JAPANESE LANGUAGE COURSES:
Japanese (日本語, Nihongo) is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. Japanese has no clear genealogical relationship with Chinese, although it makes prevalent use of Chinese characters, or kanji (漢字), in its writing system, and a large portion of its vocabulary is borrowed from Chinese.
Study Japanese with EarthDiverse!
Our Introductory Japanese 101 course begins with a focus on learning hiragana and katakana scripts, writing and reading practice, and includes basic introductory grammar, vocabulary and conversation. Basic everyday vocabulary and expressions will be taught, always with a view to empowering learners so that they feel encouraged to build their own sentences and be able to make some simple conversation during our first Term. Distinctive aspects of the Japanese language will also be addressed, along with simple present and past forms of essential verbs in short sentences.
EarthDiverse currently offers the following Japanese language classes on a rotating and evolving basis, with new intakes of students in Japanese 101 beginning throughout the year, in Term 1 (February), Term 2 (early May) and again in Term 3 (July-August). 101 and 103 courses are usually offered in Terms 1, 2 & 3 each year, and 102 & 104 courses are offered in Terms 2 & 4 each year. If you have some elementary understanding, you may consider starting in a 102 or 103 course as well. When completing one 8-week course, each cohort can begin advancing to the next course in the series.
Please note that all Japanese courses are offered pending sufficient enrolment.
2023 Term 4 courses beginning in October 2023 are listed in bold below:
- Japanese 101: Introductory Japanese, Part 1 (offered in Terms 1 & 3)
- Japanese 102: Introductory Japanese, Part 2 (offered in Terms 3 & 4)
- Japanese 103: Introductory Japanese, Part 3 (offered in Term 1 & Term 3)
- Japanese 104: Introductory Japanese, Part 4 (offered in Term 2 & Term 4)
- Japanese 201: Intermediate Japanese, Part 1 (offered in Term 1 & Term 3)
- Japanese 202: Intermediate Japanese, Part 2 (offered in Term 2 & Term 4)
- Japanese 203: Intermediate Japanese, Part 3 (offered in Term 1 & Term 3)
- Japanese 204: Intermediate Japanese, Part 4 (offered in Term 2 & Term 4)
- Japanese 301: Intermediate Japanese, Part 5 (offered 2023 Term 1)
- Japanese 302: Intermediate Japanese, Part 6 (offered 2023 Term 2)
- Japanese 303: Intermediate Japanese, Part 7 (offered 2023 Term 3)
- Japanese 304: Intermediate Japanese, Part 8 (offered 2023 Term 4)
- Japanese 401: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (offered in 2023 Term 1)
- Japanese 402: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (offered in 2023 Term 2)
- Japanese 403: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (offered in 2023 Term 3)
- Japanese 404: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (offered in 2023 Term 4)
- Japanese 500: Conversational Japanese (coming soon!)
LOCATION: EarthDiverse Centre, 401 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton, on-line via Zoom, or through video recordings of our live-streamed sessions posted 1-2 days after each class.
DISTANCE-LEARNING OPTIONS: Our Japanese courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed classes are available via free Zoom software, or those unable to attend the date and time of the actual class sessions can watch the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace. These recorded sessions will be available soon after each class finishes so that you may watch the recorded video via any web-browser at your leisure. Your instructor will provide details on how to access your classes before your course begins.
COST PER PERSON PER TERM (8 classes):
- Waged: NZ$175 (includes GST + online registration fee)
- Unwaged (unemployed, students, seniors): NZ$150 (includes GST + online registration fee)
EarthDiverse offers the following Japanese language classes on a rotating basis:
JAPANESE COURSES OFFERED IN 2023 TERM 4 ARE:
- Introductory Japanese 104 (Thursdays beginning 19 Oct, 6:30-8:00pm)
- Intermediate Japanese 302 (Mondays beginning 16 Oct, 6:15-7:45pm)
- Intermediate Japanese 304 (Tuesdays beginning 17 Oct, 6:30-7:30pm)
- Japanese 404: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Mondays beginning 16 Oct, 8:00-9:00pm)
JAPANESE COURSES OFFERED IN 2024 TERM 1 ARE:
- Introductory Japanese 101 (date and time to be determined)
- Introductory Japanese 103 (date and time to be determined)
- Intermediate Japanese 201 (Thursdays beginning 15 Feb 2024, 6:30-8:00pm)
- Intermediate Japanese 303 (Mondays beginning 12 Feb 2024, 6:15-7:45pm)
- Advanced Japanese 401: (Tuesdays beginning 13 Feb 2024, 6:30-7:30pm)
- Japanese 501: Advanced Japanese for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Mondays beginning 12 Feb 2024 8:00-9:00pm)
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON EACH COURSE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE APPROPRIATE TILE BELOW:
Meet our Japanese language instructors:
Yurika Arai, MA
Yurika Arai is our Japanese instructor. She was born in Japan and has been living in Hamilton for nearly 30 years. She has both an M Phil (English) and a Masters Degree in Professional Studies. She taught Japanese at the University of Waikato for 15 years and currently works as an early childhood education teacher and a freelance translator. In 2022 Term 1 Yurika will also be teaching our new course in World Cinema on Japanese Anime.
Hidekazu Oka
Hidekazu Oka is a 25 year old originally born in Tokyo, Japan. Before he settled in New Zealand seven years ago, he lived in Singapore for two years, and Taiwan for five years. Hidekazu is currently a third year student at the University of Waikato, double-majoring in Mandarin and Mathematics as well as being a Mandarin class representative in his second year. At the moment, Hidekazu is planning to develop a career teaching Japanese and Mathematics at the secondary school level. In his spare time, Hidekazu enjoys watching motorcycle vlogs, while dreaming to own his own motorcycle again, as well as enjoying authentic Chinese foods.