UCI Japanese Language Program
Goals of the Japanese Language Program
The Japanese language program at UCI fulfills two major needs:
1. to provide language training and cultural understandings for students who are taking the course for their language requirements, and
2. to strengthen the language ability of majors/minors who study Japanese literature, culture, history, art, etc.
The students are required to take three quarters of languages classes (1A-B-C) for their general requirements. The goal of those four courses is to help students learn Japanese for communication as well as to build a firm foundation in the language. The four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are equally emphasized.
The goal of the 2B through 3C courses is to teach students about Japanese culture (both traditional and contemporary) and society through Japanese sources.
The focus of the 4th Year Japanese, however, is on reading. The students are exposed to a variety of readings such as newspaper articles, fiction, and essays.
Course Descriptions
All the courses from first through third year Japanese focus on the development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing with an emphasis on
communicative language use. Classes are conducted entirely in Japanese except when English explanation is necessary.
Fundamental Japanese
The objective of Japanese 1A-1B-1C is to guide students in developing facility in basic Japanese. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of the language needed to survive in Japan in basic daily life situations. Students will learn most of the basic grammar of Japanese and to read and write Hiragana, Katakana, and about 250 Kanji (Chinese characters).
The objective of the Japanese 2A-2B-2C series is to help students to improve their communication skills in more complicated situations and on more abstract topics, and to foster students in becoming competent and culturally-literate users of Japanese. Students will not only learn about Japanese culture and society, but also are expected to become able to acquire and construct knowledge of culture on their own and express their thoughts and opinions regarding these issues by the end of the series. Students will learn more advanced grammatical patterns and useful expressions in Japanese and expand their vocabulary. About 330 more Kanji will be introduced.
In the Japanese 3A-3B-3C series, students learn more sophisticated expressions and Kanji compounds needed to work on more complex materials in Japanese. Students are exposed to more authentic materials in preparation for their further studies in Japanese. Various facets of reading and listening will be introduced through materials concerned with Japanese society, culture, tradition, history, economics, politics and current trends. Students will learn to read about and discuss these topics, and to express their thoughts in writing. About 300 new Kanji characters will be introduced, along with Kanji compounds formulated from both new and previously learned Kanji.
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