Honor Code
Professors at Brigham Young University strongly endorse the principles embodied in the honor code, to which we have all subscribed. We invite, and expect, your adherence to those principles.
Preventing Sexual Harassment
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education. Title IX covers discrimination in programs, admissions, activities, and student-to-student sexual harassment. BYU’s policy against sexual harassment extends not only to employees of the university but to students as well. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender based discrimination, please talk to your professor; contact the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895 or 367-5689 (24 hours); or contact the Honor Code Office at 422-2647.
Students With Disabilities
Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability that may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (422-2767, voice; 422-0436 TTY). Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the SSD Office. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures. You should contact the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895, D-282 ASB.
Final Exam Policy
Preparation Days and the Final Examination Period are to be protected for their intended purposes. No other activities or events will be scheduled on campus. Any review sessions during this time must be voluntary.
Scheduled final examinations are to be administered in accord with the published Final Examination Schedule as to date, time and place. They are not to be given or taken early.
Students with conflicting final examination times, three or more final examinations in one day, or other legitimate academic conflicts (such as licensing examination or conference participation), may consult with their teacher(s) to arrange an alternative final examination place and time, preferably during the Final Examination Period but in all cases prior to the Grade Submission Deadline.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
International Cinema
Another activity that I heartily recommend is attendance at the International Cinema. A lot of work goes into ordering, editing and showing these movies. When I was a student, we had to pay to watch these movies, and the movies were well worth the price of admission. However, the College of Humanities deemed the International Cinema to be crucial to its students who are learning foreign languages. Therefore, the department agreed to subsidize the program so that all students could attend free of charge.
Many movies shown at International Cinema are so-called “art films.” In these films, the producer and director explore a topic or try to get across a message. This topic or message may not be immediately apparent. You may have to give the movie some contemplation on your part. However, because of their very nature, many of these movies are thought-provoking works of art. I have recommended these movies to students only to have some students complain that the film was not as thrilling as the last action-packed movie they paid money to watch in a theater. Now, I do not wish to bad mouth action movies, I enjoy them also, but sometimes a movie can have value beyond its ability to entertain.
These movies can be an excellent cheap date. You may have to warn your date that the movie might be a little different than a typical American movie. But you may get someone to go with you if you are frank in requesting your date’s help to puzzle out the meaning of a movie. If you have a good date, questions you ask about the movie might lead to a good discussion about the way people act in certain situations or about the meaning of a plot or a scene.
Many Japanese movies that are featured in the International Cinema can lend insight into Japanese culture and Japanese ways of thought. Moreover, these movies can be a great opportunity to observe how native speakers use the language to interact with other native speakers. I know that the language aspect of Japanese movies can be a humbling experience. Once you get off the topic of the Gospel, your listening abilities may be severely tested. It can be tempting to say “Man, they were speaking some strange Japanese there.” Our egos seem to prefer to blame the actors for the delivery of lines rather than our comprehension abilities. But if you ever want to get to the point where you can watch and enjoy Japanese movies without subtitles, I would suggest that you begin by watching plenty of Japanese movies with subtitles. After you leave B.Y.U., you might lose the chance to see many subtitled Japanese movies that the International Cinema somehow finds. If you do not attend the International Cinema, you are missing out on an activity that you will not have again later in life. To find what films are scheduled, along with screening times, visit
http://ic.byu.edu
Another activity that I heartily recommend is attendance at the International Cinema. A lot of work goes into ordering, editing and showing these movies. When I was a student, we had to pay to watch these movies, and the movies were well worth the price of admission. However, the College of Humanities deemed the International Cinema to be crucial to its students who are learning foreign languages. Therefore, the department agreed to subsidize the program so that all students could attend free of charge.
Many movies shown at International Cinema are so-called “art films.” In these films, the producer and director explore a topic or try to get across a message. This topic or message may not be immediately apparent. You may have to give the movie some contemplation on your part. However, because of their very nature, many of these movies are thought-provoking works of art. I have recommended these movies to students only to have some students complain that the film was not as thrilling as the last action-packed movie they paid money to watch in a theater. Now, I do not wish to bad mouth action movies, I enjoy them also, but sometimes a movie can have value beyond its ability to entertain.
These movies can be an excellent cheap date. You may have to warn your date that the movie might be a little different than a typical American movie. But you may get someone to go with you if you are frank in requesting your date’s help to puzzle out the meaning of a movie. If you have a good date, questions you ask about the movie might lead to a good discussion about the way people act in certain situations or about the meaning of a plot or a scene.
Many Japanese movies that are featured in the International Cinema can lend insight into Japanese culture and Japanese ways of thought. Moreover, these movies can be a great opportunity to observe how native speakers use the language to interact with other native speakers. I know that the language aspect of Japanese movies can be a humbling experience. Once you get off the topic of the Gospel, your listening abilities may be severely tested. It can be tempting to say “Man, they were speaking some strange Japanese there.” Our egos seem to prefer to blame the actors for the delivery of lines rather than our comprehension abilities. But if you ever want to get to the point where you can watch and enjoy Japanese movies without subtitles, I would suggest that you begin by watching plenty of Japanese movies with subtitles. After you leave B.Y.U., you might lose the chance to see many subtitled Japanese movies that the International Cinema somehow finds. If you do not attend the International Cinema, you are missing out on an activity that you will not have again later in life. To find what films are scheduled, along with screening times, visit
http://ic.byu.edu
Optional Challenge Exam
If Japanese 300 is the first Japanese class in which you have enrolled, then you skipped four earlier Japanese classes. Because you skipped Japanese 101, 102, 201 and 211, the university administration gives you one chance to obtain credit and grades for these four classes.
If you are a returned missionary or someone with similar residence in Japan or someone with similar knowledge of Japanese, then you may wish to take advantage of this opportunity to gain 14 hours worth of graded credit on your university transcript. Of course, native speakers of Japanese may not take the examination and are not eligible for challenge or G.E. credit in Japanese.
In order to take the challenge exam, you must currently be enrolled in Japanese courses (Japanese 201 or higher) for the first time. You will NOT be able to take this challenge exam in your next Japanese class or any other Japanese class. Your first opportunity to take the challenge exam will be your only opportunity.
The challenge exam is optional. You do not need credit from Japanese 101, 102, 201 or 211 to major or minor in Japanese. Students who take the exam do so for a number of reasons. Some reasons to take the challenge exam would include (1) a chance to raise one’s grade point average (GPA); (2) a chance to obtain 14 hours worth of college credit, enabling one to graduate sooner; (3) a chance to enhance one’s resume--more employers would likely be more impressed with a healthy number of college credit hours of Japanese study and residence in Japan, than with a mention of missionary service. On the other hand, some students choose to skip the exam because the extra 14 credit hours do not help them in their major.
The challenge exam consists of two parts. Part I contains 100 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points. Part I will cover questions on basic grammar and concepts that Japanese 101 and 102 students should know. Part I will cover the grades for Japanese 101, 102 and 211.
Part II contains 75 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points (questions 51-75 will be worth 2 points each.) Part II will cover questions on kanji that 201 students should know and will also test you on reading ability and comprehension. Part II will cover the grade for Japanese 201.
Since Part II contains questions regarding kanji, I do not schedule the challenge exam until after we have studied enough kanji to take the exam successfully. I usually schedule the challenge exam sometime after we have finished the first volume of our textbook. Concretely, I will probably schedule the exam around the end of July.
You will need to fill out a Challenge Examination Form and pay an examination fee ($20.00) before you take the exam. I will hand out this form in class in the latter part of May when we approach the scheduled testing dates. To prepare for the challenge examination covering Japanese 101, 102 and 211 review an elementary Japanese textbook such as your MTC study manual, or:
1. Alfonso, Japanese: A Basic Course (Call No. PL539.5 .A9 A51 1981)
2. Niwa, Basic Japanese for College Students (Call No. PL535 .N58) or,
3. Alfonso, Japanese Language Patterns (Call No. PL613 .A44x 1974)
4. Tohsaku, Yookoso!: An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese (Call No. PL539.5 .E5 T64 1994)
One possible method of reviewing might be speed reading the index and looking up any words or patterns with which you feel uncomfortable.
If Japanese 300 is the first Japanese class in which you have enrolled, then you skipped four earlier Japanese classes. Because you skipped Japanese 101, 102, 201 and 211, the university administration gives you one chance to obtain credit and grades for these four classes.
If you are a returned missionary or someone with similar residence in Japan or someone with similar knowledge of Japanese, then you may wish to take advantage of this opportunity to gain 14 hours worth of graded credit on your university transcript. Of course, native speakers of Japanese may not take the examination and are not eligible for challenge or G.E. credit in Japanese.
