Basic Japanese Course, Volume 2

Author: Zhu Chunyue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-03-01
Features: This book is designed for first and second-year undergraduate students of Japanese major in universities. It consists of 4 volumes, with each volume intended for one semester (180–220 class hours) when taught at a rate of 10–12 hours per week. The features of this book are as follows: Before and during the writing process, we analyzed several major basic Japanese textbooks, both domestic and international, including our own university's textbook. We summarized the strengths and weaknesses of previous textbooks and strived to create a brand-new, comprehensive basic Japanese textbook tailored for adult learners and specifically designed for Chinese students learning Japanese. The book incorporates new considerations and designs in the following aspects:
1. Given that adult learners of Japanese often lack a Japanese-speaking environment, we adopted the teaching philosophy that has been highly successful in China, focusing primarily on teaching grammar systems while also appropriately addressing sentence patterns and communicative functions. This approach ensures students build a solid language foundation with strong "endurance."
2. Emphasis is placed on pronunciation training, with thorough guidance provided. Japanese pronunciation covers syllable sounds, word tones, compound word tones, pitch changes in verb conjugation forms, sentence stress, and intonation, among other aspects. The content is rich and highly practical. The book provides pronunciation guidance throughout all 4 volumes, every lesson.
3. In terms of the grammar system, we primarily referenced the grammar theory represented by Mr. Okada Yasuo from the Linguistics Research Society (Nihongo Kyōiku Gakka) of the Japan Educational Science Research Association. We also incorporated reasonable elements from other grammatical theories, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of Japanese grammar and a more refined system that benefits learners.
4. For grammar content, we mainly followed the "Teaching Syllabus for the Basic Stage of Japanese Majors in Higher Education Institutions" issued by the State Education Commission in 1990. However, in the arrangement, we made reasonable adjustments to the order of grammar content based on actual Japanese usage.
5. From the beginning, students are introduced to both narrative and conversational styles. In the conversational sections, we avoid the "textbook Japanese" style, balancing both plain and polite forms to help students master different expressions based on interpersonal relationships, bridging the gap between textbook language and real-life language.
6. The textbook covers a wide range of topics, with lively and engaging language. The passages are appropriately short and of moderate difficulty, balancing diversity, knowledge, and practicality.
7. Both the passages and conversational texts use standard notation, helping students develop an accurate understanding of the standard mixed writing system of Japanese characters (kanji + kana) from the start.
8. Considering the practical need for using computers, learners are required to master Romanized Japanese (romaji) as well.
9. Each lesson in the first two volumes includes "connecting words." This not only expands vocabulary but also serves as a categorized word list, making it convenient for users to look up similar words.
10. We consciously strengthened the learning of "loanwords" in the passages and exercises based on actual needs.
11. For ease of use, practical appendices are provided after the main text, including a pronunciation index, grammar index, connecting words index, and a master vocabulary list.
Organization and Use of This Volume
The overall design of this volume includes:
1. Writing and Usage Instructions
2. Table of Contents
3. Text
4. Pronunciation Index
5. Grammar Index
6. Connecting Words Index
7. Master Vocabulary List
Each lesson consists of 8 parts:
1. Lesson Focus
2. Text
3. Conversational Text
4. Vocabulary
5. Connecting Words
6. Pronunciation
7. Grammar
8. Exercises
According to our curriculum design, this book is intended for the "Intensive Reading" course for undergraduate Japanese majors, where the focus is primarily on the Japanese grammar system. Therefore, the conversational sections mainly provide a linguistic context for the grammar points in the text, while "communicative functions" are only partially reflected. The "Function-Notion" items specified in the 1990 edition of the "Teaching Syllabus for the Basic Stage of Japanese Majors in Higher Education Institutions" by the State Education Commission, we believe, can be fully addressed in the "Conversation" class, and we have already developed some corresponding materials (e.g., "Japanese Conversation," "Japanese Daily Conversation") for reference.
To ensure learners have an accurate and comprehensive understanding of Japanese writing forms, we use standard notation in the passages and conversations, while also including less common kanji forms (outside the "Common Kanji List") that are frequently used in practice in the vocabulary lists for reference. In actual use, the standard notation in the passages and conversations should be followed.
Since the grammar system of this book differs significantly from those in past textbooks, the grammar explanations are detailed to facilitate teaching. Instructors can select and adapt explanations based on students' needs.