Philosophy Statement
God communicates with his people through language. God uses the Bible which is written in human languages to communicate with us. As the people of God, we are to obey his commandments, the greatest of which is to love him and our neighbor. To love God, we need to know who he is as he is described in the Bible. Similarly, to love others, we need to know them, through language.

Japanese is one of modern languages in the world. Japan has less than 1% of its population that identifies with Christianity. Japan, with its stunning nature, rich cultural heritage, charming people in their quiet, reserved, polite, yet determined nature, still needs to hear the good news of the Gospel more. Once closed to the world, Japan has now opened up for the world in general. By knowing the Japanese language, we are responding to their open-arms, to create friendships with them. Mutual benefit, thus, can be gained: Japanese culture will be appreciated, and at the same time, we will be enriched by the Japanese cultural values as well as able to share our beliefs and our own cultural values.

To love is to know. We are obeying God’s command to love others, in this case, the Japanese, when we attempt to know them, through the Japanese language.

Course Objective
Students will continue to learn kanji,one of the essential scripts in the Japanese language (ESLRs: DC, NLL). Students will learn new vocabulary, grammar points, and  expressions through each lesson in the textbook, which they will use to compose sentences, and later short compositions, to create conversations, and to read short essays (ESLRs: DC, ET, NLL). Students will develop their listening skills by listening to the recorded conversations/CD (ESLRs: DC). Japanese culture appreciation is done through creating posters, watching and reviewing Japanese movies, and learning Japanese songs. In creating posters and reviewing movies, students will learn to compare and to contrast the Japanese cultural values to their own, thus, enabling them to exercise their thinking skill and to apply their Christian beliefs to the posters’ and movies’ content (ESLRs: ET, NLL, SCW, RC). Students will write and memorize Bible verses in Japanese (ESLRs: RC).

Resources

  • Textbook: Situational and Functional Japanese, v. 1-2, Notes & Drills, by Tsukuba Language Group, 1991
  • Various films
  • Kanji chart
  • CDs
  • Japanese Bible & dictionary

Time Allotment
50 minutes daily, 5 days per week, 2 semesters

Course Content

  1. Introducing people: formal introductions, addressing people.
  2. At the post office: post office services in Japan, letters and postcards, paying and receiving money
  3. At a restaurant: expressions used in restaurants and shops, fast food shops.
  4. Asking the whereabouts: location terms, expressions used for asking the whereabouts of things/people.
  5. Asking about unknown words: katakana words, expressions used for asking unknown words.
  6. At the office: office instructions, delivery service, how to correct others’ mistakes, how to ask for advice, how to give an
  7.     alternative.
  8. Phoning (1): a hospital: how to ask for a telephone number; how to make a telephone call; how to deal with a wrong
  9.     number; how to introduce a question politely; how to ask about office hours; how to make an appointment
  10. Asking permission: the relationship between seniors and juniors in Japan, a report for leave of absence.
  11. At a hospital: hospitals in Japan, procedures in a hospital, phrases used by a doctor, medicine, how to explain one’s
  12.     symptoms, how to consult a doctor, how to ask for instructions on taking a medicine.
  13. At a department store: department stores in Japan, expressions used in a department store, colors, patterns, sizes of clothes.

Evaluation

  • Presentation(s) and/or skits
  • Compositions
  • Reading Exercises
  • Posters
  • Kanji Quizzes
  • Movie Reviews
  • Vocabulary Quizzes
  • Tests
  • Class Participation