In order to take the challenge exam, you must currently be enrolled in Japanese courses (Japanese 201 or higher) for the first time. You will NOT be able to take this challenge exam in your next Japanese class or any other Japanese class. Your first opportunity to take the challenge exam will be your only opportunity.
The challenge exam is optional. You do not need credit from Japanese 101, 102, 201 or 211 to major or minor in Japanese. Students who take the exam do so for a number of reasons. Some reasons to take the challenge exam would include (1) a chance to raise one’s grade point average (GPA); (2) a chance to obtain 14 hours worth of college credit, enabling one to graduate sooner; (3) a chance to enhance one’s resume--more employers would likely be more impressed with a healthy number of college credit hours of Japanese study and residence in Japan, than with a mention of missionary service. On the other hand, some students choose to skip the exam because the extra 14 credit hours do not help them in their major.
The challenge exam consists of two parts. Part I contains 100 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points. Part I will cover questions on basic grammar and concepts that Japanese 101 and 102 students should know. Part I will cover the grades for Japanese 101, 102 and 211.
Part II contains 75 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points (questions 51-75 will be worth 2 points each.) Part II will cover questions on kanji that 201 students should know and will also test you on reading ability and comprehension. Part II will cover the grade for Japanese 201.
Since Part II contains questions regarding kanji, I do not schedule the challenge exam until after we have studied enough kanji to take the exam successfully. I usually schedule the challenge exam sometime after we have finished the first volume of our textbook. Concretely, I will probably schedule the exam around the end of July.
You will need to fill out a Challenge Examination Form and pay an examination fee ($20.00) before you take the exam. I will hand out this form in class in the latter part of May when we approach the scheduled testing dates. To prepare for the challenge examination covering Japanese 101, 102 and 211 review an elementary Japanese textbook such as your MTC study manual, or:
1. Alfonso, Japanese: A Basic Course (Call No. PL539.5 .A9 A51 1981)
2. Niwa, Basic Japanese for College Students (Call No. PL535 .N58) or,
3. Alfonso, Japanese Language Patterns (Call No. PL613 .A44x 1974)
4. Tohsaku, Yookoso!: An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese (Call No. PL539.5 .E5 T64 1994)
One possible method of reviewing might be speed reading the index and looking up any words or patterns with which you feel uncomfortable.
Quiz and Test Formats
Kanji Quizzes
Ordinary 20-point kanji quizzes will consist of questions arranged under three columns: a kanji column, a yomikata column and an English column. You will answer the questions by filling in the blank with information required under the column.
漢字 読み方 English
1. 魚 ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
2. ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ こうじょう factory
You would answer question one by filling in the blank under the 読み方 column with the answer 「さかな」 and the blank under the English column with the answer “fish”. You would answer question two by filling in the blank under the kanji column with the characters that have the reading 「こうじょう」 and the meaning “factory”:「工場」。
Comprehensive kanji quizzes will be worth 100 points. All questions will be taken from the readings in the textbook. One type of question will be to give you a quote taken from our readings with kanji underlined, you will then tell me the reading of the word in either ひらがな or カタカナ and the meaning of the word in English. Another type of question will be to give you a quote from our readings with blanks where kanji had been. Under the blanks will be the reading for the word in ひらがな. You will then fill in each blank with the appropriate kanji.
Midterm Exams
Midterm exams are 50-question tests. Each multiple-choice question is worth two points for a total 100 points. Each midterm exam is divided into five sections.
The first section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This first section of the test consists of seven questions worth 14% of the total score.
The second section takes excerpts from the stories and asks questions about the contents of the material. The questions are designed to check your comprehension of the material. Sometimes questions about the content of the material are asked and answered in Japanese. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories, be able to translate any sentence into English and attend class to check up on your comprehension. This second section is the longest section of the test; it consists of 25 questions worth 50% of the total score.
Please note that these first two sections are worth 64% of your total test score. Also notice that all of the questions in these two sections regard material taken directly from your textbook. The single most important thing you can do to study for the midterm exams is to read and understand your textbook materials.
The third section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you a letter written to a person who is at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letter and answer multiple-choice questions about the letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This third section consists of eight questions worth 16% of the total score.
The fourth section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This fourth section consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.
The fifth section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. The textbook often reviews these grammar patterns in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This fifth section of the test consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.
After you have taken a midterm exam, you have the option of going over the questions you missed with your teacher. This test review is a good idea if you get an unsatisfactory score. In the process of going over your test, you may better understand a concept or you might learn some new test taking strategies. In order to review a test: (1) Go to the Testing Services website, you can either type the address
https://testing.byu.edu/
into your browser or go to the BYU web site https://www.byu.edu and follow the links by clicking on the Student tab, then clicking on Academic links and then clicking on Testing Center (listed alphabetically in the underlying menu); (2) Follow the instructions on the Testing Services web site to visit the Student Page; (3) On the student page, find your test results for your Japanese 300 test; (4) Write down the numbers of the questions you missed on a piece of scratch paper; (5) Bring this piece of paper with you when you visit the teacher either during his office hours or during your appointment.
Please review your midterm exam before your next scheduled midterm exam. For example, please review Midterm Exam I before you take Midterm Exam II. Your teacher will only review the previous midterm exam with you, NOT all the exams you have taken so far.
Comprehensive Final Exam
The comprehensive final exam is a 100-question test. Each question is worth one point for a total 100 points. The comprehensive final exam is divided into two parts.
Part I will add up to a total 40% of your final score. Part I is further divided into two sections.
The first section is a fill-in-the-blank kanji quiz. The first ten questions consist of words written in kanji. You write in the yomikata for each word. The second ten questions consist of words written in hiragana, you are also given the English definitions for each word in parentheses. You write in the appropriate kanji for each word. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji. This first section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.
The second section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the stories. This second section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.
Part II will add up to a total 60% of your final score. Part II is divided into three sections.
The first section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you two letters written to people who are at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letters and answer multiple-choice questions about each letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This first section consists of forty questions worth 40% of the total score.
The second section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This second section consists of five questions worth 5% of the total score.
The third section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. This third section consists of fifteen questions worth 15% of the total score.
Kanji Quizzes
Ordinary 20-point kanji quizzes will consist of questions arranged under three columns: a kanji column, a yomikata column and an English column. You will answer the questions by filling in the blank with information required under the column.
漢字 読み方 English
1. 魚 ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
2. ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ こうじょう factory
You would answer question one by filling in the blank under the 読み方 column with the answer 「さかな」 and the blank under the English column with the answer “fish”. You would answer question two by filling in the blank under the kanji column with the characters that have the reading 「こうじょう」 and the meaning “factory”:「工場」。
Comprehensive kanji quizzes will be worth 100 points. All questions will be taken from the readings in the textbook. One type of question will be to give you a quote taken from our readings with kanji underlined, you will then tell me the reading of the word in either ひらがな or カタカナ and the meaning of the word in English. Another type of question will be to give you a quote from our readings with blanks where kanji had been. Under the blanks will be the reading for the word in ひらがな. You will then fill in each blank with the appropriate kanji.
Midterm Exams
Midterm exams are 50-question tests. Each multiple-choice question is worth two points for a total 100 points. Each midterm exam is divided into five sections.
The first section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This first section of the test consists of seven questions worth 14% of the total score.
The second section takes excerpts from the stories and asks questions about the contents of the material. The questions are designed to check your comprehension of the material. Sometimes questions about the content of the material are asked and answered in Japanese. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories, be able to translate any sentence into English and attend class to check up on your comprehension. This second section is the longest section of the test; it consists of 25 questions worth 50% of the total score.
Please note that these first two sections are worth 64% of your total test score. Also notice that all of the questions in these two sections regard material taken directly from your textbook. The single most important thing you can do to study for the midterm exams is to read and understand your textbook materials.
The third section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you a letter written to a person who is at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letter and answer multiple-choice questions about the letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This third section consists of eight questions worth 16% of the total score.
The fourth section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This fourth section consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.
The fifth section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. The textbook often reviews these grammar patterns in the Sentence Pattern section of each lesson, directly following the vocabulary list for each story. This fifth section of the test consists of five questions worth 10% of the total score.
After you have taken a midterm exam, you have the option of going over the questions you missed with your teacher. This test review is a good idea if you get an unsatisfactory score. In the process of going over your test, you may better understand a concept or you might learn some new test taking strategies. In order to review a test: (1) Go to the Testing Services website, you can either type the address
https://testing.byu.edu/
into your browser or go to the BYU web site https://www.byu.edu and follow the links by clicking on the Student tab, then clicking on Academic links and then clicking on Testing Center (listed alphabetically in the underlying menu); (2) Follow the instructions on the Testing Services web site to visit the Student Page; (3) On the student page, find your test results for your Japanese 300 test; (4) Write down the numbers of the questions you missed on a piece of scratch paper; (5) Bring this piece of paper with you when you visit the teacher either during his office hours or during your appointment.
