Japanese I

The purpose of this course is to build a knowledge base of the most important topics in Japanese basic grammar, and to impart the skills to use such knowledge in spoken and written Japanese. No previous acquaintance with Japanese language is necessary. More specifically, students will learn:
· the hiragana and katakana syllabaries:
· about 170 ideographic characters (kanji), in both reading and writing;
· all the vocabulary used in the textbook Minna no Nihongo I Honsatsu in Units 1-19, in reading only;
· the basic grammar and the most important expressions required in the daily usage of the language, as introduced in the first 19 Units of the textbook Minna no Nihongo I Honsatsu.
Students will learn the lexical and morphologic components of all the expressions and constructions contained in the textbook, and the combinatory rules regulating their production. They will also learn to identify those structures in both spoken and written texts and to understand the reasons of their use according to context and discourse. On this basis, the students will learn how to evaluate which construction or expression is appropriate to which situation, and to accordingly choose and use the most correct structure.

The recognition, comprehension and context-dependent appropriate use in simple communicative situations of approximately one third of the basic grammar, lexicon and constructions of the Japanese language. The level reached is around N5 on the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) scale, corresponding approximately to A1 on the CEFR scale.