Beginner's Guide to Japanese III

Beginner's Guide to Japanese III (BGJ3) will take students through even more essentials of speaking and writing Japanese! It is highly recommended that you take the previous two classes first, or at the very least are familiar with all of the topics covered in them.

***ABOUT***
As always, this course will be broken up into ten sessions that build off of each other, so it is important to not miss class, or to reach out to catch up if you do. The BGJ series is unique because it focuses on teaching students structures and patterns, rather than just having them memorize set phrases. Also, rather than focusing on just one topic, for example verbs, for eight weeks, I teach little important topics that come together and help students speak more complex sentences. I also make time during class for students to practice speaking and conversing with each other!

***NEW WITH BGJ3***
I've added another kind of lesson to the class: role plays! Using all the grammar they've learned, students pair up to have conversations and/or "act" out common situations they might find themselves in in Japan. This class includes three role plays.

***CURRICULUM***
We will cover the following topics each week:
　第1週
　　Review of BGJ II
　　Furigana and Okurigana
　　Onyomi and Kunyomi
　　は in Yes/No Questions
　第2週
　　から and まで
　　ましょう and ましょうか
　　い and な Adjectives
　第3週
　　Comparison Between Two Items
　　Negative い and な Adjectives
　　どうですか
　第4週
　　Role Play: At a Store
　　Past Tense い and な Adjectives
　　Negative Past Tense い and な Adjectives
　　ほしい
　第5週
　　て form of い and な Adjectives
　　どんな
　第6週
　　Role Play: What Kind Of...
　　の Adjectives
　　ている Form
　第7週
　　Counters in Japanese
　　Counting Things (つ) and People (人)
　　~をください
　　~をおねがいします
　　どうぞ
　第8週
　　The Particle と
　　まだ~ていません
　　Because with から
　第9週
　　Role Play: At a Restaurant
　　Short Past Tense （～た Form）
　第10週
　　Final Project
Some topics may bleed into other weeks.

***KANJI***
Students will also learn the following 40 kanji: 子山川田中、目見言行食、大小早高長、一二三四五、六七八九十、飲来百円分、名前立語、火水土気、上下。

***IN CLASS***
For following along in class, I will provide printable worksheets. It is important to pay attention to the classroom page and have these available before each session. Students may also follow along in a notebook if printing proves troublesome. 

***AFTER CLASS***
I try to make class fun, but learning a language requires dedication on the student's part. I really do want my students to be able to learn the concepts and have them stick, so there will be homework for practice after almost every single session. Each homework assignment should take 15-45 minutes. On the final day, the final project will be to write a skit in Japanese using all that has been learned. 
Students will also be encouraged to remember about 10 vocabulary words each week. We will of course cover them in class, but memorization is something that takes self drive. In the end, this is an additional 20 minutes, give or take, outside of class each week.


The students that do best in BGJ are the hardworking students looking for a challenge, fueled by a passion for language learning. Students that don't do homework or study outside of class will quickly fall behind.

Feel free to message me with any other questions!