JAPANESE LANGUAGE 1 MOD.2

This course falls within the core teachings of the "Japan" curriculum of the course "Languages, Cultures and Societies of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".
Its formative objectives fall within the area of language skills learning.
The objectives of the course are: to provide knowledge of elementary-level Japanese grammar; to provide basic skills for reading, writing and oral production in Japanese; to provide knowledge and skills for the metalinguistic analysis of the Japanese language and for the translation from Japanese into Italian.
The level that students should reach at the end of the course should be around an A1 level of the CEFR (between level N5 and N4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test).
This class is part of the Japanese language program; it builds on the skills acquired in the "Japanese language 1.1" class and prepares the students to continue with "Japanese language 2.1" in their second year.

1. Knowledge and understanding
- to know he grammatical structures of elementary-level Japanese
- to know elementary-level vocabulary
-to know the elementary-level wiring system: syllabaries (hiragana and katakana) and 361 Chinese characters (kanji) (162 in the first semester, 199 in the second semester)
- to know and understand the functioning of the grammatical structures of elementary-level Japanese
- to know and understand variations in the register and communication pragmatics of elementary-level Japanese
- to know and understand key concepts and the essential terminology required to describe in a scientific way the phenomena studied during the class

2. Applying knowledge and understanding:
- to know how to identify grammatical categories and their properties
- to demonstrate a general understanding of basic grammar structures
- to be able to describe constructions and grammatical phenomena studied during classes by correctly using the terminology and the basic tools of syntactic analysis
- to know how to interact in the communicative situations described by the A1 level of the CEFR
- to know how to understand and produce oral and written texts in agreement with the A1 level of the CEFR
- to be able to translate elementary-level written texts from Japanese into Italian, following the instructions provided during the course
- to be able to use the electronic dictionary and other translation tools

3. Making judgements:
- to be able to express elementary concepts and produce examples to support or refute them in Japanese
- to be able to autonomously produce translation choices on the basis of the indications provided during class
- to be able to critically test current myths and prejudices about the Japanese language (e.g. presumed untranslatability, opacity, etc.)

4. Communication:
- written and oral comprehension and production skills and oral interaction required by the A1 level of the CEFR
- to be able, during classes, to interact with one's peers, with the teacher and with the CELs in a critical and respectful way

5. Lifelong learning skills:
- to be able to take notes pertinently and effectively
- to be able to consult the texts and reference materials suggested in the course bibliography
- to be able to develop the skills acquired in the course to undertake higher studies

Having achieved (even without having passed its intermediate test) the learning results of the "Japanese language 1.1" class.
Knowledge of the basic categories of sentence analysis.

Elementary grammar notions, reading comprehension and translation exercises (30 hours: Katja Centonze);
Writing (kanji) MOD. 2A (30 hours: Utsumi Ayuko/Hiramatsu Maiko, surnames D-Z);
Oral production MOD. 2B (30 hours: Yasuda Midori, surnames D-Z);
Grammar exercises MOD. 2C (60 hours: Suzuki Akane/Mariko Aya, surnames D-Z);
Textbook exercises MOD. 2D (30 hours: Mariko Aya/Utsumi Ayuko, surnames D-Z).

Attendance, although not compulsory, is strongly recommended.
No additional readings are required for non-attending students.

Main textbook:
• Shin Bunka Shokyu Nihongo (vol. I), ed. italiana a cura di S. Dalla Chiesa, Venezia, Cafoscarina, 2004.

CEL Textbooks:
• Dispensa: "Kanji no mori", Venezia, Cafoscarina (2024/2025);
• Dispensa: "Fujisan", Venezia, Cafoscarina (2024/2025);
• Dispensa: "Kappa", Venezia, Cafoscarina (2024/2025);
• Dispensa: "Totoro" (Yasuda), Venezia, Cafoscarina (2024/2025)

Reference grammars. One of the following grammar books:
• Yoko Kubota, Grammatica di Giapponese Moderno, Venezia, Cafoscarina, 1989;
• Matilde Mastrangelo, Naoko Ozawa, Mariko Saito, Grammatica Giapponese (seconda edizione), Milano, Hoepli, 2016.

Suggested further readings:
• Makino Seichi, Michio Tsutsui, A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, The Japan Times, 1989
• Shin Shokyu Nihongo Lingua Giapponese, Corso introduttivo I, ed. italiana a cura di S. Dalla Chiesa, Venezia, Cafoscarina, 2005 (N.B. Versione elettronica in http://jplang.tufs.ac.jp/account/login );
• Carolina Negri, Andrea De Benedittis, Introduzione alla scrittura giapponese, Milano, Hoepli, 2015;
• Takako Toda, Giuseppe Pappalardo, Pronuncia e accento nella lingua giapponese. Teoria ed esercizi, Milano, Hoepli, 2020.


Suggested electronic dictionary:
model CASIO “XD-Z7400" (https://casio.jp/exword/products/XD-Z7400/ ) or older model from the series 7400 (ITA-JAP, JAP-ITA dictionary included; classical Japanese dictionary not included.)

or

model Casio “XD-SX4800" (https://casio.jp/exword/products/XD-SX4800/ ) or older from the series 4800 (classical Japanese dictionary included; ITA-JAP, JAP-ITA dictionary not included. An XS-SH17MC content card is required).

The course of Japanese language is held in two semesters.

At the end of the first semester there will be:
1. a writing and grammar test performed on the computer.
This test does not provide a numerical score, but only an "idoneità" judgment, required to take the second semester test.

At the end of the second semester there will be a final test consisting of:
1. a written test of kanji (20 readings and 40 writings) and grammar (14 close questions; 12 multiple choice; 2 sentences of Italian-Japanese translation) without the aid of the dictionary - 35 min;
2. a Japanese-to-Italian written translation with the help of the dictionary - 60 min;

3. an oral exam featuring: a reading comprehension test, questions on the grammar examined during the course, conversation and role play.
The final grade will be determined by the average of the 30/30 grades obtained in each of the three tests.

The 18 credits associated with this class will be achieved after passing the intermediate and final exam.
The "idoneità" achieved in part I (intermediate) will be valid until the completion of part II (final) by and no later than the January appello of the following year.
In case of failure to pass part II on the January appello, the student will have to take again the exam of the first part and will be able to do that starting from the second appello of January.

Frontal classes of grammar and translation.
Conversation in Japanese in small groups.
Study material (e.g. powerpoint presentations) are available on the moodle platform.

The students are strongly advised to take the "tutorato specialistico" that will be activated during the II semester.

written and oral