WiSe 2020/2021 Japanisch 1, Gruppe 3 (Y.

Takahashi)

1. Goals of the Module P1 Japanisch 1 course

(1) To be able to read and write fluently approximately 200 basic Kanji (Chinese characters)
as well as all Hiragana and Katakana
(2) To be able to comprehend texts modified for learners at elementary level
(3) To be able to hold conversations about university life and familiar topics
(4) To be able to write short texts about university life and familiar topics
(5) To be able to exchange greetings appropriate to various everyday situation
(6) To understand the basic system of the Japanese language
(7) To know how learning Japanese (as a Japanology student) functions for you

2. Office hours: on an appointment basis per Email

3. Important notices:
1) Check the website of the Japan-Zentrum regularly.
2) Handouts can be found in the LSF. The password to open PDF files is:

4. Schedule and goals of each week

! Note: Some lessons are brought forward. They are marked in bold type with box.
Week Date Lesson Other contents Goals of the week
3. Nov. 1 Orientation □ I can read sentences written in Hiragana.
Numbers 0-10 □ I can exchange basic greetings.[1]
□ I can count numbers up to 100.[1]
4. Nov. 1 Hiragana special readings □ I can introduce myself.[1]
1
□ I can get my classmates' information correctly
through their self-introduction.[1]
5. Nov. 1 Numbers 11-100
□ I can ask and confirm information using affirmative,
negative and interrogative predicates.[1]
10. Nov. 2 □ I can read words written in Katakana.
□ I can use demonstratives.[2]
2 11. Nov. 2 □ I can talk about owner of and content of various
items.[2]
12. Nov. 2/3 Numbers 101-10,000 □ I can talk about price of various items.[3]
17. Nov. 3 □ I can read sentences fluently.
□ I can talk about the current location/position of
3 18. Nov. 3 Days and days of the week things/people.[3]
19. Nov. 4 □ I can talk about time and time duration.[4]
24. Nov. 4 Dates □ I can type Japanese fluently.
□ I can talk about what I usually do, what I am going
25. Nov. 5 to do in the near future and what I did lately.[4]
4
□ I can talk about dates (i.e. days, months, years).[5]
26. Nov. 5 □ I can talk about commuting, visiting family or
friends, excursions and trips.[5]
1. Dec. 6 □ I can talk about various daily activities.[6]
□ I can invite someone to do something together.[6]
5 2. Dec. 6 □ I can accept or decline invitation politely.[6]
□ I can ask and provide the meaning of a word by
giving its translation.[7]
3. Dec. 7 Family members
8. Dec. 7 □ I can handwrite Hiragana and Katakana
fluently.
9. Dec. 14 Classification of verbs; TE- □ I can use verb sentences with two objects.[7]
6 Form; V てください □ I can talk about giving and receiving things.[7]
□ I can ask, offer or instruct someone to do
10. Dec. 14 something.[14]
□ I can react properly to request, offer or
instruction.[14]

1
 15. Dec. 8 □ I can ask and describe how an item/person/situation
7 16. Dec. 8 is like.[8]

