Nihongo Web: Online Japanese
The Nihongo Web Online Japanese course consists of 3 levels: JA 101, 102, and 201. These courses are equivalent to college semesters, or high school academic years or blocks. In other words, college credit students will use one course to fill one semester requirement of Japanese (so we have 3 semesters total), and high school students may use each course to fit their school's situation, taking up to 6 months to finish. We are stricter on the time alloted college credit students. They must complete a course within the term allotment (Fall or Spring). High school students enrolling for dual college/high school credit must enroll in the 903 sections only, and they may also complete the courses according to their school schedules. You will need a permit to get in from our department. The minimum completion time for either high school or college credit is 8 weeks. Please be aware that tutoring is not available in the summer, and summer term college credit courses are not available for enrollment. High school students may enroll in the summer but an instructor will not be available mid June through mid August.
The curriculum is based on the 2009 second edition of the Nakama textbook by Hatasa, Hatasa and Makino. Instructions on ordering the book and workbook are included in the Information link or in the eLearning site which you will have access to once you have enrolled. We will cover the same material in Nihongo Web that the University of Alabama covers, so if you decide to come to UA you will be on track with our classroom Japanese courses. If you don't intend to come to UA, many other universities use Nakama as well. We will cover:
If you feel you can skip into 102 or 201, you must take a placement exam first anyway if you have not received a formal grade from another educational institution using the same curriculum. College credit students must receive a C- or higher grade to go into the next level. You may repeat a course (but you will have to pay tuition again) if you score lower than a C- in it. You CANNOT take 102 or above if you cannot expertly read/write hiragana, katakana, or the kanji as listed in the Nakama curriculum. If you are enrolling for college credit and do not have the equivalent of JA 101/102 you will need a permit to enroll from the instructor before you can enroll through MyBama.
Nihongo Web is different from classroom teaching because you will be privately tutored instead of group tutored. You will be talking one-on-one with Japanese tutors who can help you with your special situation and go at your pace. This is what makes our kind of online teaching superior to large classroom teaching, or using programs like Rosetta Stone. It doesn't work if you never contact us for tutoring, however. Most students benefit from at least one intense session a week, and two is optimum. We do ask that you prepare in advance by using the Nakama audio files to learn vocabulary, go through the Chapter PowerPoints and other online supplementary materials, and carefully read the excellent grammar explanations in your textbook BEFORE contacting us for tutoring so we don't have to waste valuable tutoring time drilling words. Like our campus students, you are responsible for learning the words and reading the grammar points before "class." What the tutors will do is help you use what you have learned to actually communicate in Japanese. We hold ALL of our Japanese language students at UA (including our distance education students) to a very high standard.
Once you enroll and have access to the Blackboard (WebCT) eLearning site you will find your syllabus, password to the restricted areas of Nihongo Web, our Instant Messenger user names (we have Windows Live, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and Skype), detailed Lesson Plan with Grade Record Sheet, an online Grade Book to check your scores online, a Discussion Forum to post assignments and chat with other students, and of course all the study materials you need.