Intro to Japanese I

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
#1 Grammar with です / Possessive Genki I p.38-57 Workbook I p.16-21
#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
Katakana Genki I p.294-297 Workbook I p.128-132
#3 Verbs: Present Positive and Negative / Particles / Sentence Structure Genki I p.84-101 Workbook I p.32-40
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
#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
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
#5 Adjectives: Past and Present / Like 好き / Intro to Counting Genki I p.128-145 Workbook I p.50-58
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
#6 -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
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
#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
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
#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
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
#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
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
#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
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
#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
Genki I p.250-265 Workbook I p.105-110
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
#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
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