17. Dec. 8/9

22. Dec. 9 □ I can talk about preferences, skills, knowledge,
belongings of mine and others.[9]
□ I can state reasons.[9]
23. Dec. 12 Past tense of adjective and □ I can describe past situation.[12]
8 noun predicates □ I can describe how I felt in a specific situation.[12]
□ I can write diary.[12]
Winter holiday
7. Jan. 14 V ています □ I can talk about life (living place, family, ccupation,
12. Jan. hobby and so on).[14,15]
15
□ I can write a letter to introduce myself.[14,15]
9 13. Jan. 15 □ I can ask for and give permission.[15]
□ I can describe a sequence of activities in one
14. Jan. 16 sentence.[16]
19. Jan. 16 □ I can describe the sequential order of activities
clearly.[16]
□ I can give multiple comments on things/people in
10 20. Jan. 10 one sentence.[16]
□ I can more precisely talk about where things/people
21. Jan. 10/11
are now (compared with the week 3).[10]
26. Jan. 11 □ I can count various things using proper suffixes.[11]
□ I can ask and describe how often one does a specific
27. Jan. 17 activity.[11]
11 □ I can ask or instruct someone not to do
something.[17]
28. Jan. 17 □ I can talk about what people have to do.[17]
□ I can talk about what people don't have to do.[17]
2. Feb. 17 □ I can compare people/things based on various
12 3. Feb. 12 scales.[12]
4. Feb. 12
9. Feb. 13 □ I can talk about what I want and what I want to
13 10. Feb. 13 do.[13]
11. Feb. Review □ I can state why I go/went to a specific place.[13]
Exams:On the week from 15 February 2021. Exam registration: 18. - 29. January 2021
! Detail will be given on the website. via LSF

6. Useful information on learning Japanese

General Information on the Japanese language

Introduction part of the grammar book (Minna No Nihongo 1, Übersetzungen &
Grammatikalische Erklärungen, pages 2-9) is a must-read!
* If you have not yet learned Hiragana & Katakana, just read the pages 2 & 3; then proceed to
the following pages after you master the reading of these Japanese characters.

Practice sheet generator

Kana Practice Sheet Generator http://www.nmhq.net/kpaper/
You can make your own practice sheet here.

Portal site of online resources and apps

“Nihongo E Na” http://nihongo-e-na.com/
Collection of useful websites and tools for learners of Japanese.

2
7. Notes on Romanized transcription of Japanese

(1) Romanized transcription is sometimes quite misleading.1 So, we strongly recommend

that you learn the actual sound of each syllable of Japanese from the teacher or the model in
CD or apps. This is also the reason why you learn Hiragana and Katakana from the very
beginning of the 1. semester and the teacher will stop using Romanized transcription as early
as possible.

(2) You have to know the following conventions so that you will not be misguided.

① Consonant "R" is not "R" like in German nor in English at all. It is rather similar to
"L" of German, like when you pronounce "London".

② In Japanese, the length of vowel sounds are very important.2 In order to denote long
vowel sounds there are various methods as follows.

Vowel Vowel IME

(short) (long)
a ā / aa aa
i ī / ii ii
u ū / uu uu
e ē / ee / *ei *ei / *ee
o ō / oo / *ou *ou / *oo
* It depends on the Japanese spelling of the word.3

③ "N" can denote [n], [m] and [ng].4

Eg. 1) "Shinbun" [shi][m][bu][n] newspaper

Eg. 2) "Denki" [de][ng][ki] light / electricity

④ Double consonant5 denotes one-syllable-long pause as follows.

Eg. 1) "Otto" [o][ ][to] (3 syllables) husband

→ compare with "Oto" [o][to] (2 syllables) sound
Eg. 2) "Zasshi" [za][ ][shi] (3 syllables) magazine, journal

⑤ In Japanese, "Linking" in pronunciation is quite rare. So, if you see a blank space,
minus sign (-) or apostrophe (') between phrases, pronounce them separately.

Eg. 1) "Hon o kau" [ho][n][o][ka][u] to buy book

Eg. 2) "Sen-en" [se][n][e][n] 1000 yen
Eg. 3) "Isha ja'arimasen" [i][sha][ja][a][ri][ma][se][n] (I'm not;She/He is not) a doctor.

⑥ Special notices for German-speakers: Note the sounds of "W", "S" and "Z." Pronounce
these consonants not in German way, but in English way.

1
For the detail of Romanized transcription, see section 1 on page 3 of the grammar book.
2
See section 2 on page 4, ibid.
3
For the detail, see note 1 of the section 2. ibid. You will learn this topic anyway on Week 2.
4
See section 3 on page 4, ibid.
5
See section 4 on page 5, ibid.
3