Online Japanese course 1 (2) (for beginners, second semester), spring 2024

Lecturer: Japanese Government Certified Japanese language instructor and former professor of US universities Setsuko Konishi, a Japanese native, living in Japan, has many years of experiences both in traditional teaching in very competitive and well known US universities and also in online teaching as university programs from Japan.

Required equipment: A computer with a camera, headset with a microphone and internet connection. This course will be provided using an online conference program Zoom, but students will not be required to create an own account.  Instructions will be sent some days before the course starts.

Dates and times: Feb. 26th - May 22nd, 2024 Mon and Wed 18:00–19:00 (Finland time).

Content and objectives: An intensive online Japanese language course taught in Japanese and English live from Japan. The course includes a lot of photos, videos and articles of real time materials about Japan and its culture.

The goal of study: After finishing this intensive course, students will be able to obtain the basic language skills to survive in Japan. Students will read and write 46 Hiragana and Katagana letters. Students will be able to recognize 100 Kanji letters.

Prerequisite: Completion of Online Japanese course 1 (for beginners) fall 2023 or equivalent (understand Hiragana and Katakana).

Textbook: “Genki I” (Chapter 6~) published by the Japan Times, 3rd edition, ISBN978-4-7890-1730-5 (via online bookstores e.g. Amazon). Electronic version of the text book is usable but do not purchase paper back.

Duration and fee: 35 h, 153 €

Student feedback from previous courses:

”I have been very satisfied with the courses. Konishi-sensei has taken great care of us students and the cultural bits are a good addition and make learning enjoyable. The courses do run at a fast pace, so students need to be ready to put in effort. However, Konishi-sensei has been very accommodating even with my sometimes foolish questions.

As an end result, my travels in Japan have been far more enjoyable as I am able to chat with locals and have some insight on customs and interesting things to see.“