This course is designed for students with Zero or little experience of the Japanese language before coming to Japan. I started teaching this course in 2018, and it has developed more and more over the years. At my high school, we always have at least 2 foreign students who fit the above criteria, and for those students, I teach them Introductory Japanese I and II through their 3 years at our school.
For my Intro to Japanese classes, we use the Genki Japanese books. They are college level books, but I think they aren't difficult to understand and are well structured for students to build their fundamental knowledge on the language while using it in everyday life.
The following materials are required for the course:
- Genki Japanese I textbook + workbook
- Kanji Look and Learn textbook + workbook
Intro to Japanese I will cover all contents of Genki I. Genki I is meant to take only a year to cover the book, but my class usually takes a year to go through lesson 6 and another 8 months to complete the book.
| Lesson Contents | Pages | Materials | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #0 | Culture Shock / Language Explanation | ||
| Greetings / Basic Words / Numbers / Time | Genki I p.18-31, 34-37 | Workbook I p.13-15 | |
| Hiragana | Genki I p.290-293 | Workbook I p.121-127 | |
| Flashcards / Writing Practice / Pronunciation Practice / Reading Writing Words | |||
| #1 | Grammar with です / Possessive の | Genki I p.38-57 | Workbook I p.16-21 |
| Previous Tests: 2022 Reading Writing / 2023 Writing / 2023 Reading | |||
| #2 | これ、それ、あれ / この、その、あの / ここ、そこ、あそこ / Prices / Negatives | Genki I p.58-83 | Workbook I p.25-31 |
| Previous Tests: 2022 | |||
| Katakana | Genki I p.294-297 | Workbook I p.128-132 | |
| Flashcards | |||
| #3 | Verbs: Present Positive and Negative / Particles / Sentence Structure | Genki I p.84-101 | Workbook I p.32-40 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2022 / 2023 L2+3 | |||
| Kanji: 一二三四五六七八九十百千万円時 | Genki I p.298-301 | Workbook I p.133-134 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words through L5 | |||
| #4 | 〜がある / Location Words / Verbs and です: Past Tense / More Particles, Time References | Genki I p.102-127 | Workbook I p.41-49 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2022 / 2022 Reading / 2022 Writing | |||
| Kanji: 日本人月火水木金土曜上下中半 | Genki I p.302-305 | Workbook I p.135-136 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words through L5 / Previous Tests: 2023 / 2023 v2 | |||
| #5 | Adjectives: Past and Present / Like 好き / Intro to Counting | Genki I p.128-145 | Workbook I p.50-58 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2022 / 2023 with Kanji / 2023 | |||
| Kanji: 山川元気天私今田女男見行食飲 Look and Learn #1: 口目 | Genki I p.306-311 Look and Learn p.2-7 | Workbook I p.137-138 Workbook L p.2-6 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2023 | |||
| #6 | て-form Basics / Please do ~てください / It's okay to 〜てもいいです / Must not 〜てはいけません / And with Adjectives / Because から | Genki I p.146-165 | Workbook I p.59-68 |
| Verb Conjugation Chart / Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2023 て-form L5 Review / 2023 て-form L5 Reading / 2023 / 2023 v2 | |||
| Kanji: 東西南北口出右左分先生大学外国 Look and Learn #2: 寺刀 | Genki I p.312-317 Look and Learn p.8-13 | Workbook I p.139-140 Workbook L p.7-12 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2023 | |||
| #7 | ている Present Continuous + Status / Possession Description / And with Verbs / Purpose of Going 〜に行く | Genki I p.166-185 | Workbook I p.69-77 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2023 | |||
| Kanji: 京子小会社父母高校毎語文帰入 Look and Learn #3-1: 工前 | Genki I p.318-322 Look and Learn p.14-16 | Workbook I p.141-142 Workbook L p.13-14 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2023 | |||
| #8 | Short Form (Present Tense) / Casual Speech / I think 〜と思います / Please don't 〜ないでください / I like to do 〜のが好き / Something, Not Anything 何か 何も | Genki I p.186-207 | Workbook I p.78-86 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2023 / 2023 v2 | |||
| Kanji: 員新聞作仕事電車休言読思次何 | Genki I p.323-327 | Workbook I p.143-144 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2023 | |||
| #9 | Short Form (Past Tense) / Qualifying Nouns with Sentences / Have not yet まだ〜ていません / Combining Sentences with because から | Genki I p.208-227 | Workbook I p.87-95 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2024 v1 / 2024 v2 / 2024 v3 / 2024 v4 | |||
| Kanji: 午後前名白雨書友間家話少古知来 Look and Learn #3-2, 4-1: 門力 | Genki I p.328-333 Look and Learn p.17-20 | Workbook I p.145-146 Workbook L p.15-19 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2024 / 2024 v2 | |||
| #10 | Comparisons with Two Items and Three or more Items / Red One 赤いの / Future Intentions つもり / Become 〜なる / Somewhere, Anywhere どこかに どこにも | Genki I p.228-249 | Workbook I p.96-104 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2024 / 2024 v2 | |||
| Kanji: 住正年売買町長道雪立自夜朝持 Look and Learn #4-2, 5-1: 去王米良 | Genki I p.334-339 Look and Learn p.21-28 | Workbook I p.147-148 Workbook L p.20-24 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words / Previous Tests: 2024 / 2024 v2 | |||
| #11 | Want to do 〜たい / I have done 〜ことがある / Inclusive And with Verbs 〜たり〜たりする and Nouns や | Genki I p.250-265 | Workbook I p.105-110 |
| Grammar Sheets / Previous Tests: 2024 / 2024 v2 | |||
| Kanji: 手紙好近明病院映画歌市所勉強有旅 Look and Learn #5-2: 耳待周週 | Genki I p.340-345 Look and Learn p.29-31 | Workbook I p.149-150 Workbook L p.25-27 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words Previous Tests: 2024 | |||
| #12 | んです / Too much すぎる / Would have been better ほうがいいです / Because ので / Must do なければいけません / でしょう | Genki I p.266-288 | Workbook I p.111-118 |
| Previous Tests: | |||
| Kanji: 昔々神早起牛使働連別度赤青色 Look and Learn #6: 安多広村 | Genki I p.346-350 Look and Learn p.32-39 | Workbook I p.151-152 Workbook L p.28-32 | |
| Dictionary Sheet / Kanji Words Previous Tests: 2024 | |||