Please review your midterm exam before your next scheduled midterm exam. For example, please review Midterm Exam I before you take Midterm Exam II. Your teacher will only review the previous midterm exam with you, NOT all the exams you have taken so far.
Comprehensive Final Exam
The comprehensive final exam is a 100-question test. Each question is worth one point for a total 100 points. The comprehensive final exam is divided into two parts.
Part I will add up to a total 40% of your final score. Part I is further divided into two sections.
The first section is a fill-in-the-blank kanji quiz. The first ten questions consist of words written in kanji. You write in the yomikata for each word. The second ten questions consist of words written in hiragana, you are also given the English definitions for each word in parentheses. You write in the appropriate kanji for each word. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji. This first section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.
The second section is comprised of sentences taken directly from your textbook. Each sentence had a particular grammar pattern that I took out and substituted with a blank. You find the correct grammar pattern from the given choices to fill in the blank. The resulting sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense. The best way to study for these questions is to read the stories so that you recognize the sentence and remember what it was saying. You should also review the grammar patterns that appear in the stories. This second section consists of twenty questions and will be worth 20% of the total score.
Part II will add up to a total 60% of your final score. Part II is divided into three sections.
The first section will test you on your ability to use the kanji and grammar you have learned. I test your ability to apply what you have memorized by giving you two letters written to people who are at your level of Japanese knowledge. You read the letters and answer multiple-choice questions about each letter’s contents. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, remember grammar patterns and practice translating. This first section consists of forty questions worth 40% of the total score.
The second section tests your ability to take a Japanese sentence and translate it into English. You are given a Japanese sentence and five choices for a “translation”. You are to choose which English sentence is the best translation of the actual meaning of the original Japanese sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to memorize kanji, memorize vocabulary and practice translating. This second section consists of five questions worth 5% of the total score.
The third section tests your knowledge of the grammar patterns that appear in the textbook readings. I give you an English sentence and a Japanese translation of that English sentence. However, I leave a blank in the Japanese translation. You are given five choices to fill the blank. The resulting sentence must be a grammatically correct sentence that has the same meaning as the original English sentence. The best way to study for these questions is to learn the grammar patterns that appear in our textbook readings. This third section consists of fifteen questions worth 15% of the total score.
Grading Procedures:
You will be graded in five areas:
Homework 20%
Kanji Quizzes 20%
Class Participation 10%
Midterm Exams 35%
Comprehensive Final Exam 15%
____
100%
Homework consists of the -1 and -2 exercises for each of the twenty chapters in the textbook. Each homework assignment will be worth 100 points. Since there are twenty homework assignments, there will be 2000 points possible (20 x 100 = 2000). I will take your total points earned and divide that sum by 2000 to get a percentage. I will then multiply that percentage by 20 because homework is worth 20% of your final grade.
After I find mistakes on your homework, you will have the option to correct your mistakes (on the same paper) and resubmit your homework for a higher score. If you are satisfied with your score, you need not resubmit your homework.
I will accept late homework, but for every day that the homework is late, I will take 10% off. This means that if you turn in homework two days late, the highest score you could get–even with everything correct– is an 80%. Therefore, if you know that you are going to miss a class you need to turn in that assignment early.
The one exception to the rule about being docked 10% off for every day that your homework is late is in cases of illness or dire emergencies. It is your obligation to make the teacher aware of the reason for an absence. If you do not promptly notify the teacher about the reason for an absence, then the teacher is free to assume that you just skipped class.
At the end of each of the lessons you will have a kanji quiz. I have divided the twenty lessons of the text into four units. Each unit consists of five lessons. At the end of the first four lessons in every unit, you will have a 20-point kanji quiz. At the end of the fifth lesson in each unit you will have a 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz. This means that every fifth quiz is a comprehensive kanji quiz.
Each of the first three kanji quiz units will be worth 100 points. For example, Unit I is worth 100 points. Unit I consists of the 20-point kanji quizzes for lessons 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz for lesson 5. The way I calculate your score for Unit I is either:
1. to treat the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz as if it had been a 20-point kanji quiz. I do this by dividing your score on the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz by 5 (since 100/5=20). Then I add together the resulting five 20-point kanji quiz scores to obtain the total points you earned out of the 100 points possible for the unit. OR,
2. to take the score that you earned on the comprehensive kanji quiz as the total for Unit I.
I will drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quizzes. However, no one can drop any comprehensive kanji quiz. Since I drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quiz scores (2 x 20 = 40), Unit IV will only be worth 60 points (100 – 40 = 60).
At the end of the semester, I will add all of your unit scores to get a sum. Since there are 360 points possible, I will divide your sum by 360 to get a percentage. I will take this percentage and multiply it by 20 because kanji quizzes are worth 20% of your grade.
I will not allow you to take a kanji quiz late, except in cases of illness or dire emergencies. However, I do drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quiz scores, even if those lowest scores are zero. It is your obligation to make the teacher aware of the reason for an absence. If you do not promptly notify the teacher about the reason for an absence, then the teacher is free to assume that you just skipped class.
Your teacher will grade you on class participation. Your teacher will grade you on Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes using a five-point scale.
0 points: An unexcused absence will earn zero points on the day you are absent.
1 point: At least you are physically in your seat, but you seem lost in your own world.
2 points: You gave wrong answers. You did not seem to understand the story. You seemed lost in the class discussion, but at least you put forth an effort to say something. You tried to add something to the class discussion.
3 points: Your answers were not wrong, but were one-or-two-word answers and lacked any elaboration. You seem either to have not understood the finer points of the story or to be unable to express yourself fully in commenting on the story. An excused absence will also earn three points.
4 points: Your answers were for the most part correct. You did alright. A native speaker would probably be able to surmise what you were trying to say. However, you tripped up a bit on grammar, or seemed to lose your train of thought, or drowned the end of your sentence in a final mumble, or you asked me to repeat the question because you were not listening.
5 points: Your answers were correct and stated in a confident and fluent manner. Your answers contributed to class discussion and your ability to elaborate shows that you gave the story some thought. You are in full command of the story.
At the end of the semester, I will add all of your participation scores to obtain a sum. I will take this sum and divide it by the total points possible to get a percentage. I will take this percentage and multiply it by 10 because class participation is worth 10% of your grade.
At the end of each unit you will have a midterm exam. Each midterm exam is worth 100 points. I will not allow you to take midterm exam late, except in cases of illness or dire emergencies. However, I will drop your lowest midterm exam score. I will add the scores you earned on the remaining three exams to obtain a sum. I will take this sum and divide it by the 300 points possible to get a percentage. Then I will multiply this percentage by 35 because midterm exams are worth 35% of your final grade.
At the end of the term you will take a comprehensive final exam. I will take the percentage you earn on this exam and multiply it by 15 because the final exam is worth 15% of your grade.
At the end of the term, I will add the final scores you earned in each of the five areas: 1) homework, 2) kanji quizzes, 3) class participation 4) midterm exams and 5) the comprehensive final exam. I will take your total sum and assign you a grade based on the following grade breakdown:
93-100 A
90-92 A-
87-89 B+
83-86 B
80-82 B-
77-79 C+
73-76 C
70-72 C-
67-69 D+
63-66 D
60-62 D-
Below 60 E
You will be graded in five areas:
Homework 20%
Kanji Quizzes 20%
Class Participation 10%
Midterm Exams 35%
Comprehensive Final Exam 15%
____
100%
Homework consists of the -1 and -2 exercises for each of the twenty chapters in the textbook. Each homework assignment will be worth 100 points. Since there are twenty homework assignments, there will be 2000 points possible (20 x 100 = 2000). I will take your total points earned and divide that sum by 2000 to get a percentage. I will then multiply that percentage by 20 because homework is worth 20% of your final grade.
After I find mistakes on your homework, you will have the option to correct your mistakes (on the same paper) and resubmit your homework for a higher score. If you are satisfied with your score, you need not resubmit your homework.
I will accept late homework, but for every day that the homework is late, I will take 10% off. This means that if you turn in homework two days late, the highest score you could get–even with everything correct– is an 80%. Therefore, if you know that you are going to miss a class you need to turn in that assignment early.
The one exception to the rule about being docked 10% off for every day that your homework is late is in cases of illness or dire emergencies. It is your obligation to make the teacher aware of the reason for an absence. If you do not promptly notify the teacher about the reason for an absence, then the teacher is free to assume that you just skipped class.
At the end of each of the lessons you will have a kanji quiz. I have divided the twenty lessons of the text into four units. Each unit consists of five lessons. At the end of the first four lessons in every unit, you will have a 20-point kanji quiz. At the end of the fifth lesson in each unit you will have a 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz. This means that every fifth quiz is a comprehensive kanji quiz.
