Japanese is one of the eight most common languages in the world, spoken as a first language by almost 130 million people. Knowledge of Japanese is of importance for political, cultural and economic relations with Japan.

The aim of the program is to introduce students to the basic rules of Japanese grammar and to make them capable of understanding and expressing themselves in Japanese.
 
Students are also introduced to the principles of Japanese writing, kana and kanji, and will learn to read and write simple texts in the letters introduced in the course. A special emphasis is put on students acquiring basic vocabularies.

After studying Japanese for 2 years, students will have gained a fundamental knowledge of the language and are prepared for further studies in Japanese at universities abroad.
   
In addition to language studies, the course includes an overview of Japanese history, Japanese literature and Japanese cinema. Students will also get an insight into Japanese society and culture where they will learn about daily life in Japan, family life, the position of women in Japan, education, the economy, traditional and contemporary music, manga, anime, and customs.


For further information please contact Kaoru Umezawa, lecturer in Japanese, University of Iceland, telephone: 525 4406, fax: 5254410, e-mail: kaoru@hi.is
 
Program structure (in Icelandic)
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