Courses

We offer courses for children, youth, and adults, payable on registration day or within a few weeks later.  Details are listed below, including an overview of the curriculum and the text books used.  All the courses are given every Saturday morning in two semesters, the first one starting in September and the last one starting in January with the school year finishing in May.  Summer classes are only given by popular demand.  For a detailed agenda of the school, consult our calendar.

Courses for children: Japanese as a heritage language

  • CH-1 – Children's Kindergarten (ages 4 to 6).
  • CH-2 – Children's grades 1 to 2 (ages 7 to 8).  Using the text book from the Ministry of Education in Japan.
  • CH-3 – Children's grades 3 to 4 (ages 9 to 12).  Using the text book from the Ministry of Education in Japan.
  • CH-4 – Children's grades 5 to 6 (ages 13 and up).

Courses for children and youth: Japanese as a foreign language

  • CF-2 – Children (ages 7 to 12).
  • Youth 1 – Youth (ages 13 to 18).  Beginner level instruction.  Using text book "Genki 1" (The Japan Times, ISBN 4-7890-0963-7).
  • Youth 2 – Youth (ages 13 to 18).  Intermediate level instruction.  Using text book "Genki 2" (The Japan Times).

Adult classes

  • Beginner 1 – Introduces basic grammar, vocabulary, and Japanese hiragana and katakana scripts.  Using text book "Japanese for Busy People 1" (Kodansha International, ISBN 4-7700-3008-8).
  • Beginner 2 – Same text book used than Beginner 1.
  • Intermediate 1 – Using text book "Japanese for Busy People 2" (Kodansha International, ISBN 4-7700-3010-x).
  • Intermediate 2 – Uses text book “Japanese for Busy People 3” (Kodansha International, ISBN 4-7700-3011-8).
  • Advanced 1 – Focus on acquiring skills required to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, levels 4 & 3.  Including ability to recognize and read 500 kanji.
  • Advanced 2 – Focus on acquiring skills required to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, levels 2 & 1.  Including ability to recognize and read 1200 kanji.

Summer classes

These classes are only given by popular demand and are usually held at a location different than the fall school year.  We assess their feasibility towards the end of the second semester ending in May and we decide to which levels and which age groups the classes will be the most appropriate to. The summer classes are offered for adult students only. Once the decision is made to give summer classes, we will inform the students and the public at school and via our Web site's front page.