Kanji required, just tests your grammar) -A composition essay and recording (you need a recording, rough and final draft essay about yourself) -Discussion participation (15% of your grade, go to each one) -Final oral test (an interview) and a cumulative written test. Stay on top of your grammar, and religiously practice writing Kanji on your homework from the get-go, and you will do well in this class.
Most Helpful Review
Iwasaki Sensei is an above average lecturer. The tries his best to keep it funny and lively, and tries various techniques to interest us in the subject at hand. Since the grading for Japanese 1 is so special in that it is straight forward following a guideline, his personal difficulty isn't factored in at all. His native Japanese nature also makes him extremely knowledgeable of the topic. Excellent communicator as well.
Iwasaki Sensei is an above average lecturer. The tries his best to keep it funny and lively, and tries various techniques to interest us in the subject at hand. Since the grading for Japanese 1 is so special in that it is straight forward following a guideline, his personal difficulty isn't factored in at all. His native Japanese nature also makes him extremely knowledgeable of the topic. Excellent communicator as well.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - I didn't plan to write review initially, but one day I just came across Kawanishi Sensei profile on bruinwalk and realized that the reviews for J1 are totally not helpful. So, I will tell from perspective of student who had no prior Japanese knowledge (like 0 knowledge) and who in addition has dyslexia. Personally, I loved the class. I am on level 3 now and still with Kawanishi Sensei. But I will try to give comprehensive review, so you know what to expect. First, J1 has a lot of work to do, but it is nothing compared to J2 and J3. You have 2 homeworks every week, and each takes like half an hour to do, but it gets harder with time. You strar learning hiragana and katakana on first day, and expect to know them by the end of second week because week 3 you start kanji (chinese characters). You are expected to know all kanji from lesson (~40 kanji) every week and a half or so. There are bunch of quizes, such as vocab, lesson content (grammar), sentance recotations, compositions, etc. You end up having a test every week (in J3 you have 3 tests every week on avarage). Week ten is intense especially because you'll have 3-4 tests and maybe your final speaking test. There is no midterm, but there are two part final: speaking and listening/reading/grammar. So, yeah, it is going to take a lot of your time, but this constant testing literally forces you to work and study every day. This works great for language learning. For first time in my life I felt like I really learned language. I can chat a bit with my Japanese friends. So, it works! Now, Kawanishi Sensei will push you. She will use as little English is possible, but she is very understanding and nice. She will joke around and explain culture behind language. She is available to ask questions almost 24/7. She answers emails super fast and accomodates all needs. Like I had a final conflict, and she arranged special time for me to take J2 final. So, I highly recommend this class with Kawanishi Sensei to actually learn language, but it is bad class for passing your language requirement easily. P.S. - discussions are crucuial for grade and understanding, so switch immidiatly if you don't like your TA.
Fall 2015 - I didn't plan to write review initially, but one day I just came across Kawanishi Sensei profile on bruinwalk and realized that the reviews for J1 are totally not helpful. So, I will tell from perspective of student who had no prior Japanese knowledge (like 0 knowledge) and who in addition has dyslexia. Personally, I loved the class. I am on level 3 now and still with Kawanishi Sensei. But I will try to give comprehensive review, so you know what to expect. First, J1 has a lot of work to do, but it is nothing compared to J2 and J3. You have 2 homeworks every week, and each takes like half an hour to do, but it gets harder with time. You strar learning hiragana and katakana on first day, and expect to know them by the end of second week because week 3 you start kanji (chinese characters). You are expected to know all kanji from lesson (~40 kanji) every week and a half or so. There are bunch of quizes, such as vocab, lesson content (grammar), sentance recotations, compositions, etc. You end up having a test every week (in J3 you have 3 tests every week on avarage). Week ten is intense especially because you'll have 3-4 tests and maybe your final speaking test. There is no midterm, but there are two part final: speaking and listening/reading/grammar. So, yeah, it is going to take a lot of your time, but this constant testing literally forces you to work and study every day. This works great for language learning. For first time in my life I felt like I really learned language. I can chat a bit with my Japanese friends. So, it works! Now, Kawanishi Sensei will push you. She will use as little English is possible, but she is very understanding and nice. She will joke around and explain culture behind language. She is available to ask questions almost 24/7. She answers emails super fast and accomodates all needs. Like I had a final conflict, and she arranged special time for me to take J2 final. So, I highly recommend this class with Kawanishi Sensei to actually learn language, but it is bad class for passing your language requirement easily. P.S. - discussions are crucuial for grade and understanding, so switch immidiatly if you don't like your TA.
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