Each of the first three kanji quiz units will be worth 100 points. For example, Unit I is worth 100 points. Unit I consists of the 20-point kanji quizzes for lessons 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz for lesson 5. The way I calculate your score for Unit I is either:
1. to treat the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz as if it had been a 20-point kanji quiz. I do this by dividing your score on the 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz by 5 (since 100/5=20). Then I add together the resulting five 20-point kanji quiz scores to obtain the total points you earned out of the 100 points possible for the unit. OR,
2. to take the score that you earned on the comprehensive kanji quiz as the total for Unit I.
I will drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quizzes. However, no one can drop any comprehensive kanji quiz. Since I drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quiz scores (2 x 20 = 40), Unit IV will only be worth 60 points (100 – 40 = 60).
At the end of the semester, I will add all of your unit scores to get a sum. Since there are 360 points possible, I will divide your sum by 360 to get a percentage. I will take this percentage and multiply it by 20 because kanji quizzes are worth 20% of your grade.
I will not allow you to take a kanji quiz late, except in cases of illness or dire emergencies. However, I do drop your two lowest 20-point kanji quiz scores, even if those lowest scores are zero. It is your obligation to make the teacher aware of the reason for an absence. If you do not promptly notify the teacher about the reason for an absence, then the teacher is free to assume that you just skipped class.
Your teacher will grade you on class participation. Your teacher will grade you on Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes using a five-point scale.
0 points: An unexcused absence will earn zero points on the day you are absent.
1 point: At least you are physically in your seat, but you seem lost in your own world.
2 points: You gave wrong answers. You did not seem to understand the story. You seemed lost in the class discussion, but at least you put forth an effort to say something. You tried to add something to the class discussion.
3 points: Your answers were not wrong, but were one-or-two-word answers and lacked any elaboration. You seem either to have not understood the finer points of the story or to be unable to express yourself fully in commenting on the story. An excused absence will also earn three points.
4 points: Your answers were for the most part correct. You did alright. A native speaker would probably be able to surmise what you were trying to say. However, you tripped up a bit on grammar, or seemed to lose your train of thought, or drowned the end of your sentence in a final mumble, or you asked me to repeat the question because you were not listening.
5 points: Your answers were correct and stated in a confident and fluent manner. Your answers contributed to class discussion and your ability to elaborate shows that you gave the story some thought. You are in full command of the story.
At the end of the semester, I will add all of your participation scores to obtain a sum. I will take this sum and divide it by the total points possible to get a percentage. I will take this percentage and multiply it by 10 because class participation is worth 10% of your grade.
At the end of each unit you will have a midterm exam. Each midterm exam is worth 100 points. I will not allow you to take midterm exam late, except in cases of illness or dire emergencies. However, I will drop your lowest midterm exam score. I will add the scores you earned on the remaining three exams to obtain a sum. I will take this sum and divide it by the 300 points possible to get a percentage. Then I will multiply this percentage by 35 because midterm exams are worth 35% of your final grade.
At the end of the term you will take a comprehensive final exam. I will take the percentage you earn on this exam and multiply it by 15 because the final exam is worth 15% of your grade.
At the end of the term, I will add the final scores you earned in each of the five areas: 1) homework, 2) kanji quizzes, 3) class participation 4) midterm exams and 5) the comprehensive final exam. I will take your total sum and assign you a grade based on the following grade breakdown:
93-100 A
90-92 A-
87-89 B+
83-86 B
80-82 B-
77-79 C+
73-76 C
70-72 C-
67-69 D+
63-66 D
60-62 D-
Below 60 E
Recommended Study Habits:
The general rule for successful study in college is “to spend two hours preparing outside of class for every hour that you spend in class.”
Most students who master the material are students who review kanji everyday, without fail. I would estimate that one hour everyday is the bare minimum amount of time that you could spend reviewing kanji and still survive. You will also need some time to review grammar patterns.
In addition to kanji review, you will also need to devote at least one hour everyday to reading ahead in our textbook so that you will be prepared to read aloud or discuss any sentence in class.
It has been my experience that students who run into difficulties in Japanese 300 are students who believe that they can “get away with a decent grade” because they already “know how to speak Japanese”. Since these students know that they are already destined to get a good grade, they feel little motivation to study. Indeed, these students begin to see the process of constant review as a waste of time. These students quite naturally begin to ignore their Japanese studies in favor of more pressing priorities.
These students remind me of a piano student who has been told time and again that she needs to practice everyday for at least an hour. But on Monday, her Friday afternoon piano lesson (think: “kanji quiz”) seems so far away. So, on Monday she skips practice with a promise to herself that “I’ll work twice as hard tomorrow.” But on Tuesday, she discovers that even though she skipped her Monday practice, she has not been struck by lightning. She again puts off practice saying “OK, I’m really going at it tomorrow. I mean it! Now, would you stop bugging me?” Wednesday comes and goes with hardly a reproach from her conscience. Indeed, even though she has skipped three straight days of practice, the world continues to revolve and it seems that there has been no price to pay for ignoring her studies. However, on Thursday, she recalls “Oh my heck! (Typical Utah teenage parlance) I’ve got a freaking piano lesson TOMORROW.” With newfound resolve she sits herself on that piano bench and has a marathon three-and-a-half hour practice session. However, at her lesson on Friday, she discovers that those long three-and-a-half hours she spent the previous day do not seem to bring even half the proficiency she used to gain when she had practiced one hour everyday.
Students who really master the material are those students who have the discipline to review, practice and study everyday. These students realize that learning a language is like playing baseball. The baseball team that consistently wins is the team whose players hit singles inning after inning. Baseball teams that count on achieving success through a grand slam homerun (think: “cramming just before a test”) rarely, if ever, win games.
You will do so much better by chipping away at kanji day by day rather than studying in marathon cram sessions once in a while.
Please be aware that this course moves at a fast pace. Students who fall behind usually experience difficulties in catching up. Since the class will not stop and wait for you to catch up, students who fall behind usually end up spending all their time on old material while ignoring the material we are covering right now. Ironically, they end up falling even further behind. This results in feelings of frustration and discouragement. Therefore, do everything you can to stay ahead of schedule.
Keep ahead of schedule by:
1. Learning next week’s kanji during this week.
2. Reviewing this week’s kanji this week.
3. Timing your kanji studies so that you already know all the characters before even attempting to do your homework. Treat homework assignments as a “take-home quiz” for testing yourself to see whether you really do know the characters.
4. Never cram to learn kanji right before a quiz; always be reviewing kanji that you have already learned before a quiz.
5. In your personal study time, read ahead in your textbook to a point at least a half-page ahead of the material you think the class will cover.
6. Go to class to check up on your comprehension of what you have already read and translated yourself. Never go to class to read a passage for the first time.
Another problem I have observed with some students is that a student will get the idea that kanji are the most important thing in this class. Now, it is possible to learn kanji for kanji’s sake. But I would prefer that my students learned kanji as a means to an end. You should have two ends in mind as you learn kanji. First, kanji are a terrific means to expand your vocabulary. Second, kanji are a wonderful means to improve comprehension in your reading.
The problem I see with students who believe that kanji are the most important thing is that these students spend ALL their Japanese study time on just kanji. One of these students may study Japanese two hours a day, but that entire time is spent exclusively on kanji alone. I have to admit that these students do well on homework and 20-point kanji quizzes, but they usually do rather poorly on comprehensive kanji quizzes and do even worse on midterm exams. This sad result is due to the fact that homework and 20-point kanji quizzes are testing you on your kanji studies, while comprehensive kanji quizzes and midterm exams are more concerned with testing you on your reading abilities.
I hereby wish to issue a warning: if you ignore reading practice to spend more time on kanji study, there is a heavy price to pay. To appreciate this warning, please reference below the “Grading Procedures” section of this syllabus. You will find that homework and kanji quizzes will be worth a total 40% of your grade while exams will be worth 50% of your grade. Granted, kanji are important (like 40%-of-your-grade important!) but reading ability is more heavily weighted at 50% of your grade.
In order for you to improve your reading abilities you have to practice reading. Every hour that you spend in learning kanji should be met with an hour practicing reading. You should check your comprehension by trying to put the Japanese into English. If you truly understand the Japanese, then you will be able to translate the passage into English.
Never feel like you are finished with a story after you have successfully read it once. Before the next midterm exam, go back and at read it again. Try to observe if your reading speed is improving. Notice whether the story seems any easier to understand the second or third time through.
One study technique to gain the motivation to read is to form small study groups to go over the reading assignments in the text. Some students will study harder and practice reading more before group study sessions. These students will gain motivation to study by wishing to avoid embarrassment caused by an exhibition of ignorance. I suggest that you get the phone numbers of at least two classmates that you can contact if you have questions or need help studying.
