For your reference, these are the recommended prerequisites for Japanese:
| IVC Course | Recommended Prerequisite |
| Japanese 1 or 1H | No prerequisite |
| Japanese 2 or 2H | IVC Japanese 1, IVC Japanese 1 Honors, or two years of high school Japanese |
| Japanese 3 | IVC Japanese 2 or 2H, three years of high school Japanese, or AP score of 3 or above |
| Japanese 4 | IVC Japanese 3, four years of high school Japanese, or AP score of 4 or above |
| Japanese 10 | IVC Japanese 2 or 2H, three years of high school Japanese, or AP score of 3 or above |
If you don’t meet the above prerequisites, and/or you prefer to assess your level on your own, please review the skills and classes below and choose the course that best fits your Japanese level (keep in mind that having a solid foundation in beginning Japanese will help you succeed in more advanced courses):
Japanese 2 is a good fit for you if you are comfortable with the tasks below:
- Read and write all the Hiragana and Katakana and approximately 45 Kanji characters.
- Use particles and conjugate verbs/adjectives/nouns correctly in long forms.
- Understand and speak using approximately 300 vocabulary words and communicate in formal (desu/masu) speech style on topics such as self-introduction, time/locations, shopping, daily activities, and personal preferences.
- Write paragraphs of approximately 400 characters using Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.
Japanese 3 and Japanese 10 are a good fit for you if you are comfortable with the tasks below:
- Read and write all the Hiragana and Katakana and approximately 130 Kanji characters.
- Use particles, te-forms, long forms, and short forms of verbs/adjectives/nouns.
- Understand and speak using approximately 700 vocabulary words and communicate in both formal (desu/masu) and informal speech styles on topics such as family, hobbies, vacations, and transportation.
- Write paragraphs of approximately 800 characters using Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.
Japanese 4 is a good fit for you if you are comfortable with the tasks below:
- Read and write all the Hiragana and Katakana and approximately 230 Kanji characters.
- Use particles, te-forms, long forms, and short forms of verbs/adjectives/nouns.
- Understand and speak using approximately 1100 vocabulary words and communicate in both formal (desu/masu) and informal speech styles on a wide variety of topics.
- Write paragraphs of approximately 1200 characters using Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana.
If you want to see the detailed topics (vocabulary, grammar, and culture) covered in each Japanese level, please visit the IVC schedule of classes, click on the “DETAILS” link on the far right, and at the bottom of the page, click on the first blue button “Topics Covered.”
If, after two weeks, you feel the course is too hard or too easy for you, please let your instructor know so you can discuss the possibility of changing the course level.
For further information, please contact the Japanese Department Coordinator: Takeshi Takakura