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.