JAPN 302: History of Japan
Course Description:
This course further develops advanced Japanese proficiency through an understanding of Japanese history as a dynamic, interrelated system and employs a variety of processes to identify, analyze and evaluate cultural themes, values and ideas. Students will demonstrate ability to accurately comprehend ideas across a range of historical content. Taught in Japanese.
This course further develops advanced Japanese proficiency through an understanding of Japanese history as a dynamic, interrelated system and employs a variety of processes to identify, analyze and evaluate cultural themes, values and ideas. Students will demonstrate ability to accurately comprehend ideas across a range of historical content. Taught in Japanese.
Course Reflective Narrative:
History has always been a passion of mine, learning about what has happened around the globe and through the ages is something I find very interesting. It is even more exciting when the history I am reading and learning about is that of Japan. I love Japan, its culture and its rich history, so enrolling in this course was something I wanted to do from the start. Throughout the entire semester we used the book titled Intermediate Reader: Japanese History and Culture (中級日本語読本:日本の歴史と文化). The book contained a summarized version of the Japanese history, however it is a good reading for those who intend to expand their knowledge on the language and the culture as well.
This was a very challenging course since the readings included a lot of Kanji that were unknown to most of us. Nevertheless, as the class progressed we managed to memorize and even use the Kanji and vocabulary introduced by the author of the book Masakazu Watabe. Despite having studied in Japan, there were many things that were new to me, not only in regards of the vocabulary, but history facts too. Kanji quizzes were frequent, and participation was encouraged which help us maintain our skills while ridding us of our fears of using the language in front of others.
Our final presentation was also in Japanese which we had done before, but the difference was that at the end of each presentation we had a short Q & A section. Replying to our classmates’ and professor’s questions was not easy, but it was rewarding once we realized how much we had improved. I really hope I can continue increasing my knowledge of this beautiful culture and pass it on to my children and whoever wants to learn someday.
History has always been a passion of mine, learning about what has happened around the globe and through the ages is something I find very interesting. It is even more exciting when the history I am reading and learning about is that of Japan. I love Japan, its culture and its rich history, so enrolling in this course was something I wanted to do from the start. Throughout the entire semester we used the book titled Intermediate Reader: Japanese History and Culture (中級日本語読本:日本の歴史と文化). The book contained a summarized version of the Japanese history, however it is a good reading for those who intend to expand their knowledge on the language and the culture as well.
This was a very challenging course since the readings included a lot of Kanji that were unknown to most of us. Nevertheless, as the class progressed we managed to memorize and even use the Kanji and vocabulary introduced by the author of the book Masakazu Watabe. Despite having studied in Japan, there were many things that were new to me, not only in regards of the vocabulary, but history facts too. Kanji quizzes were frequent, and participation was encouraged which help us maintain our skills while ridding us of our fears of using the language in front of others.
Our final presentation was also in Japanese which we had done before, but the difference was that at the end of each presentation we had a short Q & A section. Replying to our classmates’ and professor’s questions was not easy, but it was rewarding once we realized how much we had improved. I really hope I can continue increasing my knowledge of this beautiful culture and pass it on to my children and whoever wants to learn someday.