The general rule for successful study in college is “to spend two hours preparing outside of class for every hour that you spend in class.”
Most students who master the material are students who review kanji everyday, without fail. I would estimate that one hour everyday is the bare minimum amount of time that you could spend reviewing kanji and still survive. You will also need some time to review grammar patterns.
In addition to kanji review, you will also need to devote at least one hour everyday to reading ahead in our textbook so that you will be prepared to read aloud or discuss any sentence in class.
It has been my experience that students who run into difficulties in Japanese 300 are students who believe that they can “get away with a decent grade” because they already “know how to speak Japanese”. Since these students know that they are already destined to get a good grade, they feel little motivation to study. Indeed, these students begin to see the process of constant review as a waste of time. These students quite naturally begin to ignore their Japanese studies in favor of more pressing priorities.
These students remind me of a piano student who has been told time and again that she needs to practice everyday for at least an hour. But on Monday, her Friday afternoon piano lesson (think: “kanji quiz”) seems so far away. So, on Monday she skips practice with a promise to herself that “I’ll work twice as hard tomorrow.” But on Tuesday, she discovers that even though she skipped her Monday practice, she has not been struck by lightning. She again puts off practice saying “OK, I’m really going at it tomorrow. I mean it! Now, would you stop bugging me?” Wednesday comes and goes with hardly a reproach from her conscience. Indeed, even though she has skipped three straight days of practice, the world continues to revolve and it seems that there has been no price to pay for ignoring her studies. However, on Thursday, she recalls “Oh my heck! (Typical Utah teenage parlance) I’ve got a freaking piano lesson TOMORROW.” With newfound resolve she sits herself on that piano bench and has a marathon three-and-a-half hour practice session. However, at her lesson on Friday, she discovers that those long three-and-a-half hours she spent the previous day do not seem to bring even half the proficiency she used to gain when she had practiced one hour everyday.
Students who really master the material are those students who have the discipline to review, practice and study everyday. These students realize that learning a language is like playing baseball. The baseball team that consistently wins is the team whose players hit singles inning after inning. Baseball teams that count on achieving success through a grand slam homerun (think: “cramming just before a test”) rarely, if ever, win games.
You will do so much better by chipping away at kanji day by day rather than studying in marathon cram sessions once in a while.
Please be aware that this course moves at a fast pace. Students who fall behind usually experience difficulties in catching up. Since the class will not stop and wait for you to catch up, students who fall behind usually end up spending all their time on old material while ignoring the material we are covering right now. Ironically, they end up falling even further behind. This results in feelings of frustration and discouragement. Therefore, do everything you can to stay ahead of schedule.
Keep ahead of schedule by:
1. Learning next week’s kanji during this week.
2. Reviewing this week’s kanji this week.
3. Timing your kanji studies so that you already know all the characters before even attempting to do your homework. Treat homework assignments as a “take-home quiz” for testing yourself to see whether you really do know the characters.
4. Never cram to learn kanji right before a quiz; always be reviewing kanji that you have already learned before a quiz.
5. In your personal study time, read ahead in your textbook to a point at least a half-page ahead of the material you think the class will cover.
6. Go to class to check up on your comprehension of what you have already read and translated yourself. Never go to class to read a passage for the first time.
Another problem I have observed with some students is that a student will get the idea that kanji are the most important thing in this class. Now, it is possible to learn kanji for kanji’s sake. But I would prefer that my students learned kanji as a means to an end. You should have two ends in mind as you learn kanji. First, kanji are a terrific means to expand your vocabulary. Second, kanji are a wonderful means to improve comprehension in your reading.
The problem I see with students who believe that kanji are the most important thing is that these students spend ALL their Japanese study time on just kanji. One of these students may study Japanese two hours a day, but that entire time is spent exclusively on kanji alone. I have to admit that these students do well on homework and 20-point kanji quizzes, but they usually do rather poorly on comprehensive kanji quizzes and do even worse on midterm exams. This sad result is due to the fact that homework and 20-point kanji quizzes are testing you on your kanji studies, while comprehensive kanji quizzes and midterm exams are more concerned with testing you on your reading abilities.
I hereby wish to issue a warning: if you ignore reading practice to spend more time on kanji study, there is a heavy price to pay. To appreciate this warning, please reference below the “Grading Procedures” section of this syllabus. You will find that homework and kanji quizzes will be worth a total 40% of your grade while exams will be worth 50% of your grade. Granted, kanji are important (like 40%-of-your-grade important!) but reading ability is more heavily weighted at 50% of your grade.
In order for you to improve your reading abilities you have to practice reading. Every hour that you spend in learning kanji should be met with an hour practicing reading. You should check your comprehension by trying to put the Japanese into English. If you truly understand the Japanese, then you will be able to translate the passage into English.
Never feel like you are finished with a story after you have successfully read it once. Before the next midterm exam, go back and at read it again. Try to observe if your reading speed is improving. Notice whether the story seems any easier to understand the second or third time through.
One study technique to gain the motivation to read is to form small study groups to go over the reading assignments in the text. Some students will study harder and practice reading more before group study sessions. These students will gain motivation to study by wishing to avoid embarrassment caused by an exhibition of ignorance. I suggest that you get the phone numbers of at least two classmates that you can contact if you have questions or need help studying.
Class Requirements:
Students will be expected to:
1. Attend class regularly and be prepared for the scheduled lesson by memorizing kanji and vocabulary, and by being able to read smoothly and translate accurately the assigned readings;
2. Complete homework assignments (exercises in the text);
3. Take a twenty-point kanji quiz after each lesson;
4. Take a 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz after each unit of five lessons;
5. Take a 100-point midterm exam after each unit of five lessons;
6. Take the comprehensive final examination WHEN SCHEDULED.
Participation:
1. Readiness means that you will come to class prepared to read smoothly and translate accurately, and/or discuss the assigned readings;
2. To prepare for each lesson you will need:
a. To memorize all the kanji required up to that lesson
b. To use these kanji to read and write words and thus expand your vocabulary
c. To use these kanji to read stories, articles and letters
d. To come to class having already read the material so that you can read smoothly and discuss the material.
Students will be expected to:
1. Attend class regularly and be prepared for the scheduled lesson by memorizing kanji and vocabulary, and by being able to read smoothly and translate accurately the assigned readings;
2. Complete homework assignments (exercises in the text);
3. Take a twenty-point kanji quiz after each lesson;
4. Take a 100-point comprehensive kanji quiz after each unit of five lessons;
5. Take a 100-point midterm exam after each unit of five lessons;
6. Take the comprehensive final examination WHEN SCHEDULED.
Participation:
1. Readiness means that you will come to class prepared to read smoothly and translate accurately, and/or discuss the assigned readings;
2. To prepare for each lesson you will need:
a. To memorize all the kanji required up to that lesson
b. To use these kanji to read and write words and thus expand your vocabulary
c. To use these kanji to read stories, articles and letters
d. To come to class having already read the material so that you can read smoothly and discuss the material.
Course Purpose:
This course can be looked at in one of two ways. (1) The final class needed to pass the General Education language requirement (2) A prerequisite class needed to prepare oneself for more challenging material encountered in later Japanese classes. Even if you are not a Japanese major, and this is your last Japanese class, you will start to work on certain learning outcomes expected of Japanese majors. If you have an interest in the full list of ten learning outcomes for Japanese majors, you can go on the Internet to the following address
http://asiane.byu.edu/japanese/index.php?content=major
On the learning outcomes listed below in boldface type, I have changed the numbering from the official list (1, 4, 5, 7, 10) and I have also paraphrased a few of the outcomes. Nevertheless, in Japanese 300 we will start working on the following learning outcomes:
1) A Japanese major is expected be able to present and interpret Japanese language and culture to others in a manner that will promote mutual understanding and respect.
2) A Japanese major is expected to be able to converse and act in Japanese in linguistically, socially and culturally appropriate ways.
This means that you will either be explaining the Japanese people to fellow gaijin (aliens or outsiders) or you will be presenting yourself to native speakers.
We will be speaking in Japanese on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in order to practice more authentic ways of conversing.
When you present yourself to native speakers, when you converse in Japanese, you must realize that you are conveying messages beyond the words themselves. When you open your mouth and speak in Japanese, you are telling your listener that you are willing to play the communication game according to the listener’s rules. You are telling your listener that you will make your best effort to mimic how Japanese people speak, act and feel.
