I spent a year at Waseda, and I studied Japanese for 4 years at a university prior to my year abroad. One thing is vital: watch movies in class. You should have students study text for only a year or two, but from there, go straight to media. By watching drama, you get to watch, listen, and read simultaneously (because they display captions on the screen). For Japanese, culture is just a part of the language as the vocabulary and grammar. So, when the students have grasped the fundamentals of Japanese, throw them in front of the screen. It's the closest they can get to being in Japan without going...and it will give them a glimpse of what they're in for if they go. This is important because westerners have NO idea what it's like to live alongside the Japanese. None.
--My third-year professor would type out the scripts and we would go over about 20-second intervals of the film at a time. Great class.
And let's not turn this into a Japan-bashing post everyone. I mean, hey, I'd love to leash out a little myself, but this isn't the place. This guy obviously wants to improve western relations with Japan. I say more power to him.
http://www.forum.japantoday.com
There you go. Bash away on their forum.
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I agree. Employ some nihonjin and break off into discussion groups...or watch drama. That's the only way to learn the spoken language.
Agreed. Ever heard of http://forum.japantoday.com? Highly recommended.
I spent a year at Waseda, and I studied Japanese for 4 years at a university prior to my year abroad. One thing is vital: watch movies in class. You should have students study text for only a year or two, but from there, go straight to media. By watching drama, you get to watch, listen, and read simultaneously (because they display captions on the screen). For Japanese, culture is just a part of the language as the vocabulary and grammar. So, when the students have grasped the fundamentals of Japanese, throw them in front of the screen. It's the closest they can get to being in Japan without going...and it will give them a glimpse of what they're in for if they go. This is important because westerners have NO idea what it's like to live alongside the Japanese. None. --My third-year professor would type out the scripts and we would go over about 20-second intervals of the film at a time. Great class. And let's not turn this into a Japan-bashing post everyone. I mean, hey, I'd love to leash out a little myself, but this isn't the place. This guy obviously wants to improve western relations with Japan. I say more power to him. http://www.forum.japantoday.com There you go. Bash away on their forum.