Clay Center Elementary School – JAPANESE II 1-2

Apr 2026 · 2nd Semester

In this course, students will be expected to build upon previously learned material. Students will learn and have lots of practice with verb and adjective conjugation, particles, and a wide range of new vocabulary words. Students will learn how to make suggestions. They will expand their knowledge of counters. Students will be introduced to the two existence verbs and will learn to use them correctly in simple location phrases. Students will learn the days of the month, research necessary Japanese forms of verbs, adjectives, and nouns, and learn kanji. They will be introduced to the plain (dictionary) form of verbs. Creating complex compound sentences is a goal in this course. Students will become familiar with the map of Japan, learning the kanji for all four directions, the four main islands, and Okinawa. Students will also be expected to recognize the kanji for major cities, learn essential facts about each, and be able to locate each on a map. Students will learn to use the present tense to describe what someone is doing.  Students will learn how to create more complex location phrases and will be expected to use the kanji for locations when writing in Japanese. Students will be given many opportunities to speak in the target language. Class will begin each day with a discussion over what they did the night before. Students will be expected to use complex rather than simple sentences. Students will learn about birthdays in Japan. They will be using the target language during class. Students will go in-depth about ailments/sickness, and they will also be able to have a proper phone conversation. Students will have contact with native speakers daily and will be required to ask/answer questions in the target language as much as possible. Students will be able to discuss what they plan on doing and what they are expected to do. They will learn about how Christmas is celebrated in Japan and about the most important Japanese holiday, New Year’s Day. Students will create and send traditional Japanese New Year’s cards to classmates. They will learn about Japanese religions and compare those to religions in the United States. Students will continue learning informal Japanese and will be encouraged to use it in conversations with their classmates. Students will create and give their own weather report. Students will learn how to compare two or more items and will ask/answer comparison questions orally in the target language. They will learn about Japanese department stores and delve into shopping terminology and grammatical concepts used in shopping. Students will learn to use noun modifiers and the potential forms of verbs. Students will read two novels during the year, including Memoirs of a Geisha and Lost Names. Students will answer discussion questions as they read, and each class will begin with a class discussion of the assigned reading.