Japanese Ii

The course, divided into three modules plus exercises with native speakers, aims to deepen vocabulary, expressions and morpho-syntactic elements of JLPT N2 level. In addition, students will develop advanced text comprehension skills and study the most frequent N2 kanji. They will also deepen their knowledge of the characteristics of business language in business contexts, as well as the linguistics and glottodidactics of Japanese.
Module 1: Japanese (upper-intermediate)
The first module will cover Units 1-12 of the textbook New Approach Japanese Pre-Advanced Course, which include medium-length written texts characterised by intermediate vocabulary and articulated morphosyntactic structures, grammar exercises, JLPT N2 level listening tests and bunkei of different types: topic (wo megutte, to ha, to iu mono ha, to itta, to ieba, ni sureba), time or situation (ue de, ni sai shite, irai, ni oite, soko de, kakeru, wo tsūjite, ni watatte, totan ni, ka no uchi ni, ka to omottara, shidai, no wa te kara no koto da, sue ni, tokoro, -ppanashi da), sequence (wo hajime, oyobi, yara, soretomo, mata ha, ippō de), limitation (nomi, koso, ni kagiru, ni kagiri, ni kagitte, ni kagirazu, wo towanai, wo towazu, ippō da), addition (mochiron, bakari denaku, bakari ka, tada, tadashi, nominarazu, shikamo, omake ni, sara ni, mottomo, nao), paraphrase (sunawachi, yō suru ni, kekkyoku, kōshite, sō iu wake de), cause and effect (koto kara, kekka, shitagatte, ijō ha, dake atte, dake ni, sore dake), opposition (ni shite mo, mono no, kuse ni, tokoro de) and others.
Module 2: Japanese to Italian translation
In the second module, students will try their hand at reading and translating into Italian newspaper articles on a variety of topics, from news to economics to politics, with the dual aim of deepening their linguistic-lexical knowledge of specialist areas and developing advanced translating skills to be applied to texts of medium to high length and difficulty. In particular, attention will be paid first of all to the correct understanding of the grammar and syntax used in the original text, and then to the rendering into the target language, which must be as precise and natural as possible. The translations carried out in class will be group work, with short glossaries prepared ad hoc, and under the teacher's guidance they will learn to identify the most appropriate reference materials based on text type and specialised language, while the homework assignments will be carried out independently with the help of dictionaries (paper or electronic), glossaries, grammars of usage, etc. Another passive competence learnt during this module concerns the awareness, which the students will acquire, regarding the discursive structure and the most suitable expressions according to the linguistic context.
Module 3: Japanese linguistics
In the third module, the main theoretical aspects of Japanese linguistics will be addressed, with a focus on phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. The aim is to provide students with solid basic skills in the field of Japanese language studies and glottodidactics, as well as to make them more aware of their own language skills, both theoretical and applied. The lessons, which are geared towards a concrete use of the notions learnt, are based on the theory set out in the textbook and will be conducted by means of practical examples for the application of the knowledge of the glottodidactics of Japanese acquired as they are taught. Students will thus acquire skills as language experts, also with a view to future language teaching.
Exercises with native speakers:
During exercises with native speakers, students will improve the four general language skills, i.e. reading comprehension, listening comprehension, written production and oral production. These lessons are an integral part of the course and will be delivered in Japanese, with the aim of immersing students in the language. In addition to concluding the units in the textbook J Bridge To Intermediate Japanese, students will be expected to independently study a list of JLPT N2 level kanji, learning not only how to write them, but also the readings and various vocabulary in which these characters occur. The textbooks Nihon wo hanasō and Mainichi no kikitori will also be used in class, with the aim of developing students' reading and listening comprehension skills to reach an advanced level of language proficiency.