When discussing the challenges of studying Japanese, more than a few people bring up kanji. It is common for people studying the language to feel some uncertainty about just how many kanji they should learn, or how useful any particular kanji will turn out to be.

There are many kanji characters, and it takes time to learn them. However, once you have made them your own, knowing kanji can be very useful, and will contribute to your understanding of Japanese and will help accelerate the speed with which the language can be learned. Learning kanji will also enhance your ability to reason and help you be both more expressive and creative. The use of one kanji will often lead to the use of another kanji and so help with building vocabulary.

There are people who lament that they ‘forget the kanji right away. ‘We like to tell these folks that’ Forgetting is a good thing. Only people who have forgotten a character can recall it. People who never knew a character cannot bring it back to mind.’ Escaping from the sense of helplessness in thoughts like ‘I’ll be forgetting it at any rate’ may in fact be a hidden key to success when it comes to learning kanji. It is our sincere hope that this class will prove useful as part of a process in which students transition from learning frequently used kanji to a level where the feeling is that one ‘couldn’t possibly forget’ a particular character that has been encountered many times.

JPN2311

Participants should already know about 800 kanji.

This course aims to help students build an advanced knowledge of kanji so they can understand and use 2,200 kanji and kanji vocabulary. 
Participants learn about 2,200 kanji and kanji words listed by frequency. To increase vocabulary, every class students take a reading test and, optionally, a writing test (240-640 words with 80 kanji). It is followed by the instructor lecturing on topics related to kanji, including the rules of Japanese kanji pronunciation, the rules of kanji transitive/intransitive verbs and passive/causative forms.

Textbook: Yasuyo TOKUHIRO, KANJI 2200 Listed according to Frequency and Familiarity, Sanseido Co., Ltd. (ISBN978-4-385-14074-2)

This course is intended to develop students' listening comprehension skills for longer audio segments and learn how to make simple academic presentations. The course designed to promote understanding of the way of basic presentations.

JPN2312 (Reference from Previous Offerings)

• Class materials are designed for lower-level intermediary students.
• Students are required to have finished Basic Japanese Courses.
• Please ensure that you can attend at least 80% of the classes before applying.

Approximate language level: JLPT N4 or higher.

Textbook:『留学生のためのアカデミック・ジャパニーズ聴解［中級］』スリーエーネットワーク (ISBN978-4-88319-641-8)

The aim of this course is to understand the mathematics for describing stochastic processes, like the Brownian motion in physics or the Black-Scholes model in economics. Other applications will be studied depending on the interest of the audience.

MAT2311

Basic knowledge on Calculus and Linear Algebra, as usually provided by 2 semesters of Calculus and 2 semesters of Linear Algebra.

Lectures available on Zoom and record available.

N/A