Examination arrangement

Course content

The course provides an introduction to the Japanese language with emphasis on pronunciation, listening comprehension, written language and basic grammar. It also presents aspects of Japanese culture and society through texts and conversations. Students planning to study in Japan are encouraged to take this course.

Learning outcome

Knowledge
Candidates who have passed this course
-know all modern Japanese characters (46 hiragana and 46 katakana) and ca. 40 Kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese).
-know approximately 300 basic words.
-have knowledge of the principles for pronunciation and intonation of simple expressions.
-have knowledge of central aspects of Japanese culture related to vocabulary.

Skills
Candidates who have passed this course
-can read and write simple sentences using Japanese characters and Kanji.
-can construct simple, grammatically correct sentences.
-can analyze the structure of simple Japanese sentences.
-can talk about some simple subjects in Japanese.
- can understand simple Japanese spoken slowly and clearly.
- can use suitable expressions (for example greetings) in the given situations of conversation.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures, exercises, obligatory assignments.

Compulsory assignments

• 1 oral presentation
• 1 written assignment

Further on evaluation

Assessment:
- Written exam (4 hours), counts for 50% of the grade.
- Oral examination (10 minutes), counts for 50% of the grade.
Both parts of the exam are graded together. Students who fail must sit both parts again.

If the candidate does not pass the exam there is no need to deliver new assignments in order to qualify for another first retry.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

The course is suitable for students without previous knowledge of Japanese. Nevertheless, it is useful to learn the Japanese letters (hiragana and katakana) beforehand. See for example this website: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp

Required previous knowledge

The course has restricted admission.

For more information: http://www.ntnu.no/studier/opptak/emneopptak

Course materials

An introduction to Japanese, for example: "An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese" (ch 1-6) and other handouts.