M•W•R•F 10-10:50 am
MAK D-1-135

The following books are available at the university bookstore (though you probably already have them):

10%
10%
5 x 2% = 10%
5 x 8% = 40%
5%
5 x 1% = 5%
5 x 1% = 5%
5 x 1% = 5%
15%

Regular attendance and active participation are vital to successfully learning a language, and thus the “Participation” grade includes attendance, but does not mean simply showing up for class. Rather, you should come to class prepared and ready to make an active contribution. For every missed class, regardless of reason, your participation grade will drop, and missed tests and quizzes can not be made up unless you give advance notice.

Preparation for each class typically involves reading about any new grammar points in the textbook, looking over and listening to the audio files for the the indicated practice sections, learning any new vocabulary that appears in those practice sections, and completing the homework about that grammar point in the workbook. In other words, it is expected that you will attempt to learn the grammar, memorize the vocabulary, and complete the homework before we deal with that material in class, enabling us to use class time for active language use. You should never be encountering anything for the first time in the classroom. You may not have everything memorized, and your understanding of the material may not be complete prior to coming to class, but you should always complete and turn in the homework assignments to the best of your ability. After the homework is returned to you, you are allowed to redo the assignment to correct errors as many times as you wish, but only if you turned it in by the deadline. This means that even if you aren't able to understand the grammar when you learn it on your own, as long as you consistently turn it in on time you should be able to redo it later and get 100% credit for your homework. Assignments not turned in by the deadline will not be accepted and are worth no credit. Most homework comes directly from the workbook but there will occasionally be assignments from the textbook or using the LRC computers' DiLL interface.

There will be two weeks devoted to each lesson and each lesson will include a kanji/vocabulary quiz and a chapter test. Quizzes will take approximately the first 20 minutes of class and will typically be given on Monday of the second week of each lesson. Chapter tests will take the entire class period and will be given on the Monday following the chapter's completion, giving you the weekend to study. We will then begin the next chapter on Wednesday of that same week..

Instead of the group video project we did in the previous semester, this year each student will individually produce a "Culture Term Project" video using iMovie. You will choose a specific topic related to Japanese culture (a food, location, famous person, artistic or literary work, historical event, etc.), gather photos and other still images (not video) related to the topic, and use them to create a "Ken Burns" style mini-documentary with your voiceover in Japanese. The length should be three to five minutes, and deadlines for submitting concept, tentative script, etc. are due over the course of the semester as listed on the course schedule. Like last semester, you may choose to mix and match "Web assignments," "Kanji Dictionary assignments," and "Writing Assignments." Each consists of five separate asssignments worth 1% each, and you need only complete a total of ten assignments for full credit, but you may choose to do all of them for extra credit. Because they are not necessarily required, these deadlines are marked on the schedule with an asterisk (*). "Web assignments" will be posted on Blackboard, related to the content of either the main lesson or the "Reading/Writing" section, and will focus on accessing Japanese web sites in order to complete a specific task. There will be five of these assignments (one for each lesson) and they must be completed by the day of the exam for each lesson (Mondays). "Kanji Dictionary Assignments" are due on the same day you do your kanji homework, the first day we begin each new chapter (Wednesdays), and they will consist of looking up each kanji to identify its radical, additional kanji that have that radical, and compounds containing the character that are not listed in the book. "Writing Assignments" are based on the 書く練習 section of each lessons 読み書き編 and involve writing passages in Japanese using genkôyôshi (Japanese composition paper - fill approximately one full page). A genkôyôshi pattern to print out and guidelines for its use are available on Blackboard and writing assignments are due on the days we work on the Reading/Writing section in class (usually Fridays).

Thus, a typical two-week block looks something like this:

月曜日	水曜日	木曜日	金曜日
Previous chapter test Web assignment due 5pm	New Lesson Kanji Kanji assignment due	Grammar/Practice	Grammar/Practice
Kanji/Vocabulary Quiz Grammar/Practice	Grammar/Practice	Grammar/Practice	Reading/Writing Section Writing Assignment due

The Tutoring Center in the Student Services Building offers one hour of free one-on-one tutoring for all students, with tutors from previous years' Japanese classes. However, perhapts the greatest resource you have is your fellow students. You are strongly encouraged to collaborate with your classmates in practicing dialogues, doing homework assignments, studying for exams, etc. However, copying other students’ work, using students’ materials from previous years, or otherwise submitting the work of others as one’s own is plagiarism and will result in an automatic F for the course. If you are ever unsure whether outside help is permitted for any individual project, please ask.