Specialist Japanese

Welcome to new students in a Japanese focussed degree

A warm welcome from Sheffield! My name is Miyuki Nagai and I am the Japanese Language Programme Lead. With Welcome Week fast approaching you must be excited to start the first chapter of your new life!

You will have 7 language classes per week and will be learning basic Japanese grammar while developing reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through a variety of useful learning materials and fun activities. You can utilise a lot of resources such as video and audio materials even outside classroom. So we are pretty confident that you will enjoy learning Japanese with us and build up your knowledge, skills and confidence along the way through.

Japanese Language Preparation

We have some work for you to complete before the Language Induction Meeting on Thursday 21st September.

Materials for practisting katakana and hirigana, plus a short test, can be found in this folder. The deadline for submission is Sunday 17th September, 11.59pm


If you have any problems accessing the materials, please contact me at m.nagai@sheffield.ac.uk or the Student Experience Team at seas@sheffield.ac.uk

Meet the Team

Miyuki Nagai is one of the longest serving staff at the School of East Asian Studies and has got an extensive teaching experience both in Japan and UK.

She has been an active member of BATJ (British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language) taking up roles such as an executive committee member, the coordinator of BATJ Journal and the coordinator of Speech Contest committee.

Her academic interests are teaching grammar and writing, learner’s belief, learning strategies and motivation, and English-Japanese translation.

Yumi Uraki joined University of Sheffield in August 2021 after teaching Japanese language at University of Manchester, University of Salford and Liverpool John Moores University.

Originally from Tokyo, she has a broad working experience in education and in the manufacturing industry, both of which inform her teaching practice.

Sachiko Yamaguchi has taught Japanese in the secondary education sector since 2005, as a part of the role, she delivered some cultural sessions and organised residential school trips to Japan. She joined the University of Sheffield in 2021. She has a particular interest in teaching communication skills in cross-cultural environment.

Sachiko is also interested in translation, in particular subtitle translation. She researched about humour translation in British comedies.

Level 1 Japanese Language Modules

In Level 1, you will be taught by three friendly teachers: Miyuki Nagai, Yumi Uraki and Sachiko Yamaguchi.

You will take four, core Japanese language modules, as follows: 

Autumn semester

Spring semester

20 credits modules (EAS1033 and EAS1035) are focusing on receptive activities and written productive activities in Japanese through grammar-based classes and kanji classes. Whereas 10 credits modules (EAS1034 and EAS1036) are focusing on interactive activities in Japanese through speaking and listening classes.

Each semester these modules should cover all aspects of language learning: You can build up knowledge of basic Japanese grammar and vocabulary including kanji and develop all essential skills in both written and spoken language at the beginner’s level. By the end of your first year, we expect that you have developed a solid foundation in Japanese.

Uniquely you will learn Japanese using our original materials, which has been well received by our students. We will also use “Basic Kanji Book Vol.1 and Vol. 2” for kanji learning, which will be provided by SEAS.