Community Education Japanese Class

At $60/person, we have started a Japanese community education class through the city of Minneapolis.

Learn greetings, numbers and shopping conversations as well as practical conversational skills with useful vocabulary. Gain an understanding of the culture of this intriguing and mysterious country. Instructor: Tetsuya Shimano is an experienced, native Japanese speaker. Includes supplies.


Although community education is generally more informal than other classes, our teacher is very organized and dedicated to his students. We meet Mondays from 6-7:30pm and each week begins with a 15 point quiz with terms from last week. He says a word in Japanese and we write its meaning in English. If you score the highest in the class, he gives you a handmade paper origami throwing star (shuriken), and whoever has the most at the end of the course gets a prize.

We have learned how to introduce ourselves, how to say different nationalities and occupations, about numbers through 99,999, time and dates, money, and an introduction to the counting system. This week we are going to learn about place names. Our teacher explained to us that Japanese is a tonal language, which my husband heard as, "atonal," and continued the rest of the class talking like a robot.

As a graduate of Macalester College, I am also able to audit a course for free each semester. I found this out a little too late, however, just after the add/drop deadline, and the professor of Japanese I and II does not believe there is a way for me to make it up and only Japanese II is offered next semester. How unfortunate.

The Japanese Language

For my 24th birthday, my husband gave me some resources for learning Japanese.  We have been using these to get an introduction to speaking, writing, and understanding.

Human Japanese by Brak Software

Human Japanese is software for Windows PCs that presents the Japanese language from square one in a warm, engaging tone. It packs more than 1,800 recordings of vocabulary words and example sentences, an instantly searchable dictionary for vocabulary words and grammar terms, and dozens of interactive reviews. While other products focus on memorizing vocabulary, Human Japanese draws the student into the real mechanics of the language, while maintaining a warm tone and a sense of humor. The goal of Human Japanese is not just to turn out students capable of repeating canned phrases, but to lay the foundation for real linguistic and cultural understanding.

Japanese Demysified: A Self-Teaching Guide by Eriko Sato

Interested in learning to speak Japanese but feel intimidated by the complex characters and pronunciations? No need to worry! Even if your only experience is ordering sushi, Japanese Demystified will have you saying konnichiwa to your new language skills in no time.

Beginning with a review of Japanese writing systems, basic pronunciation, and everyday expressions, this book covers key grammar fundamentals such as particles, nouns, verb forms, and honorifics. You'll build your Japanese vocabulary with essential words and phrases and quickly master this challenging language. Test yourself at the end of every chapter for reinforcement that you're fast on your way to speaking, writing, and understanding Japanese.

This fast and easy guide features:

• Clear and straightforward explanations of Japanese grammar fundamentals
• Numerous examples of simple and complex sentence structures
• Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji with phonetic transliterations for all Japanese words
• Helpful writing and speaking exercises that bring the Japanese language to life
• Coverage of everyday topics as well as conversational expressions
• Quizzes at the end of each chapter to reinforce new material

Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for a more experienced student, Japanese Demystified is your shortcut to mastering this complex language.

Let's Learn Hiragana: First Book of Japanese Writing (Kodansha's Children's Classics) by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura

There are three types of Japanese script-katakana, hiragana, and kanji. It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of katakana or hiragana-one must know all of them. Let's Learn Hiragana, and its companion volume Let's Learn Katakana, is a textbook that introduces the learner to the basics of one of these fundamental Japanese scripts. Being a workbook, it contains all the exercises that allow the student to master hiragana by the time the book has been finished. Let's Learn Hiragana is a classic in the field, and the huge number of students that have used it successfully is a sign of its preeminence as a self-study guide.