Japanese Course

Contents overview:

Level 1: Foundations of the Language

At the beginning stage, learners focus on mastering hiragana and katakana, including all standard characters, diacritics like dakuten and handakuten, and smaller kana used in combinations (such as for yōon sounds). Common loanword patterns in katakana are also introduced.

Basic greetings such as “Good morning,” “Hello,” “Good evening,” and “Good night” are covered, along with simple self-introduction phrases—for example, how to say your name, where you're from, and your age.

Students learn how to count from 1 to 100, including basic counting for objects, people, and age. A variety of common nouns (like “book,” “student,” and “school”) are introduced, along with essential particles such as は, が, の, を, に, へ, and と, each used to mark topics, subjects, possession, direction, and more.

Basic i-adjectives (like “big,” “small,” “cheap,” “good,” and “bad”) and polite-form verbs (e.g., to eat, to drink, to go, to come, to do, to see, and to listen) are introduced. Students also begin asking simple questions using 〜か, and learn demonstratives such as これ, それ, and あれ.

Level 2: Basic Sentence Building

At this level, learners are introduced to all of the N5-level kanji, around 100 in total, and start to use more particles in context, such as で, から, まで, も, and others.

The focus shifts to verb conjugations, especially in the masu-form (covering both present and past, affirmative and negative). The te-form becomes essential for connecting actions, making polite requests (〜てください), expressing ongoing actions (〜ています), granting permission (〜てもいいです), or setting prohibitions (〜てはいけません).

Students also learn the nai-form (plain negative) and plain-form verbs in both past and present. Adjective conjugations—for both i-adjectives and na-adjectives—are taught in full (affirmative, negative, past, and present).

Other key topics include how to compare two things (AはBより〜です, AとBとどちらが〜ですか), how to explain reasons (〜から), and how to express desire (〜たいです).

Level 3: Practical Use and Communication

Learners now begin studying all N4-level kanji, bringing their total kanji knowledge to around 300 characters. They develop the ability to express giving and receiving actions in more nuanced ways, such as 〜てあげます, 〜てくれます, and 〜てもらいます.

The grammar expands to include ability expressions (〜ことができます), necessity and obligation (〜なければなりません, 〜なくてもいいです), and requests/suggestions (〜てくれますか, 〜ましょうか).

They begin to understand the distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs (e.g., 開ける/開く), and explore potential forms that express ability (e.g., 読めます, 泳げます).

More complex grammatical structures are introduced, such as conditional forms (〜たら, 〜なら, 〜ば), giving advice (〜たほうがいいです), reporting hearsay (〜そうです), and showing probability or uncertainty (〜でしょう, 〜かもしれません). Students also learn how to talk about past experiences (〜たことがあります) and trying something (〜てみます).

Level 4: Intermediate Grammar and Nuance

By this stage, students are reading and writing N3-level kanji, totaling about 650 characters. They explore complex conditionals like 〜と and revisit 〜なら in new contexts.

Giving and receiving becomes more nuanced with honorific forms such as 〜て差し上げます, 〜ていただきます, and 〜てくださいます. Learners are introduced to basic honorific and humble language—for example, いらっしゃいます (honorific “to be”), 申します (humble “to say”), and いたします (humble “to do”).

New grammatical forms include the causative (〜させます) and passive voice, especially for indirect or emotional effects (e.g., 〜られて困る). Learners continue working with advanced verb pairs (e.g., 増やす/増える) and begin using expressions like 〜ように to describe purpose or result.

Other constructions express degree (〜すぎる, 〜やすい, 〜にくい), appearance (〜ようです, 〜みたいです), listing multiple reasons (〜し〜し), and talking about conditions with 〜限り. They also learn to express doing something without another action (〜ないで, 〜ずに).

Level 5: Advanced Grammar and Abstract Thinking

This level covers all N2 kanji, expanding the total to around 1,000 characters. Learners refine their use of honorific and humble language, learning when to use phrases like 〜ていただく (humble) or 〜て差し上げる (honorific).

They delve into expressions of time, such as 〜うちに (while), 〜てからでないと (not until), and 〜たところ (just did). More sophisticated cause-and-effect expressions include 〜せいで (because of, with a negative tone), 〜おかげで (thanks to), 〜ため, and 〜からには (now that...).

Purpose and judgment expressions become more layered—for instance, 〜わけにはいかない (cannot afford to), 〜はずがない (it can’t be), or 〜に限る (nothing is better than). Learners explore assumptions with forms like 〜としたら and deepen their ability to express subjective evaluation and opinion.

Level 6: Mastery and Literary Proficiency

At the highest level, students are exposed to all N1 kanji, approximately 2,000 characters in total, including obscure and compound readings used in literature, academia, and formal writing.

Grammar becomes highly advanced and often literary or formal. Learners study expressions of reason and consequence like 〜ゆえに (due to, formal), 〜ばかりに (just because, with negative results), and 〜からして (judging from).

They explore nuanced conditional and assumption structures such as 〜とあっては, 〜ともなると, and 〜ないことには. Contrast and concession are expressed with elegant structures like 〜といえども (even though), 〜ながらにして (while still), and 〜ばこそ (precisely because).

Purpose/result grammar includes very formal expressions such as 〜べく (in order to), 〜まじき (unsuitable), and 〜を禁じ得ない (cannot help but). For expressing opinions or conclusions, learners use phrases like 〜にほかならない and 〜に他ならない—both meaning “nothing but” or “none other than.”