20-week Japanese Extra-curricular language courses:

Level 1 - Beginners
Level 2 - Intermediate ( learners have previous basic knowledge of the language)

Semester 1 (weeks 2-11 term-time) from Wednesday 8th October to Wednesday 10th December 2025 (10 weeks).

Semester 2 (weeks 1-10 term time – no classes over Easter holidays) from Wednesday 4th February to Wednesday 29th April 2026 (10 weeks).

Open to anyone aged 18 years of age and over.

Course Description

Japanese Level 1 - is designed for beginners with little or no knowledge of the language. The course covers a variety of everyday situations such as:
• introducing yourself and others
• telling times
• shopping
Class work emphasizes listening, speaking and practice of sentence structure; self study consists of reviewing work done in class and practicing language skills, as advised by the tutor. Writing and reading Japanese letters (Kana) are basically left to your self-study, using the handouts provided and with tutor’s support.

Japanese 2 - assumes that learners have previous basic knowledge of the language, such as Verbs (-masu form) and their conjugation with appropriate particles, and Adjective conjugation and how they modify nouns. Learners are expected to have had approximately 80 hours of previous study: 40 hours’ contact time and 40 hours’ personal study. In addition, knowledge of Hiragana (reading & writing) is required, and knowledge of Katakana is desirable. Learners are expected to have covered “Japanese for Busy People I” L1-13, or equivalent. The course introduces new grammatical structures and focuses on how to express topics relevant to daily life, such as:
• giving/receiving
• inviting someone to do something together
• making suggestions and offers
• talking about one’s possessions, habitual action, on-going action and states.
• giving/asking permissions & prohibitions
• talking about one’s skills, preferences, symptoms etc.

The course also introduces cultural aspects to understand the background of the language and people.

Attendance:
Regular attendance is vital in order to make progress with your course. If you fail to attend three or more classes without notifying your tutor or the Language Centre, you will be considered to have withdrawn. Your place may be offered to someone on the waiting list; no refund will be given.

Refunds:
Before the classes start: we always aim to be flexible and accommodate any requests but if for any reason you are not able to join us, we can issue you a refund. Just send us an email at: languages@lboro.ac.uk.
After classes start: we hope you enjoy the course but if you change your mind, we will issue a refund if no more than one week of classes has taken place (subject to an administration fee of 10%). Do contact us as early as possible if your circumstances change.

Cancellations: The University reserves the right to cancel any course which does not recruit a viable number of students. A full refund will be given in this case, including where a first class may have been attended.

Course Materials: Course books are not included in the fee.