Japanese words are inextricably linked to feelings in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. Yet most foreign language learners are blissfully unaware of the effect that our speech patterns can have on native speakers. We all need to try harder to observe how Japanese people interact with others and try to imitate as best we can. For example, the Japanese language is probably the best language in the world for showing honor and respect. By showing honor and respect, you make people subconsciously feel better about themselves. You make people feel that you understand and appreciate their culture. You make a better impression. Sadly, Japanese 300 students typically need to make greater efforts in showing honor and respect. Therefore, we will discuss polite speech, honorific speech and humble speech—all of which are crucial in interacting with adult strangers in Japan.
When a native Japanese person learns that I teach returned missionaries, this Japanese person will sometimes plead with me. The Japanese person will say that returned missionaries are “fluent” in the sense that they can speak at a good speed and that they can usually get their point across. However, the way the returned missionary tries to get his point across does not resemble in any way how a native Japanese person would try to get the same point across. This native speaker pleads with me to do a better job teaching my students. So, I am asking you as a student to remember that when you open your mouth and speak in Japanese, you are telling your listener that you are willing to play the communication game according to the listener’s rules. It is the language learner’s job to make his words easy on the native listener’s ears. Therefore, we will also discuss dozens of grammar patterns and idioms that should make your Japanese sound more authentic to native speakers.
3) A Japanese major is expected to read and engage effectively texts . . .
In Japanese 300, you will begin to try to comprehend material presented from a native speaker who was writing for an audience of other native speakers.
When trying to comprehend material written for a Japanese audience, you will, of course, first need to know hiragana, katakana and kanji. I assume that you already know hiragana and katakana. But I assume no knowledge of kanji. Even if you did not study kanji on your mission, you can still take this class. You may have to study harder than your fellow students, but I have had students who began the class in circumstances similar to you and they successfully passed the course.
Now, let me talk to another type of student I have had a number of times in this class. When this type of student reads the above sentence: “I assume no knowledge of kanji,” this type of student feels disappointed, dismayed or even shocked. This type of student has put a lot of time and effort in memorizing every character in his missionary study manual: LEARN TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON IN JAPANESE. This type of student feels a certain justifiable (President Benson would dislike my use of the word) pride in his hard-won accomplishments. Kind Japanese people have tried to encourage this type of student by saying “Nihongo ga sugoku o-joozu desu nee!” After hearing these complements over and over, the student naturally feels that he has moved far beyond the level of your typical, average beginning Japanese 300 student. This type of student feels that Japanese 300 is a shokyuu class for others and not the jookyuu class he was hoping would provide the finishing touches transforming him into a native speaker.
Now I have to say that some of these students do indeed turn out to be some of my best students, but not always. Those students who turn out to be outstanding students somehow gain the realization or enlightenment that language learning is a lifelong pursuit. These students do not begrudge review because they know that time spent in review is never wasted time. Those who turn out to be mediocre students feel a certain contempt for easy stuff that they already “know.” They do not prepare or study for class because they already “know” the material and would not “learn” anything new that they didn’t already know before. Somehow, outstanding students leave the class with better Japanese, prepared to engage harder texts. Mediocre students leave the class with the level of Japanese with which they entered the class. Sometimes, on class evaluation forms, they will even make the perceptive observation that “I didn’t learn a thing”.
Therefore, I will say something to “those with ears to hear.” You may indeed have a passing acquaintance with many kanji. You can indeed recognize kanji when they occur in a certain passage, still you may not be able to write them or use them to express yourself in linguistically, socially and culturally appropriate ways. In my experience, these students, even if they already “know” hundreds of kanji, could still:
1) memorize correct stroke order
2) memorize all the kun readings: verbs, adjectives and nouns
3) memorize the differences in meanings between the different kun readings
4) memorize the correct okurigana for all the kun readings
5) memorize all the on readings
6) memorize the difference in meanings of on readings in different words
7) memorize whether a certain reading has a long or a short syllable
8) pay attention to how a kanji is used in the context of a sentence
9) boost reading fluency and speed. These traits are usually a byproduct of experience (which is a fancy word for lots and lots of practice and review).
I hope you are getting the idea that returned missionaries could use more experience (i.e., lots and lots of practice and review) in reading secular materials. Many returned missionaries may “know” an individual kanji, but are still unable to link the word they “know” to its surrounding words to come up with a logical English translation. An even higher-level skill is to take a sentence and see how the sentence fits logically into the context of the paragraph. I am afraid to tell you that gaining these skills involves lots and lots of practice and review.
I hope also, that you are getting the idea that language learning never occurs merely by “adding some finishing touches” that will magically transform you into a native speaker. This truth was taught to me in an amusing way by a middle-aged comedian who boasted “Although I am 55 years old, I can read at a 57-year-old level.” That struck me as funny because children most quickly improve their reading abilities in elementary school, say from age six till age eleven. When a student enters junior high, reading ability will improve, but at a comparatively slower pace. As a student grows older, the learning curve levels off more and more until you reach a plateau in adulthood. Therefore, a 55 year old bragging about reading like a 57 year old is ridiculous.
In the same way, I would say most missionaries out in the mission field from six months to around eighteen months are making progress in leaps and bounds. The learning curve is so steep that even the missionary himself may notice the progress. But after reaching a certain point, progress slows down and the learning curve levels off. Progress thereafter comes more slowly and improvement is harder won. Students studying Japanese in college want to feel the same progress they experienced early in their mission when they were living in Japan and talking Japanese with native speakers. Students may become frustrated after discovering the hard fact of life that progress comes slower and is harder won in later stages of language learning. All I can say is that there is still plenty of progress to be made, but much of that progress may come through gaining more experience (i.e., lots and lots of practice and review).
Therefore, I expect every student, regardless of previous experience, to memorize the approximately 515 kanji taught in our textbook. I also expect you to use those kanji to read and understand the stories and articles in our textbook. Furthermore, I expect you to be able to write those characters on homework assignments and quizzes.
You will need to memorize these 515 kanji because they are among the most well used characters in all of Japanese. You need to know how to read and write these characters without constantly looking them up in your dictionary.
I really do expect you to read every story in our textbook on your own. Classroom activities will aim to reinforce concepts and help you check up on your comprehension. However, you will need to read the stories on your own before you come to class.
4) Japanese majors will be expected to write well in English and Japanese.
When translating for an English speaking audience, you need to have good English writing skills. However, in Japanese 300, we will first focus on preparing you to begin to write in Japanese. By the end of the semester, you should be able to write letters to friends. The characters you learn in this class will also aid you in writing Japanese essays in future classes. In Japanese 300, we will be using these kanji to read stories, articles and letters. In addition, we will use our knowledge of these characters to begin to expand our vocabularies.
5) Japanese majors will be expected to demonstrate self-managed learning skills that will facilitate life-long learning.
In Japanese 300, you should learn study strategies that can help you in your other classes and throughout your life. I hope the primary truth you learn is the value of constant review and the magic of repetition in fixing material in your mind. This is an important skill in the life-long process of learning a language.
This course can be looked at in one of two ways. (1) The final class needed to pass the General Education language requirement (2) A prerequisite class needed to prepare oneself for more challenging material encountered in later Japanese classes. Even if you are not a Japanese major, and this is your last Japanese class, you will start to work on certain learning outcomes expected of Japanese majors. If you have an interest in the full list of ten learning outcomes for Japanese majors, you can go on the Internet to the following address
http://asiane.byu.edu/japanese/index.php?content=major
On the learning outcomes listed below in boldface type, I have changed the numbering from the official list (1, 4, 5, 7, 10) and I have also paraphrased a few of the outcomes. Nevertheless, in Japanese 300 we will start working on the following learning outcomes:
1) A Japanese major is expected be able to present and interpret Japanese language and culture to others in a manner that will promote mutual understanding and respect.
2) A Japanese major is expected to be able to converse and act in Japanese in linguistically, socially and culturally appropriate ways.
This means that you will either be explaining the Japanese people to fellow gaijin (aliens or outsiders) or you will be presenting yourself to native speakers.
We will be speaking in Japanese on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in order to practice more authentic ways of conversing.
When you present yourself to native speakers, when you converse in Japanese, you must realize that you are conveying messages beyond the words themselves. When you open your mouth and speak in Japanese, you are telling your listener that you are willing to play the communication game according to the listener’s rules. You are telling your listener that you will make your best effort to mimic how Japanese people speak, act and feel.
Japanese words are inextricably linked to feelings in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. Yet most foreign language learners are blissfully unaware of the effect that our speech patterns can have on native speakers. We all need to try harder to observe how Japanese people interact with others and try to imitate as best we can. For example, the Japanese language is probably the best language in the world for showing honor and respect. By showing honor and respect, you make people subconsciously feel better about themselves. You make people feel that you understand and appreciate their culture. You make a better impression. Sadly, Japanese 300 students typically need to make greater efforts in showing honor and respect. Therefore, we will discuss polite speech, honorific speech and humble speech—all of which are crucial in interacting with adult strangers in Japan.
