[davey]

This course was basically a beginner's Japanese language class. It taught basic sentence structures, grammar and vocabulary. It also introduced you to some basic kanji characters. We had one hour of lecture a week, one hour of tutorial, and two hours of labs. In the lectures and tutorials, we were taught by the prof (Dr. Iwai) and in the labs, we had small group learning sessions with a TA. In tutorials, Dr. Iwai reviewed some of the stuff we learned and gave us short quizzes worth 5% of our mark. Personally, I felt that I learned more from my TA than from the lectures or tutorials. We had tests throughout the term, (oral and written) and an assignment. The difficulty of the course depends on how dedicated you are, and how well you can pick up languages. Some students struggled while others picked it up quickly. Overall, I'd say that Japanese is a somewhat difficult language to learn for an English speaker due to its unique syntax and alphabet, but noone had trouble pronoucing words because most sounds found in the Japanese language are also found in the English language.

Just a random note for any first years that want to get into this course for next year: I found that the course was full when I first got onto MUGSI (it fills up fast!!). So you may need to email an advisor from the faculty of humanities with your name and student number so that they can open you a spot. Thats what I ended up doing.

lol i wish i knew that earlier... i really wanted to take that course back in first year but oh well I don't think i will pursue that now.

I just wanted to say that I missed getting into the class for first year too but I managed to get into it for summer school no problem although it filled up within an hour I'm sure. So it is possible to get in.

So far it's really interesting! I have it for 3 hours, twice a week and the time just flies by. I did a lot of work before summer classes started though (memorizing hiragana and katakana for example) so I find it much easier than some other students who have never been exposed to Japanese before. My prof is soooo nice, Iwai-sensei. When I finish the course I'll edit this and write a full review.

Almost forgot to write a full review. lol

I finished the course and overall, it was great and I really enjoyed it.

TESTS: With each test the tests became longer but the time to do it remained the same so we are expected to read and comprehend faster throughout the class. The first one wasn't too bad but the second was deffinitely harder with the time constraint and the third test was the hardest. However, by the third test you get used to Iwai-sensei's test format which includes fill in the particle blanks, matching (the hardest part I found but I greatly improved by the third test), translation and multiple choice (the easiest).

EXAM: In my opinion, it was easier than the third test. We had 2 hours to do it and it was 5 and a half pages long. It involved all of the above mentioned parts plus a short story which we had to answer true or false questions on. The story given on the exam is given previously in class so there is PLENTY of time beforehand to basically memorize it. I found the 2 hours more than enough time to complete it (and I usually take the FULL time for every exam so far).

HOMEWORK: Very easy, however there is a lot of it and I know by the end of the year probably on half the class was handing it in. It's an easy 5% though and really, really helped me apply the material in preparation for the tests.

ASSIGNMENTS: Were done in class and usually fairly easy, they varied from dictation, to recognition, to reproduction vocabulary.

ORAL TEST: Agh, that was so stressful. We had to write a skit, memorize and present it (all in Japanese obviously). The memorizing was painful but some people got really creative and Iwai-sensei enjoyed that so don't be afraid to do something funny and different!

CLASS PARTICIPATION: Iwai-sensei will call you on randomly and it can be quite nerve racking if you don't like public speaking however you should get used to it for the class because we did a few oral presentations. Her calling randomly helped me keep up with the work though.

I think that covers most of it. Any questions, just PM me.

So it is possible to get in to this class even when it's full during course registration?

Originally Posted by changturkey

So it is possible to get in to this class even when it's full during course registration?

You can try to contact the department but I don't think you'd get a space. Just keep trying until the drop/add deadline, a lot of people change their minds or switch around their courses before school starts.

I took this class and overall quite enjoyable! Iwai-sensei was a great prof...

Tests: They are hard if you don't study the grammar, memorize the kanji and vocabulary. The first test was pretty short and easy to get a good mark. The second and third tests were longer and harder. I struggled through these ones but manage to get a good mark

Homework: the easiest part, it is all from the workbook provided when you buy the textbook. You hand them in every 2 weeks

Exams: they are easier than the test given in class. They are mostly multiple choice just to check how well you know your grammar

Class Participation: Iwai-sensei calls you out randomly to either read a passage or answer questions, so you have to be ready to participate.

Mini-quizes: they are done EVERY lecture before she starts the lesson. This is so you can keep up with the content and have a great understanding of the language. These quizzes are normally recognition and reproduction kanji, vocabulary and others. It is quite helpful for my part

Oral presentation: not my favourite part. You have to write and memorize (literary) all in Japanese. She deducts marks if you don't fully memorize your script, pronounce the words properly or take certain pauses.

Assignments: they can vary depending on the lesson she is teaching in class. When I took it I had to write a postcard to my TA, write new years card, and an advertisement (all in Japanese of course!)

She also did dictations near the end of the year and play kanji bingo which was quite fun.

does anyone know what the average marks were for this class recently?
I'm definitely interested in taking this course for the fun of it, but in the short term I need to be careful about my GPA, so is it possible to do well (10+) in this course?

It's an easy 11/12 if you just put some time in to it. Learn the Hiragana and Katana now, so that you'll have a much easier time for the first while. Mind you, with language courses, it's better to review daily than it is to cram right before a test; I easily got 95+ on exams with minimal studying because I just did a bit of Japanese everyday.

Originally Posted by ooburii

does anyone know what the average marks were for this class recently?
I'm definitely interested in taking this course for the fun of it, but in the short term I need to be careful about my GPA, so is it possible to do well (10+) in this course?

It is easy to get 10+ on this class (I have friends who do get those marks even on the 2nd year ones). As long as you review a little Japanese everyday such as kanji, vocabs, grammar and various other things, you will be fine (especially for the mini-quizzes). I agree with the above post, it's better to study for her tests earlier than the day before. Like I said, Iwai-sensei's tests are not exactly easy.