Beginning Japanese This course provides introductory teaching materials for spoken Japanese, and is intended for general use by English speakers. Special attention has been given both in the text and in the tapes to make this course as useful as possible for self-instruction. Although not developed by the Foreign Service Institute, this course follows the FSI model in every respect, with a method that focuses on guided imitation, and whose aim is an automatic ability to speak the language. It comes in two levels with the second continuing in the same format as the first. Level One comes with 15 tapes or 17 CDs and a book; Level Two with 16 tapes and a book.
Beginning Japanese - Course Structure - Pricing - Contents of: Japanese 1 - Japanese 2
This course provides introductory teaching materials for spoken Japanese, and is intended for general use by English speakers. Special attention has been given both in the text and in the tapes to make this course as useful as possible for self-instruction. It comes in two levels with the second continuing in the same format as the first. 15 tapes or 17 CDs and a book; Level Two with 16 tapes and a book.
Level One of Beginning Japanese contains Lessons 1 to 20, and Level Two contains Lessons 21 to 35 - all of which have the same basic pattern and involve the same procedures. Each lesson requires many hours of study, either in class if working with a teacher, or working with the audio recordings of the Japanese material if learning by oneself.
The method underlying these lessons is guided imitation, and the aim is automaticity. Language learning is over-learning. Through memorization of whole utterances, and substitution within and manipulation of these utterances, a student achieves the fluency and automaticity that are necessary for control of a language. Language learning involves acquiring a new set of habits, and these habits must become automatic. Just as the experienced driver performs the mechanics of driving unconsciously - turning on the engine, shifting gears, applying the brakes, etc. - and concentrates on where they are going, so the fluent speaker of a language is concerned with what they are saying rather than the mechanics of how they are saying it.
The student should note the following general suggestions and warnings:
Basic Dialogues Each of the lessons begins with a Basic Dialogue which forms the core of the lesson. Students control a lesson to the extent to which they have learned the dialogue by heart. Thorough memorization of the dialogue means thorough mastery of the text. Memorization is achieved by direct imitation of the tutor when a in class or by repeated use of audio recordings.
Some lessons contain Additional Vocabulary, at the end of the Basic Dialogues. The words in these sections are always to be drilled within an appropriate pattern sentence, never in isolation.
Basic Dialogues are presented with their English equivalents. Numbered utterances in the dialogues are basic sentences. New words or phrases occurring in a basic sentence for the first time are listed separately, immediately before the sentence, as breakdowns; they are indented and not numbered.
Following the Basic Dialogue are Notes on the Basic Dialogue, containing assorted information on specific sentences. The numbering of these notes corresponds to that of the sentences.
Grammar Notes Discussions of new patterns introduced in the Basic Dialogue are found in the Grammar Notes. These are to be read after the Basic Dialogue has been introduced, but before proceeding to the drills. In the Grammar Notes, the procedure has been to introduce only material which will be of immediate, practical use to a beginning student. No attempt is made to present the full scientific analysis of Japanese on which the lessons are based; rather, explanations are provided which will be useful within the framework of the Japanese material being studied.
a. Substitution Drills The recording (or tutor) gives a pattern sentence which the student repeats. Immediately after the recording gives a word or phrase (called a cue) which the student substitutes appropriately in the original sentence. It then follows immediately with a new cue. In more complicated substitution drills, there may be several substitution items (a compound' cue) for each new sentence; or the successive cues may have to be substituted in different parts of the sentence; or the cue may require changes in the pattern sentence. Substitution drills are printed in two columns, with English equivalents on the left and drill sentences with cues underlined on the right. Example (English substitution drill): Model Student Where did you put my book? Where did you put my book? pen - Where did you put my pen? dictionary - Where did you put my dictionary? In more complicated substitution drills, there may be several substitution items (a compound cue) for each new sentence; or the successive cues may have to be substituted in different parts of the sentence; or the cue may require changes in the pattern sentence; or the cue may be given in its citation form (i.e. the basic form that regularly occurs in a dictionary) and have to be changed in order to occur within the pattern sentence. Substitution drills whose cues occur in the same form in the pattern sentence are printed in two columns, with English equivalents on the left and drill sentences with cues underlined on the right. A drill that looks like this - 1. Please give me a cigarette. Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. 2. Please give me a match. Ma┑tti o kudasai. 3. Please give me a book. Ho┑ň o kudasai. etc. is to be drilled: Model Student Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. ma┑tti. Ma┑tti o kudasai. ho┑ň. Ho┑ň o kudasai. etc. When cues occur in their citation forms and must be changed by the student, they are given between virgules (//) immediately after the English equivalents on the left. A drill that looks like this - 1. Please wait here. Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. 2. Please study here. Ko┍ko de beňkyoo-site kudasa┑i. /benkyoo-suru/ 3. Please read here. Ko┍ko de yo┑ňde kudasai. /yo┑mu/ etc. is to be drilled: Model Student Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. beňkyoo-suru Ko┍ko de beňkyoo-site kudasa┑i. yo┑mu. Ko┍ko de yo┑ňde kudasai. b. Grammar Drills Here, on the basis of a model provided at the beginning of the drill, the student is required to perform parallel manipulation on a series of utterances. For example, he may be required to change each of the utterances to the corresponding negative, or the past tense, etc. Grammar Drills are printed in two columns, with the utterances on the left and the student's responses on the right. c. Response Drills On the basis of the model or directions occurring at the beginning of the drill, the student provides an exactly parallel response to a series of questions or remarks by the recording. Like Transformation Drills, Response Drills are printed in two columns, with the utterances on the left and the student's responses on the right, all with an English equivalent. In cases requiring a response cue this is given between punctuation marks immediately following the utterance. Model Student What did you buy? /a book/ I bought a book. What did you buy? /a pencil/ I bought a pencil. etc. d. Level Drill Here, the student is asked to change the utterances to a different level of speech - to a more formal level, to the informal level, etc. Again, this kind of drill is printed in two columns, with the utterance on the left and the student's equivalent on the right. e. Expansion Drills The usual kind of expansion drill in this text is a repetition drill which involves the buildup from short to long sentences. The drill begins with a short sentence and gradually adds words and phrases to form a long, complex sentence. At each stage, the student repeats what has been said. These drills are printed in two columns, with the successively longer Japanese sentences on the right and English equivalents on the left. In another kind of expansion drill, the student expands a pattern sentence with the cue provided by the tape. A model is provided at the beginning of the drill. For such drills, the pattern sentence and cue (marked off with virgules) are in the left column, and the student's responses in the right column. Drills are not meant to be grammatical puzzles for tricking the student; they are intended to develop fluency. The pace of all drills should be rapid. Students have mastered a drill only when they can provide the required oral responses promptly, fluently, and without reference to the textbook.
