Japanese Courses
All
Japanesecourses are standards-based. This means that students will learn
to read,write, speak and listen to Japanese in cultural contexts.
Effectivecommunication is stressed in all classes. Culture is introduced
through avariety of methods including guest presenters, movies, videos, and
field trips.
Japanese 1
Japanese 1 is
abeginning-level course. The material is presented in thematic units,
suchas Self, Family, Everyday Activities and Holidays and Seasons. The
unitsare part of a packet, considered the textbook for the class, that the
studentswill receive in installments throughout the year. There will be a
twodollar copy fee each semester to pay for the packet. Highlights of
thecourse:
1. Hiragana
and katakana. In addition to the work studentsdo in class to learn
these syllabaries, there are numerous websites that offer hiragana tutorials and katakana tutorials.
2. Approximately
100 kanji.
3. Masu
and desu forms of verbs, both past and non-pastforms, adjective forms,
and basic relationals (particles).
Japanese 2
Japanese 2spirals
from what was learned in Japanese 1. Students will receive atextbook, Yookoso:
An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese, for this course. In addition,
studentswill receive a supplemental packet. Highlights of the course:
1.
Plainforms. Students will learn the plain forms of verbs, desu,
and adjectives.
2. Approximately
100 kanji(in addition to the 100 kanji learned in Japanese 1).
Japanese 3
Japanese 3
buildson what was learned in Japanese 2. Students will use the same
textbook asJapanese 2 for the first half of the year and they will use Yookoso:Continuing
with Contemporary Japanese for the second half of the year.
Highlights of the course:
1.
Developthe ability to sustain conversations, which means students will be
usingsophisticated expressions.
2. Approximately
100 kanji(in addition to the 100 kanji learned in Japanese 2).
Japanese 4/Advanced
Placement
Japanese 4 and
Advanced Placement students will use the same textbook as Japanese 3, building
on the concepts andpatterns learned in previous years. Japanese 4 and
Advanced Placement are taught using the same curriculum. Highlights of the
course:
1. Students
will learn honorific, humble and polite forms.
2. Approximately
100 kanji.
3. Presentations,
translations.
4. By the end
of the course, students will be prepared to take the Advanced Placement
exam.
JapaneseA.P.
The Boulder
High School Japanese Advanced Placement is a College Board-approved course. Mike
Kleinkopf, the Boulder High Japanese Teacher, is currently serving on the Advanced
Placement Japanese National Development Committee, which is responsible for
reviewing earlier exams and creating materials for future exams. Many high
school Japanese programs will offer Japanese A.P. instead of as Japanese 4,
thereby eliminating the ÒJapanese 4Ó class designation. Both Japanese 4 and
Japanese A.P. will be offered at