Course Title: Elementary Japanese 1

 

Japanese House

 

Masato Kikuchi, Ph.D.

Georgia Institute of Technology

 

 

2011

 



The development of this text book was originally funded by NSEP grant
secured by Board of Regents, the University System of Georgia
and later supported by School of Modern Languages, Georgia Institute of Technology.

 

 

Acknowledgments

This textbook was not possible without the continuing support of all of my dedicated colleagues who supported me directly and indirectly at School of Modern Languages, Georgia Institute of Technology. I would like to thank Rick Sutton of BOR of USG who trusted Nattsu Kitamura and me with the initial overture of this collaborative project in 2002 and Phil McKnight, School Chair, whose continuous support has enabled me to continue this online course project. For content development, I especially would like to thank Satomi Suzuki and Kimiaki Yamaguchi for their numerous suggestions and constructive comments as the instructors who used this textbook in the Japanese courses. Some curriculum development, grammar presentations and hiragana/katakana mnemonic hints were initially designed by Nattsu Kitamura and subsequently modified by me. I also owe Rumiko Shinzato and Kyoko Masuda for their contribution in upper-level grammar notes and exercises and my other colleagues and numerous students who commented on this textbook. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my wife and daughter, Yuko and Yuka, who endured my irregular work hours and stood by me all this time in order to allow me to do what I wanted to do. Thank you.

To Readers

The "textbook" has changed its shape over time from the original modular format to be displayed on a limited 800 x 600 pixel computer screen to the current hybrid format that can be displayed on larger computer screens as well as printed on the letter-size paper. However, there still remain some unsolved issues. Since the content was originally designed to be displayed on the computer as part of the interactive online Japanese courses, many parts of the content contain audio-visual information (e.g., audio and video clips to play) and Flash animations that work interactively only with the user input. This kind of "active" information cannot be printed easily. The reader of this textbook is requested to go to the actual pages on the Web to appreciate the content to its fullest extent.

 


  Table of Contents  

 
Lesson Bullet Lesson 1: Greetings, Courtesy and Useful Expressions
Lesson Bullet Lesson 2: Japanese Writing System
Lesson Bullet Lesson 3: Meeting Others and Introducing Yourself
Lesson Bullet Lesson 4: Identifying Objects and People
Lesson Bullet Lesson 5: Locations of Objects and People
Lesson Bullet Lesson 6: Discussing Daily Activities
Lesson Bullet Kanji Index