Midterm #1 scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 7 will cover the materials in Getting Started and Chapter 1.  For details, consult the syllabus and the handouts given in class.  Review old handouts, quizzes, homework assignments, etc. and concentrate on the things that we actually dealt with in class.  For this exam, the ability to read and write all the hiragana is essential.  If you have not mastered them yet, please review them well.

Following are some of the question types that will appear in the exam and the points allocated to them (both of which are subject to change):

• Listening comprehension questions [10 points]: Y/N questions on some of: Textbook--all the dialogues covered for QA#1-4 (see their announcements.)  The questions will be original.
• Vocabulary questions [5 points]: Reading of words written in hiragana and knowing their meanings in English. (You will be asked the vocabulary on p.10 and p. ８３of the textbook.)
• Completion of dialogues [10 points]: Short conversational exchanges.
• Time and the Days of the Week [5 points]: Description of a simple weekly schedule of a student.
• Greetings [10 points]: Greetings for a first-time meeting and everyday casual interactions.
• Personal Information [10 points]: Asking and answering about personal information.  (Refer to the Dialogue Presentation #1 Announcement for the kind of topics you should be able to talk about.)
• Kanji for extra points [5 points]: Make sure you can write the readings of the following Kanji in hiragana..

Midterm #2 scheduled on Tuesday, November 2 will cover the materials in Chapter 2.  For details, consult the syllabus and the handouts given in class.  Review old handouts, quizzes, homework assignments, etc. and concentrate on the things that we actually dealt with in class.  For this exam, the ability to read and write all the basic Hiragana (i.e., from A to N/M) and combined letters (i.e. JISHO <dictionary, ZASSHI <magazine) is essential.

Following are some of the language items and question types that will appear in the exam (which of course are subject to minor changes):

• Listening comprehension questions: Y/N questions on some of: Textbook--all the dialogues covered for QA#5-8 (see their announcements), and  LC#2 and LC #3.  The questions will be original.
• Vocabulary identification: Your instructor will read a list of vocaburary in Japanese, you write the meaning in English.  Make sure you know place names and some words about commuting.
• Introduction: You will write 4 to 5 complete sentences in Japanese about your hometown.
• Adjectives: Review the basic usage of I-adjectives and Na-adjectives, especially their differences in negation formation.
• Counters: Make sure you can use common counters appropriately to count 0 to 5 and how many / how much.
• Existence verbs and position words: Make sure you can describe the relative position of things, using position words appropriately.
• Personal information and opinions: You will answer questions written in Japanese, concerning your living arrangement, Japanese class, likes and dislikes, etc.
• Kanji for extra points: Make sure you can write, read and understand the kanji in Kanji #1, #2 and read and understand the kanji in Kanji #3, #4.

Hope you all will do well.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Final Examination scheduled on  Wednesday, November 17, at 7:00 p.m. will cover all the materials from Getting Started through Chapter 2 that have been dealt with in class.  For details, consult the syllabus and the handouts given in class.  Review old handouts, quizzes, midterms, homework assignments, activity guidelines, etc.  For this exam, the ability to read and write basic vocabulary in Hiragana and familiar Kanji is essential.

Following are some of the language items and question types that will appear in the exam (which of course are subject to minor change):

• Listening comprehension: They will be based on some of the following three materials: all the recorded dialogues in the textbook (i.e., those covered in weekly quizzes) and  LC#4,5 .  The questions will be original.
• Short dialogue matching: Review greeting expressions.
• Short dialogue completion: Review how to give and ask for different kind of information (e.g. name, age, nationality, class, major, personality, likes/dislikes, time, location, price, etc.).  You will be asked to supply a question based on an answer or an answer based on a question.
• Time and days of the week:Description of a simple weekly schedule of a student.
• Nouns and adjectives: Review words for things as well as adjectives which can be used to describe them. Make sure you know how to use the two types of adjectives prenominally and predicatively (in affirmative and negative forms).
• Information about other people: Make sure you can present in writing basic information about other people (e.g. name, age, nationality, hometown, birth month, major, personality, likes/dislikes, etc.).
• Counters: Review basic counters and things that are counted with them.  You should also be able to count things up to 5 using those counters.
• Existence and location: You will be asked to describe the locations of various types of buildings shown on a map.  Make sure you can tell what is where, describing a picture of a messy room full of stuff.
• Composition: You will be asked to write about your living arrangement and Japanese class.
• Reading: You will read a short story and answer True/False questions.
• Extra points (15 points): Writing, reading and comprehension of the target Kanji in Chapters 1 and 2.

Hope you all will do well.