When a native Japanese person learns that I teach returned missionaries, this Japanese person will sometimes plead with me. The Japanese person will say that returned missionaries are “fluent” in the sense that they can speak at a good speed and that they can usually get their point across. However, the way the returned missionary tries to get his point across does not resemble in any way how a native Japanese person would try to get the same point across. This native speaker pleads with me to do a better job teaching my students. So, I am asking you as a student to remember that when you open your mouth and speak in Japanese, you are telling your listener that you are willing to play the communication game according to the listener’s rules. It is the language learner’s job to make his words easy on the native listener’s ears. Therefore, we will also discuss dozens of grammar patterns and idioms that should make your Japanese sound more authentic to native speakers.
3) A Japanese major is expected to read and engage effectively texts . . .
In Japanese 300, you will begin to try to comprehend material presented from a native speaker who was writing for an audience of other native speakers.
When trying to comprehend material written for a Japanese audience, you will, of course, first need to know hiragana, katakana and kanji. I assume that you already know hiragana and katakana. But I assume no knowledge of kanji. Even if you did not study kanji on your mission, you can still take this class. You may have to study harder than your fellow students, but I have had students who began the class in circumstances similar to you and they successfully passed the course.
Now, let me talk to another type of student I have had a number of times in this class. When this type of student reads the above sentence: “I assume no knowledge of kanji,” this type of student feels disappointed, dismayed or even shocked. This type of student has put a lot of time and effort in memorizing every character in his missionary study manual: LEARN TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON IN JAPANESE. This type of student feels a certain justifiable (President Benson would dislike my use of the word) pride in his hard-won accomplishments. Kind Japanese people have tried to encourage this type of student by saying “Nihongo ga sugoku o-joozu desu nee!” After hearing these complements over and over, the student naturally feels that he has moved far beyond the level of your typical, average beginning Japanese 300 student. This type of student feels that Japanese 300 is a shokyuu class for others and not the jookyuu class he was hoping would provide the finishing touches transforming him into a native speaker.
Now I have to say that some of these students do indeed turn out to be some of my best students, but not always. Those students who turn out to be outstanding students somehow gain the realization or enlightenment that language learning is a lifelong pursuit. These students do not begrudge review because they know that time spent in review is never wasted time. Those who turn out to be mediocre students feel a certain contempt for easy stuff that they already “know.” They do not prepare or study for class because they already “know” the material and would not “learn” anything new that they didn’t already know before. Somehow, outstanding students leave the class with better Japanese, prepared to engage harder texts. Mediocre students leave the class with the level of Japanese with which they entered the class. Sometimes, on class evaluation forms, they will even make the perceptive observation that “I didn’t learn a thing”.
Therefore, I will say something to “those with ears to hear.” You may indeed have a passing acquaintance with many kanji. You can indeed recognize kanji when they occur in a certain passage, still you may not be able to write them or use them to express yourself in linguistically, socially and culturally appropriate ways. In my experience, these students, even if they already “know” hundreds of kanji, could still:
1) memorize correct stroke order
2) memorize all the kun readings: verbs, adjectives and nouns
3) memorize the differences in meanings between the different kun readings
4) memorize the correct okurigana for all the kun readings
5) memorize all the on readings
6) memorize the difference in meanings of on readings in different words
7) memorize whether a certain reading has a long or a short syllable
8) pay attention to how a kanji is used in the context of a sentence
9) boost reading fluency and speed. These traits are usually a byproduct of experience (which is a fancy word for lots and lots of practice and review).
I hope you are getting the idea that returned missionaries could use more experience (i.e., lots and lots of practice and review) in reading secular materials. Many returned missionaries may “know” an individual kanji, but are still unable to link the word they “know” to its surrounding words to come up with a logical English translation. An even higher-level skill is to take a sentence and see how the sentence fits logically into the context of the paragraph. I am afraid to tell you that gaining these skills involves lots and lots of practice and review.
I hope also, that you are getting the idea that language learning never occurs merely by “adding some finishing touches” that will magically transform you into a native speaker. This truth was taught to me in an amusing way by a middle-aged comedian who boasted “Although I am 55 years old, I can read at a 57-year-old level.” That struck me as funny because children most quickly improve their reading abilities in elementary school, say from age six till age eleven. When a student enters junior high, reading ability will improve, but at a comparatively slower pace. As a student grows older, the learning curve levels off more and more until you reach a plateau in adulthood. Therefore, a 55 year old bragging about reading like a 57 year old is ridiculous.
In the same way, I would say most missionaries out in the mission field from six months to around eighteen months are making progress in leaps and bounds. The learning curve is so steep that even the missionary himself may notice the progress. But after reaching a certain point, progress slows down and the learning curve levels off. Progress thereafter comes more slowly and improvement is harder won. Students studying Japanese in college want to feel the same progress they experienced early in their mission when they were living in Japan and talking Japanese with native speakers. Students may become frustrated after discovering the hard fact of life that progress comes slower and is harder won in later stages of language learning. All I can say is that there is still plenty of progress to be made, but much of that progress may come through gaining more experience (i.e., lots and lots of practice and review).
Therefore, I expect every student, regardless of previous experience, to memorize the approximately 515 kanji taught in our textbook. I also expect you to use those kanji to read and understand the stories and articles in our textbook. Furthermore, I expect you to be able to write those characters on homework assignments and quizzes.
You will need to memorize these 515 kanji because they are among the most well used characters in all of Japanese. You need to know how to read and write these characters without constantly looking them up in your dictionary.
I really do expect you to read every story in our textbook on your own. Classroom activities will aim to reinforce concepts and help you check up on your comprehension. However, you will need to read the stories on your own before you come to class.
4) Japanese majors will be expected to write well in English and Japanese.
When translating for an English speaking audience, you need to have good English writing skills. However, in Japanese 300, we will first focus on preparing you to begin to write in Japanese. By the end of the semester, you should be able to write letters to friends. The characters you learn in this class will also aid you in writing Japanese essays in future classes. In Japanese 300, we will be using these kanji to read stories, articles and letters. In addition, we will use our knowledge of these characters to begin to expand our vocabularies.
5) Japanese majors will be expected to demonstrate self-managed learning skills that will facilitate life-long learning.
In Japanese 300, you should learn study strategies that can help you in your other classes and throughout your life. I hope the primary truth you learn is the value of constant review and the magic of repetition in fixing material in your mind. This is an important skill in the life-long process of learning a language.
Catalog Course Description:
300. Japanese Reading, Grammar, and Culture
Reading and writing emphasizing essential characters, vocabulary, grammar, and culture. First course for returned missionaries.
Extended Course Description:
Welcome to Japanese 300. This course is meant to be a challenging and intense course. The reason that it is described above as the “first course for returned missionaries” is not because returned missionaries will find it easy, but because you will already need significant experience in speaking Japanese in order to survive this class. As a prerequisite, you will need either: (1) the experience of living in Japan for more than a year, or (2) the experience of having taken Japanese classes up through the Japanese 202 level. In this course, we try to catch up to abilities that third-year college students should have in reading, writing and translating Japanese at a basic level.
This class is not designed to be an easy class where returned missionaries will be able to “wing it” just by showing up. On the contrary, most students find that this class demands a significant investment in time and effort in order to understand and really grasp the material.
If you are willing to invest the time and effort to master the material, you will be rewarded with the ability to read and understand e-mails, letters, articles and stories written by native Japanese writers. You will also gain the benefit of a deeper understanding of Japanese. Deeper understanding will result in better retention abilities. On the other hand, if you do not invest the necessary time and effort, this class can become a nightmare of late homework assignments, unread stories, low quiz scores and abysmal midterm exam scores.
300. Japanese Reading, Grammar, and Culture
Reading and writing emphasizing essential characters, vocabulary, grammar, and culture. First course for returned missionaries.
Extended Course Description:
Welcome to Japanese 300. This course is meant to be a challenging and intense course. The reason that it is described above as the “first course for returned missionaries” is not because returned missionaries will find it easy, but because you will already need significant experience in speaking Japanese in order to survive this class. As a prerequisite, you will need either: (1) the experience of living in Japan for more than a year, or (2) the experience of having taken Japanese classes up through the Japanese 202 level. In this course, we try to catch up to abilities that third-year college students should have in reading, writing and translating Japanese at a basic level.
This class is not designed to be an easy class where returned missionaries will be able to “wing it” just by showing up. On the contrary, most students find that this class demands a significant investment in time and effort in order to understand and really grasp the material.
If you are willing to invest the time and effort to master the material, you will be rewarded with the ability to read and understand e-mails, letters, articles and stories written by native Japanese writers. You will also gain the benefit of a deeper understanding of Japanese. Deeper understanding will result in better retention abilities. On the other hand, if you do not invest the necessary time and effort, this class can become a nightmare of late homework assignments, unread stories, low quiz scores and abysmal midterm exam scores.
