Overview

Lewis & Clark offers four years of language teaching, starting with Beginning Japanese and progressing all the way to Advanced Readings classes, which incorporate essays, novels, films and independent research into language instruction.

I. Beginning and Intermediate Japanese

The first two years of language study at Lewis & Clark focus on solidifying the basics of communication, focusing on the four components of listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as on the teaching of cultural components of getting around in Japan. This year, students in Shinohara sensei’s first year class have used TV clips and movies, role-playing and journaling, cultural events and weekly meetings with native-speakers, all to build a strong foundation in both written and spoken Japanese. Students in Professor Bruce Suttmeier’s Intermediate Japanese class work at mastering increasingly complex Japanese, using video HW, essays, as well as weekly volunteering at the Portland International (Japanese Immersion) School, helping elementary age and younger students whose entire curriculum is in Japanese.

II. Readings and Advanced Readings in Japanese

The third and fourth-years of language study increasingly concentrate on comprehending advanced Japanese, both in written and spoken forms. The third-year class reads a murder-mystery at the end of the fall semester, (we also watch a TV detective drama), as well as reading essays on travel, modern gender politics, and technology in the future. The fourth year class reads about food culture, youth, and other society/culture topics in the Fall. In the Spring, students read works by Murakami Haruki, Kawabata Yasunari, and others. This year, the class is spending the semester researching the internment of Japanese Americans, reading memoirs, historical documents, as well as doing oral history interviews of local internees.