Japanese Ii

The course, divided into three modules in addition to the practice lessons, aims at deepening JLPT N2 level lexicon, expressions and morphosyntactic elements. Furthermore, students will develop intermediate textual comprehension skills and will learn the most frequent N2 kanji, and will also study the features of business Japanese in professional settings.

Module 1: Sōgō Nihongo (chūkyū). General Japanese (intermediate)
We will tackle Units 14-20 of the textbook New Approach Japanese Intermediate Course, which include written texts of medium length characterised by an intermedaite lexicon and complex morphosyntactic structures, grammar exercises, instructions for sakubun, JLPT N3 and N2 level listening tasks, and bunkei of various types. Moreover, the Units 1-5 of the textbook New Approach Japanese Pre-Advanced Course will be tackled.

Module 2: Bijinesu Nihongo. Business Japanese
In this second module, we will analyse the main types of correspondence in business and work settings, with particular attention given to both the correct reading, understanding and translation from Japanese into Italian of business-related texts, and to the actual ability of drafting a written text business communicative contexts. Moreover, particular attention will be given to the in-depth study of keigo or honorific language, and to the most adequate communicative expressions depending on the context.

Module 3: Japanese linguistics
In this third module, the main theoretical aspects of Japanese linguistics will be tackled, with particular attention given to phonetics, lexicon and grammar. The aim is providing solid basic skills in the field of language studies as well as Japanese language teaching, in addition to raising awareness about the students' language competency, both theoretical and practical.

Practice lessons:
During the practice lessons with native speaking teachers, students will improve the four general language skills, that is reading comprehension, listening comprehension, writing and speaking. These lessons are an integral part of the course and will be held in Japanese, with the aim of immersing the students in the language. In addition to concluding the Units of the textbook J-Bridge To Intermediate Japanese, students will have to autonomously study a list of JLPT N2 level kanji, learning not only how to write them, but also their readings and various terms in which such kanji occur. Moreover, during the classes, the textbooks Nihon wo hanasō and Mainichi no kikitori will be used, with the aim of developing the students' written and listening comprehension skills in order to achieve an advanced level of linguistic competence.