Textbooks:
Required: Toward Better Japanese (Volumes 1 and 2) by Watabe and Gilbert
This is the required text that you must buy. If you already own Volume 1, then just buy Volume 2.
Please leaf through the entire text at the beginning of the term. I want you to get an idea of the textbook layout. Notice how some of the stories in the first volume are even longer than some stories in the second volume. Also, notice how the authors nearly double the amount of kanji learned per chapter in the second volume.
These facts about your textbook imply certain things about how you may need to use your personal study time in preparing for class. During the first half of the class, you may need to spend more of your study time reading stories and translating sentences. However, be sure to spend enough time in your kanji studies learning the meanings of radicals that occur in the characters you memorize. Knowing these radicals (the individual parts that combine to form new characters) will be a great aid in helping you memorize more characters at a faster pace.
During the second half of the class, you may need to spend more of your study time memorizing kanji and kanji-compound words. However, never neglect reading and translating practice because you may be called on in class to discuss sentences and story content in Japanese.
Highly Recommended: Computer Disc to Accompany Toward Better Japanese
One unkind point regarding the packaging of this computer disc is that the system requirements are listed inside the package rather than on the outside. I hereby try to remedy this situation by telling you that you need: Windows XP or OS10 for your computer’s operating system. Your CD ROM drive needs to be 4x speed. You also need an Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla compatible browser and Macromedia Flash Player 8.0.
This computer disc contains all the stories in our textbook. On the top of each story there are tabs labeled “translation,” “vocabulary,” “grammar” and “kanji”. When you click on a tab certain words or phrases will be highlighted in the text. You may then click on any of the highlighted portions to get help. The vocabulary tab will allow you to find the meaning and pronunciation of the more difficult words in the text. The grammar tab will allow you to find the meaning and further examples of grammar patterns that appear in the text. The kanji tab will allow you to find the readings and stroke order of Chinese characters learned in that particular chapter. Moreover, in front of each sentence is a speaker icon, when you click on this icon a native Japanese speaker reads the sentence for you. Also, near the title of each story is an icon to make the native speaker read the entire story.
This computer disc does much of the hard work in the task of mastering a story. I have found that students who opt for buying the disc are usually better prepared than students who do not study from the disc.
Furthermore, if you do not want to pay any money for this disc, you may be in luck. You will need a computer that can read Japanese characters. You will also need an Internet connection. Type the following address in your Internet browser
http://nihongo.byu.edu
Find the tab labeled “courseware,” click on the tab and highlight Japanese 300. The screen might ask for your User/ID, if so, type in the word nihongo and if the screen asks for your Password, type in the same word nihongo and then click on Login. When you finally get to the courseware menu, click on Japanese 300.
If you do not have a computer, or if you do not have the software to read Japanese characters, go to the Humanities Computer Lab located on the ground floor of the Joseph F. Smith Building (JFSB) in either Suite 1131 or Suite 1133. The computers in these labs can read Japanese characters. All you need to use the computers is your BYU Net ID and your password to get on to Route Y.
Recommended: Japanese-English Character Dictionary by Haig and Nelson
This dictionary is recommended for students who plan to continue with Japanese studies in other classes. As you read more challenging articles, you will need some method to look up characters that have either slipped your mind or that you have never seen before.
You do not need this dictionary to pass this class, but if you go on to study Japanese further, you will have to buy a good kanji dictionary sooner or later. You might as well invest in a good dictionary sooner so that you can get more use from it. However, if Japanese 300 will be your last Japanese class, then buying this expensive dictionary would likely be a waste of money. You can still look up characters using the Stroke Index located in the back of Volume 2 of your required textbook Toward Better Japanese.
Recommended: A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Makino and Tsutsui
Some of you may already possess this handy reference to look up grammar patterns. Those who do not have this dictionary may consider buying one if you want more detailed grammatical explanations than our textbook provides you. Another benefit you may derive from this dictionary is more example sentences so that you can see how the grammar pattern is used in different contexts with other vocabulary.
You do not need this dictionary to pass this class since most of the grammar patterns appearing in the text are discussed at the end of each lesson, in a section called Sentence Patterns. However, our textbook presents grammar patterns in the order that they occur in our readings. Hence, our textbook presents grammar patterns in a rather jumbled fashion. Some students are grateful for a book that keeps all the basic grammar patterns in an alphabetical order, so that one can readily reference a troublesome passage.
Required: Toward Better Japanese (Volumes 1 and 2) by Watabe and Gilbert
This is the required text that you must buy. If you already own Volume 1, then just buy Volume 2.
Please leaf through the entire text at the beginning of the term. I want you to get an idea of the textbook layout. Notice how some of the stories in the first volume are even longer than some stories in the second volume. Also, notice how the authors nearly double the amount of kanji learned per chapter in the second volume.
These facts about your textbook imply certain things about how you may need to use your personal study time in preparing for class. During the first half of the class, you may need to spend more of your study time reading stories and translating sentences. However, be sure to spend enough time in your kanji studies learning the meanings of radicals that occur in the characters you memorize. Knowing these radicals (the individual parts that combine to form new characters) will be a great aid in helping you memorize more characters at a faster pace.
During the second half of the class, you may need to spend more of your study time memorizing kanji and kanji-compound words. However, never neglect reading and translating practice because you may be called on in class to discuss sentences and story content in Japanese.
Highly Recommended: Computer Disc to Accompany Toward Better Japanese
One unkind point regarding the packaging of this computer disc is that the system requirements are listed inside the package rather than on the outside. I hereby try to remedy this situation by telling you that you need: Windows XP or OS10 for your computer’s operating system. Your CD ROM drive needs to be 4x speed. You also need an Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla compatible browser and Macromedia Flash Player 8.0.
This computer disc contains all the stories in our textbook. On the top of each story there are tabs labeled “translation,” “vocabulary,” “grammar” and “kanji”. When you click on a tab certain words or phrases will be highlighted in the text. You may then click on any of the highlighted portions to get help. The vocabulary tab will allow you to find the meaning and pronunciation of the more difficult words in the text. The grammar tab will allow you to find the meaning and further examples of grammar patterns that appear in the text. The kanji tab will allow you to find the readings and stroke order of Chinese characters learned in that particular chapter. Moreover, in front of each sentence is a speaker icon, when you click on this icon a native Japanese speaker reads the sentence for you. Also, near the title of each story is an icon to make the native speaker read the entire story.
This computer disc does much of the hard work in the task of mastering a story. I have found that students who opt for buying the disc are usually better prepared than students who do not study from the disc.
Furthermore, if you do not want to pay any money for this disc, you may be in luck. You will need a computer that can read Japanese characters. You will also need an Internet connection. Type the following address in your Internet browser
http://nihongo.byu.edu
Find the tab labeled “courseware,” click on the tab and highlight Japanese 300. The screen might ask for your User/ID, if so, type in the word nihongo and if the screen asks for your Password, type in the same word nihongo and then click on Login. When you finally get to the courseware menu, click on Japanese 300.
If you do not have a computer, or if you do not have the software to read Japanese characters, go to the Humanities Computer Lab located on the ground floor of the Joseph F. Smith Building (JFSB) in either Suite 1131 or Suite 1133. The computers in these labs can read Japanese characters. All you need to use the computers is your BYU Net ID and your password to get on to Route Y.
Recommended: Japanese-English Character Dictionary by Haig and Nelson
This dictionary is recommended for students who plan to continue with Japanese studies in other classes. As you read more challenging articles, you will need some method to look up characters that have either slipped your mind or that you have never seen before.
You do not need this dictionary to pass this class, but if you go on to study Japanese further, you will have to buy a good kanji dictionary sooner or later. You might as well invest in a good dictionary sooner so that you can get more use from it. However, if Japanese 300 will be your last Japanese class, then buying this expensive dictionary would likely be a waste of money. You can still look up characters using the Stroke Index located in the back of Volume 2 of your required textbook Toward Better Japanese.
Recommended: A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Makino and Tsutsui
Some of you may already possess this handy reference to look up grammar patterns. Those who do not have this dictionary may consider buying one if you want more detailed grammatical explanations than our textbook provides you. Another benefit you may derive from this dictionary is more example sentences so that you can see how the grammar pattern is used in different contexts with other vocabulary.
You do not need this dictionary to pass this class since most of the grammar patterns appearing in the text are discussed at the end of each lesson, in a section called Sentence Patterns. However, our textbook presents grammar patterns in the order that they occur in our readings. Hence, our textbook presents grammar patterns in a rather jumbled fashion. Some students are grateful for a book that keeps all the basic grammar patterns in an alphabetical order, so that one can readily reference a troublesome passage.
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