The Lone Star State Meets the Land of the Rising Sun: Japanese Tutoring at its Finest
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Texas-sized Japanese Skills from the Land of the Rising Sun
Services and Lessons Offered
Basic Japanese (JLPT N5 - N4)
Basic Japanese I
Basic Japanese I is the starting point for all Simple Gaijin students. In BJ1, you'll learn how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana to start off. Once you pass the Hiragana / Katakana test, we will start you at the first page of Genki I.
NO ROMAJI (Roman Characters) WILL BE USED!
You will also learn the secret on how to learn Kanji more quickly that most native Japanese teachers refuse to teach their Gaijin students.
You will learn about 145 kanji in this unit, which would be more enough to know for the JLPT N5.
No other outside materials will be used in this class. Just the Genki series books. If you want more materials to work with, a private lesson is the way to go!
Textbook will be shared in class via Skype, but students are highly encouraged to purchase their own physical copy of Genki I textbook and workbook.
Textbook: Genki I (Chapters 1 - 12)
Estimated Length: 9 months - 1 year (can be quicker depending on the student's motivation and number of lessons per month/week)
Basic Japanese II
We progress into the Genki II textbook! While you are still in Basic Japanese, the grammar points start to get more complex (but not too complex), and you will also learn basic Keigo (respectful language). You will also start to learn which Japanese is primarily used in spoken Japanese or written Japanese.
Your kanji skills are going to continue to increase as well, as long as you continue to follow the Way of Learning Kanji. At the end of this course, you will know a total of 340 kanji, which is enough for the JLPT N4 test.
No other outside materials will be used in this class. Just the Genki series books. If you want more materials to work with, a private lesson is the way to go!
Textbook: Genki II (Chapters 13 - 23)
Estimated Length of Time: 10 months - 1 year (can be quicker depending on the student's motivation and number of lessons per week/month)
Intermediate Japanese (JLPT N3)
Intermediate Japanese is definitely a step-up compared to the beginner courses!
Since we have completed the Genki series, we will move on to the next book in the series, IAIJ (An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese). This book is used in a lot of college Japanese classrooms for their intermediate or advanced level courses.
In terms of grammar and vocabulary, you are going to learn that there are multiple ways to say the same thing, but they all have different connotations. Again, the separation between oral and written Japanese will be crucial for you to make it.
At this point, you might be (or already have) close to mastering the "Way of Kanji". The intermediate level, while challenging, will unlock a lot of kanji that will be necessary to learn the 1,006 Kyoiku Kanji, the kanji that all Japanese 6th graders need to know before going to middle school. Here, you will know a total of 848 kanji through the book, while the rest we will learn on our own through other sources.
Textbook: An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese (Chapters 1 -15)
Other Services Offered
Customized Private Lesson
Perhaps you like what you see above, but want to also add extras, need more lesson scheduling flexibility, exclusively focus on a certain part of Japanese? No problem, a private lesson is all you need!
As an added bonus, private lessons are given more flexibility than regular lessons, with students only needing to give at least an hour before their class time if they need to cancel! And lessons are paid for at the end of the lesson.
Textbooks: Any of the 100+ Japanese learning books in my personal Japanese library.
ACTFL Oral & Writing Training
Simple Gaijin is the first Japanese language school to offer training for the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages test (ACTFL).
This test focuses exclusively on your ability to speak and write in Japanese coherently.
While anyone can take this course, in order to maximize your results, the following two criteria should be met...
1. The student has passed either the JLPT N3 or has a BA / MA / PhD in Japanese, or are signed up to take the ACTFL Oral and/or Written Exam by their state's educational board.
2. The student is willing to accept a lot of constructive criticism about their Japanese output.
A special textbook from Japan will be provided on screen during class, but the student is recommended to get this book.
Japanese to English (J -> E) Technical Translation
Even though I might not be in the automotive industry anymore, I still retain a lot of knowledge on Japanese to English technical translation (English to Japanese not offered at this time).
Samples can be provided upon request.
Specialties include...
- Blueprint Translation
- Work Directives / Step-By-Step Translation
- Business Related Matters