Class: Japanese – J1S

As I wrote before, in order to take Japanese classes, you must take an entrance exam. This entrance exam will test your grammar, reading ability, writing ability, and speaking ability. Once you do that, they shall place you in the level they believe you belong. Some people may know tons of Kanji, but can’t speak it properly or write grammatically correct, so they may be placed at a level lower than they believe they are. I knew I was going to be placed at a lower level and didn’t try my hardest on the exam, however, I was content at where I was placed. The levels are J0-J8 (I believe). I was placed in J1S, just slightly higher than the J1 group of people. In J1S, you will be learning a lot of vocabulary, how to write essays properly, and important grammar points. Now most of the grammar points taught were those I have already learned through Ohio State’s Japanese department, but the OSU Japanese department uses a book that is heavily filled with linguistical terminology and can be quite hard to follow, even after teacher’s explain it. Through the books and explanations used and given from the teachers in Japan, I think I was able to understand important grammar a lot more easily, especially the differences and usage of the phrase particles (ni, wa, wo, de, ga, to, etc). This course also focuses on vocabulary. I learned so many new words through this course than I did at JSL, especially everyday words (laundry, cleaning, swimming, fruit, the seasons, etc). The workesheets seem a bit childish and all, but they do a great job at allowing you to practice the vocubulary and helps you memorize them. The writing portion was well organized too; you would be asked to make an outline of what you wanted to write in the essay in class so that the teacher can help you decide on what exactly you wanted to write about and help you with grammar and vocabulary issues. Reading also was given there, but wasn’t focused on too much. If you are studying Japanese and want to improve it, you should definitely look into taking a Japanese course there, even if you think you are placed at a lower level than what you actually are (you may be surprised at what you learn). If you are not but want to take some Japanese so that you can communicate with the Japanese people (what they would call “survival Japanese”), J0 will be the one for you. It will teach you katakana and hirogana and help you order food, introduce yourself, etc. Either way, the Japanese teachers are extremely nice and caring and definitely will help you with any problems or issues you may have regarding Japanese language and culture.