COURSE SYLLABUS
Term (Contact hours) Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall 2026 (33 hours)
Class & Section BEGINNING 1 Saturday Morning (B1SM), Monday Evening (B1ME)
Instructor Yachiyo Komori
Email yikomori@gmail.com Beginning 1 Website: https://sites.google.com/view/komori-beginning-1/beginning-1/assignments-schedule
Meeting day & Time Mondays 6:00-9:00 PM
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this level, you should be able to: talk about nationalities and occupations; introduce yourself and others; talk about a nearby object and its owner; ask for telephone numbers; talk about the times of meetings and parties; ask the hours of services in stores and hotels; ask the prices of items in a store and make a purchase; ask what the size, color, and country of origin of an item is, and buy it; buy items telling the clerk how many you need; talk about where you will go, when, and with whom; talk about traveling destinations, places and people to visit, dates and times, and means of transportation. Form correctly all the characters and combinations of characters in HIRAGANA.
TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS
1. Required:
a) Japanese For Busy People I 4th Edtion Romanized VERSION (Lessons 1-7) by Kodansha International / AJALT.
b) Shimazu, Y. M. (2022). Handy Katakana Workbook . Kendall Hunt: Dubuque, IA.
These books are available at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Japantown. Phone 415-567-7625
2. Online software programs for you to practice KANA, etc. at home.
Hiragana stroke order: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/site/hiragana/hiragana.html
Hiragana flashcards: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/self.en.html
EVALUATION
1. One final exam (2.5 hours).
2. Upon successful completion (80% or higher attendance rate and 80% or higher final exam score) of the course, a STUDENT PROGRESS REPORT will be written if requested at the time you take the final exam.
3. Your final exam score (%) and attendance (%) will be kept in a digitized form @STUDENT GRADES AND INFORMATION REPOSITORY.
TEACHING STYLE
The instructor will create a relaxed, low-anxiety atmosphere through which you can acquire the previously mentioned course objectives with less effort and with ease. The instructor will use an eclectic teaching method.
PROCEDURES
1. The instructor will follow the CALENDAR /Weekly Schedule printed below.
2. In class, student and teacher (and student and student) will engage in interactive language activities, a variety of exercises, using Japanese as much as possible. The instructor, however, will use some mechanical and meaningful drills, when necessary, to develop your kinetic memory for the training of the perceptual motor skills.
3. Students will reinforce and develop vocabulary, structure, listening (audio cassette tapes checked out regularly) and conversational skills through weekly assignments.
4. The class, however, may be conducted in accordance with the needs of the students in class within the course objectives.