Welcome to the IVC Japanese Department!
ようこそ！
The Japanese Department offers the following courses: Beginning Japanese (JA1/JA1H and JA2/JA2H), Intermediate Japanese (JA3 and JA4), and Intermediate Conversational Japanese (JA10). In addition to language courses, we offer two cultural classes: "Introduction to Japanese Culture" (JA21/JA21H) and "Japanese Anime and Manga" (JA23/JA23H), which are taught in English and explore various cultural aspects of Japan. These two courses are offered online during the regular semester and are very popular; students are encouraged to sign up early.
Students who seek to major in Japanese and receive an AA degree can complete all required courses at Irvine Valley College in two years by taking JA1 through JA4 and JA10 or JA21.
Our instructors teach Japanese communicatively, providing a fun and interactive learning experience. Our language classes are taught in Japanese, and students learn the Japanese writing system in the first few weeks of the Beginning Japanese JA1. Our emphasis is on speaking and understanding Japanese spoken by native speakers. Additionally, students taking IVC Japanese classes will learn about different cultural aspects, integral in any language learning.
We encourage students to use their developing Japanese to practice speaking with native speakers; students need not be grammatically perfect to communicate in Japanese. To enhance and widen the opportunity to speak to and hear native Japanese speakers, our instructors enlist native Japanese students to participate and assist in classroom activities. We also occasionally incorporate 'chat sessions' with Japanese volunteers during the class so that students can have opportunities to talk with native Japanese speakers.