JAPN10001: Japanese 1

Overall, a cool breadth subject if you're interested in familiarising yourself with Japanese culture and language basics. It's fast paced and maybe the effort required to keep up isn't worth it for some, but I thought it was. See my Japanese 2 review for more depth on all this stuff.

Lectures: Lectures are okay if you have read the week's chapter beforehand because you can follow along and they're only one a week. You don't really learn anything in the lectures though, all the learning takes place in the classes and from the textbook and lectures are pretty much just notifications.

Seminars: These are hard and great, if you have a good sensei. I was stuck with a useless writing sensei, so my kanji vocab and reading skills we're eh by the end, and we missed a lot of grammar subtleties that other classed were shown.
I recommend trying to work ahead and be familiar with the week's vocab and grammar before coming in to each seminar, so you're not lost.

Written tests: These are weird, you get a sheet of paper and the teacher starts a stop watch and you have to translate, read, write kanji and all sorts of stuff really fast. Then there's a dictation section which is equally fast paced. Be prepared to drop marks for missing strokes, but if you learn the kanji and vocab before the day you're set.

Oral tests: Most dreaded assessment for me. I'm not as strong a speaker as writer in japanese so these were stressful. The first one is in a pair so if you get a partner who isn't lazy, it's not a problem. Just get up a google docs and practice a few times together etc.
The solo one was much harder. We had to write and memorise an essay, in japanese. The topic this year was public transport.
You need to memorise the whole essay in japanese as you're not allowed any prompts during the recitation. Make sure you include some grammar-rich sentences and that your speech is fluent, which is possible with enough practice! I wish I practiced more.

Final essay: The essay theme is actually the same theme as the second oral, and the idea is that your response for both is more or less the same. There's a week and a half to write up a good copy after the oral. No problems here.

The Exam: the 2h exam was made up of a mix of multiple choice questions, true/false sections involving questions or text in japanese and the other in english, sentence/response matching exercises (hardest part in my opinion), a kanji test and a very very guided letter composition which is simple translating.

Fortunately the only vocab and kanji you need are the ones in the vocab and kanji pages of the book from chapters 1-6. Unfortunately there are a few rogue words in the exam that aren't on the lists but you can get around them and figure out the answers anyway.
The Department: Okay, the lecturer pretty much doesn't respond to emails. If you need anything from him, tough luck. If it's language related, best to email/ask a seminar sensei in class. The LMS has all lecture notes and course information in office file formats and doesn't use PDF. I wrote very angrily about this in the SES and hopefully they change for next year but I wouldn't count on it. Marks are uploaded with a huge delay and sometimes not at all. You get your writing tasks back the week after, with the marks on the paper, but don't expect info on how you went on the final oral and essay until after the exam/if at all.

Jun Ohashi

None, and no sample exams, see comments.

3 Out of 5

Genki I Textbook and Workbook, high recommended! Should have them from Japanese 1. They are used heavily in classes and exam texts are based on the reading practice in the kanji section of the textbook.

1h lecture + 1.5h speaking class + 1.5h writing class. 80% Attendance to the classes (but not the lecture) is a hurdle requirement.
Beyond this, be prepared to put in a few hours a week to keep on top of the vocabulary and kanji that you have to memorise to keep up! I made a heap of quizlet lists based closely on the textbook/required vocab, you can use mine or make your own. Note mine also has the stuff for Japanese 2.

2014 Semester 1

86 (H1)