Welcome Letter & Important Information
Dear Students,
Congratulations on gaining a place at SOAS to study Japanesefrom this Septemberon the BA Japanese or BA Japanese Studies programmes. In order to ensure that the start of your studyat SOAS goes as smoothly as possible, please note the following important matters. The date and time of your formal enrolment with the School will be sent to you by the School, but you must also attend the following meetings on Monday 26 September:
1. Between 10am and 1pm: come to MB 4426 (on the 4th floor of the Main Building in Russell Square), in order to meet your language teachers and to get detailed information on the Welcome Week schedule including your first Academic Japanese Induction class(es). In addition, you will be asked to write the 46 hiragana symbols and katakana symbols (see explanation on the following page).
2. At 4:30 pm: attend the Japanese & Korean Department Talk in KLT (Khalili Lecture Theatre on the lower ground floor of the Main Building), where you will learn about the procedures for registering and choosing your courses, and meet the staff of the Department.
You may have received an email from the Faculty Office asking you to make your course choices. But please do not register for courses online until you have attended the Welcome Talk, and for language classes until after you get the results of the placement test.
During Welcome Week, be absolutely sure to come to all the meetings you are advised to attend by the Japanese Section or Faculty Office.
If you have prior experience of studying Japanese, we will ask you to attend a placement test. The placement test for BA Japanese will take place on Wednesday 23 September 9:30-11am, and for BA Japanese Studies on Wednesday 23 September 11am-1pm. We will give you the locations and times when we meet you on Monday.
It is very important that you attend the appropriate test, so that we can place you in the best class to suit your current level of Japanese. For BA Japanese, we have three different entry levels: J1: Elementary Japanese (EJ), J1: Accelerated Elementary Japanese (AJ), and J2 Japanese. Furthermore, J1: EJ will be divided into three or four groups based on your existing knowledge of Japanese. In addition, we have six levels for BA Japanese Studies. This is why it is vital that you attend the placement test, if you have any prior experience of studying Japanese.
Copies of past Placement tests are not available, but the exam is a written test only (testing grammar, vocabulary, scripts, reading, and translation etc.). It is a good idea for you to refresh your memory so that you can show what you have learnt. Both accuracy and fluency will be required for Academic Japanese.
In addition to the placement tests, all BA Japanese students must attend Academic Japanese Induction Classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and a Course Orientation on Thursday. Failure to attend may result in you falling behind with your studies.
No prior knowledge of Japanese was required when you applied to SOAS. However, from the first day of the teaching term, you will need to be able to read and write the hiragana and katakana scripts (not romanization). Of course our lectors will give you guidance about using and writing Japanese scripts, but memorizing hiragana and katakana before you arrive at SOAS will give your studies a great boost. Even if you have some previous knowledge of written Japanese, please revise and consolidate your knowledge before you arrive. The following websites will help:
1) You can learn about hiragana and katakana from these sites:
hiragana
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_hiragana.htm
http://www.japanese-name-translation.com/site/hiragana_symbols.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana
katakana
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm
http://www.japanese-name-translation.com/site/katakana_symbols.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana
2) You can practice and learn how to read and write hiragana and katakana using the appropriate models of hiragana on this site. You might enjoy exploring the manyuseful links for Japanese language study which you will find on the top page of this website:
Online Nihongo (http://www.onlinenihongo.com)
Nihongo-e-na (http://nihongo-e-na.com/eng/site/id349.html)
It would be a good idea to reach the point where you can at least read and write the 46hiragana symbols and katakana symbols on the website Online Nihongo (http://www.onlinenihongo.com) before you come to SOAS. When youpractice writing hiragana and katakana, be sure to use the appropriate model and take great care to follow the correct stroke order and stroke direction.Please don’t worry if your writing feels clumsy as we will run a script writing induction class after your arrival. But the more you can do now, the easier your start to the programme will be.
If you have any specific questions about learning hiragana and katakana, please e-mail Mrs Kashiwagi (), who is in charge of J1: Elementary Japanese (for BA Japanese) or Dr Harumi (), who is in charge of Accelerated Elementary Japanese (for BA Japanese) and Basic Japanese 1 (for BA Japanese Studies).
Discount coupons for the textbook we use will also be distributed, so there is no need to buy a textbook in advance.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the SOAS Japanese Section.
Dr. Barbara Pizziconi
Head of the Department of Japan and Korea