Japanese 1 (Level 4)

Course Overview

Please note that each weekly evening session will be two and a half hours in length and run from 6pm to 8.30pm (please disregard any other timings on this page).

Japanese 1 is ideal for students with little or no knowledge of Japanese. This course provides you with the fundamental grammar, basic skills and conversation practice to be able to express yourself in a variety of social situations, including for travel in Japan. You will study present and past tenses and learn the meaning of simple requests, statements and questions in everyday situations. You will learn the Hiragana and Katakana scripts and around 80 kanji (Chinese characters). You will also learn about the culture and society of Japan. Classes are interactive and taught by native speakers. By the end of the course, you will reach about 50-60% of the beginner N5 level of the JLPT*.

Assessment is via vocabulary and grammar tests (15%), reception skills (20%), a writing comprehension (20%), a final examination including oral test (40%) and class attendance and participation (5%).

As a student on this course, you will study alongside Birkbeck students enrolled on one of our undergraduate or postgraduate courses, giving you the opportunity to network with a range of Birkbeck current students whilst you learn.

* Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Please note: this is only an approximate equivalence.

This can be taken as a standalone short course or as part of:

• Culture and Language (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese) (Certificate of Higher Education)

Credits: 30 credits at level 4