NYU East Asian Studies - Japanese Language Courses & Descriptions

	New York University
	Department of East Asian Studies
	Japanese Language Courses & Descriptions

The list below do not comprise of all the courses but include the courses most frequently taught.

Elementary Japanese I, II
V33.0247 Prerequisite: No previous training in the language is required.
V33.0248 Prerequisite: V33.0247 with a minimum grade of C-
4 points per term.
Introductory course in modern spoken and written Japanese, designed to develop fundamental skills in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Gives contextualized instructions to develop both communicative and cultural competency. Systematically introduces the Japanese writing system (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji).

Intermediate Japanese I, II
V33.0249 Prerequisite: V33.0248 with a minimum grade of C-.
V33.0250 Prerequisite: V33.0249 with a minimum grade of C-.
4 points per term.
Continuing study of Japanese at the intermediate level. Stresses reading comprehension, spoken fluency, and composition, with materials organized around social and cultural topics; continues to introduce new Kanji characters.

Advanced Japanese I, II
V33.0252 Prerequisite: V33.0250 with a minimum grade of C+.
V33.0253 Prerequisite: V33.0252 with a minimum grade of C+.
4 points per term.
Continuing study of Japanese at the advanced level. Stresses reading comprehension, spoken fluency, and composition; uses original materials, such as newspaper/magazine articles, TV news, and video. Introduces additional Kanji characters. Advanced use of Japanese and character dictionaries.

Conversation & Comp in Japanese
V33.0262 Prerequisite: V33.0253 with a minimum grade of C+ and permission of instructor. 4 points per term
This course is meant to assist advanced students of Japanese language as they continue to develop their conversational and compositional skills.

Readings in Japanese Culture II
V33.0263 Prerequisite: V33.0253 with a minum grade of C+ and permission of the instructor. 4 points per term.
Designed to enhance advanced students’ Japanese proficiency through readings about, and discussions of, a variety of cultural and social topics in Japan. Uses original materials, such as newspapers, magazine articles, TV news, and video. A final individual research project—which comprises an oral presentation and a term paper in the target language—is an integral part of this pair of courses. The class is conducted entirely in Japanese.

Readings in Japanese Literature I, II
V33.0264 Prerequisite: V33.0253 with a minimum grade of C+ and permission from instructor.
V33.0265 Prerequisite: V33.0264 with a minimum grade of C+ and permission from instructor.
4 points per term.
Designed to engage students in critical readings of various genres of Japanese literature, such as classical texts, poetry, short stories, and novels, as well as literary critiques. The class is conducted entirely in Japanese.

Readings in Contemporary Japanese Writings
V33.0266. Prerequisite: V33.0253 or permission from the instructor. 4 points.
Close readings in contemporary Japanese writings in social commentaries, history and literature. Emphasizes furthering reading and writings skills, and to a lesser extent speaking and listening. Students develop further strategies for autonomous learning.

Readings in Modern Japanese Writings
V33.0267. Prerequisite: V33.0253 or permission from the instructor. 4 points.
This course is designed to further develop students’ proficiency in speaking, listening, writing and reading comprehension. Students will have opportunity to learn and practice a wider range of useful vocabulary and expressions with reinforcement of previously learned grammatical patterns and structures. Students will take an active role in the class through students-led discussion, speech and other presentations. The topics of the course materials include pieces from Japanese modern literature. Assigned readings will include pieces by Yasunari Kawabata, Soseki Natsume, Ogai Mori, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Akiko Yosano, etc.

Readings in Japanese for Proficiency
V33.0268. Prerequisite: By placement exam and permission from the instructor. 4 points.
This course will cover all grammatical structures, essential kanji characters (550+) that are introduced in Elementary and Intermediate Japanese courses. Intended for students with high level of oral-aural skills, the course is a self-paced self-study course leading to proficiency in reading and writing skill that will meet CAS foreign language requirement if completed satisfactorily. It will meet the pre-requisite requirement for enrollment (by permission) in Advanced Japanese courses. Enrollment for this course is only through Japanese Language Placement Test. Students who have taken any Japanese language course(s) at NYU are not eligible to enroll in this course.

Japanese Language & Structure in Mass Media
V33.0269. Prerequisite: V33.0249 with a minimum grade of C+ and permission from the instructor. 4 points.
This course will introduce students to various ways in which Japanese language shape and is shaped by mass media. Students will learn the dynamic challenges posed to the formal structure of the language (for instance, grammar) as it is practiced in multiple mediums such as television, film (including anime), and print culture (graphic novels, genre literature such as crime novels). The class will also address the practice of translation, for instance, the grammar of cinematic modes as juxtaposed against the grammar of literary language, the vernacular and so on.