歓迎

Course Overview

Stage 5

The Stage 5 Year 9 and 10 Course is an online Moodle course. The course is bright and interactive, using a number of weblinks to bring Japanese culture alive. The course consists of 45 weekly packages, 25 of which are completed in Year 9 and 20 in Year 10. Students also undertake one or two cultural projects each year. Students phone their teacher on a weekly basis to discuss their progress, ask questions and participate in Japanese speaking practice.

Stage 6

Japanese Beginners

The Japanese Beginners Course is an online course with lessons, quizzes and downloadable content. It is based on Nihongo No Benkyo, a program designed specifically for distance education students. The Preliminary Course consists of 24 units and the Higher School Certificate Course consists of 13 units. Phone lessons are conducted weekly to ensure that students’ speaking skills are developed.

Japanese Continuers

The Preliminary and HSC Japanese Continuers' Courses are online courses developed by Open High School with the support of the Centre for Learning Innovation. The courses contain a range of different activities such as quizzes where students can develop their skills and receive immediate feedback. The Preliminary Course consists of 18 Units of course work, with 16 units in the HSC Course. Students also have weekly phone lessons with their teacher to develop their conversational skills and receive additional feedback and support. Study days are held at Open High School at various times throughout the year.

Japanese Extension

The Japanese Extension Course focuses on the animated movie Spirited Away (which students are required to purchase) and is comprised of 19 units of work. The course aims to introduce students to a more advanced level of language, enabling them to discuss various prescribed issues both in written and oral tasks.

Course Materials

Textbooks

The following is a list of learning materials which need to be purchased for the specified course. All prices are approximate.  If a course is not listed, the materials are provided by Open High School.

HSC courses

Japanese Continuers

• Mirai 6

$68.95

Japanese Extension

• DVD:Spirited Away

$30

Japanese Background Speakers

• Chiisaki Mono E

$20

The textbooks are available from:
Language Book Centre 131 York St, Sydney 2000
Phone:    (02) 9267 1397
Fax:         (02) 9264 8993
Outside Sydney Metro Area
Freecall: 1800 802 432

Textbooks can be ordered online at http://www.languagebooks.com.au

Please mention that the student studies Japanese at Open High, so that you receive the school discount.

Dictionaries

All students should have a comprehensive language dictionary. Please consult the Japanese faculty for advice re dictionaries.

Stage 6 Syllabuses (From Board of Studies)

Click here to go to our Syllabus Downloads page - choose your language and then download the relevant syllabus.

National Anthem

National Emblem

Country Map

Country Overview

Japan is located in the North Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Asian continent. Japan comprises the four main islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, in addition to numerous smaller islands. The Japanese call their country Nihon or Nippon, which means ?origin of the sun.? The name arose from Japan?s position east of the great Chinese empires that held sway over Asia throughout most of its history. Japan is sometimes referred to in English as the ?land of the rising sun.? Tokyo is the country?s capital and largest city.

Official Language Of

Japan

Total Number of Speakers

More than 130 million

Language Family

Japonic

Writing System

Japanese logographs and syllabaries

Language Overview

Japanese is a language spoken by over 130 million people. It is an agglutinative language and is distinguished by a complex system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small, and has a lexically distinct pitch-accent system. The earliest attestation of Japanese is in a Chinese document from 252 C.E. The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of glyphs: Chinese characters, kanji, and two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by loans from other languages.