Vol.1 Haruichiban
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Getting Started I: Useful Daily Expressions
Objectives
At the end of this section, you will be able to:
- handle a variety of Japanese greetings successfully
- use body movements associated with greetings
- confirm the accuracy of information you have acquired
- become acquainted with your teacher and classmates and start building productive learning relationships with them
- enhance your listening skills by using various strategies such as guessing, monitoring, observing, and predicting
You will also learn:
- how to exchange greetings with others
- how to tell time, the date and the day of the week in Japanese
- how to follow the teacher’s instructions, asking questions if necessary
- about Japanese geography and the Japanese school calendar
- how to count from 1 to 1,000
- how to recognize katakana characters
Getting Started II: Simple Questions & Answers
Objectives
At the end of this section, you will be able to:
- handle a variety of Japanese simple questions and answers successfully
- better understand your teacher and classmates through interactive activities
- enhance your visualization skills
- express preferences
- construct and use mindmaps effectively to enhance your learning
- develop sets of useful categorical vocabulary
You will also learn:
- how to ask simple questions
- how to answer questions affirmatively
- how to describe colors, size and personalities
- about your own learning style
- about Japanese calligraphy, school subjects and Japanese events
- to recognize hiragana
Unit 1: Encounter
“Encounter.” Don’t be misguided by the not-so-peaceful nuance of this English word. In fact its Japanese equivalent, であい (deai), literally means “come forward and meet” and implies nothing hostile or difficult. On the contrary, to many Japanese this word caries the connotation of anticipation, hope, and even nostalgia. After all, when one looks back on one’s like, it is possible to recount at least a few deal that have had a significant impact on the way things have turned out. The often accidental and often incidental nature of deai makes such an occurrence all the more precious. All in all, deai may be one of the most fascinating aspect, of human life.
The two chapters in this unit revolve around deai. In Chapter 1, you will be right in the middle of deai, experiencing them firsthand. In Chapter2, on the other hand you will be facilitating deai for others. By the way, we hope your deai with Kisetsu will turn out to be a fruitful and memorable one.
Chapter 1: Meeting Someone for the First Time
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- exchange basic personal information with others
- understand and appreciate the mindset and feelings associated with a first meeting
- confirm information by repeating part of what was said and having the person who said it repeat it fully
- use guessing to enhance your communication
- read and write a New Year greeting card in Japanese
- count up to 10,000 and express ages and days of the year
You will also learn:
- how to affirm or deny information given to you
- how to connect two nouns with the particle no
- how to establish a topic with the particle wa
- how to use different modes of speech
- how to say your telephone number and grade
- how to develop conversation with ja
- how to write kana
- about the Japanese school system the Japanese New Year, and the zodiac year
Chapter 2: Planning a Party
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- handle successfully a variety of realistic situations involving decision making
- chair a class meeting and guide the class in making decisions
- participate in class meetings and cooperate with other participants in making decisions
- use hesitation noises effectively
- successfully handle a situation involving comparing things
- plan and talk about various school and teen activities
- obtain and disseminate information using basic sources written in kana
You will also learn:
- about the Japanese and American methods of decision making
- essential expressions for chairing a class meeting
- how to use basic question words
- how to compare two, three, or more items
- various ways of requesting something
- how to express dates, the time of day, and the day of the week
- how to count people
Unit 2: Awareness
The theme of this unit is awareness. Being aware here does not simply mean being knowledgeable about something or being conscious in a general sense. It requires a more active participation and involvement from you in the form of paying attention, monitoring and evaluating situations, seeking and making meanings and paths to further progress, realization, and understanding, as well as searching to problems.
The first chapter in this unit, Chapter 3, focuses on cultivating awareness of both yourself and others. This includes looking at your perception of yourself and others as well as others’ perception of you. In Chapter 4 the focus shifts to daily life. You will be comparing your daily activities with those of others. Cultural awareness is an important component of this chapter.
Chapter 3: Getting Better Acquainted
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- exchange basic personal information with others
- handle successfully a variety of situations in which you meet a new acquaintance again
- understand and appreciate the mindset and feelings associated with meeting a new acquaintance again
- establish your identity
- check your comprehension while listening or reading
- use conversation-tactics (analogies and attribution)
- prepare a self-introductory speech
- participate in an oral interview
You will also learn:
- how to ask simple personal questions using a polite prefix
- how to ask simple personal questions using interrogatives
- Japanese family terms and names
- words used to describe personality types
- how to use some basic particles
- how to ask questions and respond to requests in the classroom
- how to recognize 15 Chinese characters
- how to read a short composition written both horizontally and vertically
- how to enhance your memorization
Chapter 4: Planning a Japanese Culture Week
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- conduct basic communication by telephone
- indicate time, place, and frequency of action
- extend conversation with ja or jaa
- describe your daily activities
- check your comprehension while listening or reading
- understand basic sentence structure in Japanese
- plan a Japanese culture week by scheduling activities, conducting committee meetings, arranging speakers and presenters, reserving rooms and equipment, writing budgets and proposals, and making posters and flyers
You will also learn:
- basic Japanese verbs
- how to answer yes-no questions negatively
- how to use the verbs arimasu and masu to express existence as well as occurrence
- relative time expression
- about 15 kanji
- how to solve conflicts and problems associated with planning a Japanese culture week
