Takeuchi Sensei is a fantastic teacher. She is very sweet and understanding, but don't mistake her for a pushover. She sets the standards very early in the class. Attendance is required, you must be proficient at reading, writing by hand, and speaking for the covered material. She is particular about how Kanji are written, but she goes over common mistakes early in the class. If you're not lazy and you study, you will be fine.

The class is 5 units for a reason--it requires studying to do well. You must get a 95%+ for an A as per the department.

Study flashcards, try to read as much as possible, and write out your Kanji by hand.

Relatively a hard class compared to Japan 1 and 2. I studied hard before the test and managed to get a 95 in the class which is on the bottom line of getting an A. But the professor and TA are nice. During oral exams, they will ask the question twice if you didn't get it right for the first time.
In addition, selling my Tobira 1 textbook for $25 (physical book)
dm me: **********

Selling my Tobira 1 textbook for $25 (physical book)
dm me: **********

As long as you dedicate the right amount of time to it each week, this class shouldn’t be any more difficult than J2 or J1. Homework assignments were usually just textbook exercises due every monday and the occasional other assignment. Quizzes were straightforward (Kanji and Vocab) and the lowest two were dropped. I’d say the most difficult part of the course is the midterm and final, as I felt like I didn’t have enough time to finish despite knowing the answers. Time has never been an issue for me on any exam before, so even u fast test takers beware. Professor Takeuchi was extremely kind and cared so much about students learning and did her absolute best to guide us through such a difficult language to learn. Would absolutely have loved to continue to Japanese courses with Professor Takeuchi if I wasn’t graduating!

I liked the voiceover project. Homework was a lot more compared to Japan 2.