a. Substitution Drills The recording (or tutor) gives a pattern sentence which the student repeats. Immediately after the recording gives a word or phrase (called a cue) which the student substitutes appropriately in the original sentence. It then follows immediately with a new cue. In more complicated substitution drills, there may be several substitution items (a compound' cue) for each new sentence; or the successive cues may have to be substituted in different parts of the sentence; or the cue may require changes in the pattern sentence. Substitution drills are printed in two columns, with English equivalents on the left and drill sentences with cues underlined on the right.
Example (English substitution drill): Model Student Where did you put my book? Where did you put my book? pen - Where did you put my pen? dictionary - Where did you put my dictionary?
Substitution drills whose cues occur in the same form in the pattern sentence are printed in two columns, with English equivalents on the left and drill sentences with cues underlined on the right. A drill that looks like this -
1. Please give me a cigarette. Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. 2. Please give me a match. Ma┑tti o kudasai. 3. Please give me a book. Ho┑ň o kudasai. etc.
Model Student Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. Ta┍bako o kudasa┑i. ma┑tti. Ma┑tti o kudasai. ho┑ň. Ho┑ň o kudasai. etc.
1. Please wait here. Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. 2. Please study here. Ko┍ko de beňkyoo-site kudasa┑i. /benkyoo-suru/ 3. Please read here. Ko┍ko de yo┑ňde kudasai. /yo┑mu/ etc.
Model Student Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. Ko┍ko de ma┑tte kudasai. beňkyoo-suru Ko┍ko de beňkyoo-site kudasa┑i. yo┑mu. Ko┍ko de yo┑ňde kudasai.
b. Grammar Drills Here, on the basis of a model provided at the beginning of the drill, the student is required to perform parallel manipulation on a series of utterances. For example, he may be required to change each of the utterances to the corresponding negative, or the past tense, etc. Grammar Drills are printed in two columns, with the utterances on the left and the student's responses on the right.
c. Response Drills On the basis of the model or directions occurring at the beginning of the drill, the student provides an exactly parallel response to a series of questions or remarks by the recording. Like Transformation Drills, Response Drills are printed in two columns, with the utterances on the left and the student's responses on the right, all with an English equivalent. In cases requiring a response cue this is given between punctuation marks immediately following the utterance.
Model Student What did you buy? /a book/ I bought a book. What did you buy? /a pencil/ I bought a pencil. etc.
d. Level Drill Here, the student is asked to change the utterances to a different level of speech - to a more formal level, to the informal level, etc. Again, this kind of drill is printed in two columns, with the utterance on the left and the student's equivalent on the right.
e. Expansion Drills The usual kind of expansion drill in this text is a repetition drill which involves the buildup from short to long sentences. The drill begins with a short sentence and gradually adds words and phrases to form a long, complex sentence. At each stage, the student repeats what has been said. These drills are printed in two columns, with the successively longer Japanese sentences on the right and English equivalents on the left.
In another kind of expansion drill, the student expands a pattern sentence with the cue provided by the tape. A model is provided at the beginning of the drill. For such drills, the pattern sentence and cue (marked off with virgules) are in the left column, and the student's responses in the right column.
Drills are not meant to be grammatical puzzles for tricking the student; they are intended to develop fluency. The pace of all drills should be rapid. Students have mastered a drill only when they can provide the required oral responses promptly, fluently, and without reference to the textbook.
Supplement The supplement following the drills contains additional dialogues. This material is a good test of comprehension - but it must be heard at normal speed, and the students' books must be closed. It also provides a stimulus to conversation: students can ask and answer questions pertaining to the material and make up additional, similar conversations; they can use the English equivalents of the dialogues to reconstruct the original Japanese conversations, referring only to the English; and they can use the material as a basis for practicing interpreting.
Exercises The final section of each lesson contains suggestions for additional practice appropriate to each lesson. These exercises should be performed orally. Only the student who is able to do them fluently and accurately is ready to proceed to the next lesson.
Beginning Japanese Course This course provides introductory teaching materials for spoken Japanese, and is intended for general use by English speakers. Special attention has been given both in the text and in the tapes to make this course as useful as possible for self-instruction. It comes in two levels with the second continuing in the same format as the first. Level One comes with 15 tapes or 17 CDs and a book; Level Two with 16 tapes and a book. Level One - Cassette version - 15 tapes and a book $225 Level One - CD version - 17 CDs and a book $229 Level Two - Cassette version - 16 tapes and a book $299 Both levels - Cassette version $445
