Japanese Course

General Information – Japanese

“Good teacher and perfect pace.” (Japanese Beg 1 Student, August 2019 Intake)

“Toshiro was really nice and patient.” (Amelia, Japanese Beg 1 Student, August 2019 Intake)

“Toshiro san was really good.” (Peter, Japanese Beg 1 Student, August 2019 Intake)

“Very good tutor. Interesting teaching method” (Japanese Beg 1 Student, May 2019 Intake)

“Great opportunity to meet a lot of new friends. I love all the activities during the class” (Uyen, Japanese Beg 1 Student, May 2019 Intake)

“Manami-san is AWESOME. She is the best!!!” (Linh, Japanese Beg 1 Student, May 2019 Intake)

“I loved the race to the board game and starting each lesson with revision and information about Japan” (Hanan-Gabriella, Japanese Beg 1 Student, April 2019 Intake)

“Toshiro was fantastic – a great teacher who encourages questions and learning” (Japanese Beg 1 Students, April 2019 Intake)

“Well-prepared class and Toshiro is a great teacher. I enjoyed this course very much” (Kevin, Japanese Beg 1, April 2019 Intake)

“Toshiro was a great teacher! Looking forward to doing Beginner 2 with him” (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, April 2019 Intake)

“The tutor is very kind, patient and knowledgeable. She used cultural lessons as well as language lessons” (Lauren Japanese Beginner 1 April 2018 Session)

“The course material is very informative and well prepared. Tutor has very good teacher experience and knowledge.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, May-July 2018 Session) 

“I liked the variety of study materials in the class. Not just handouts but we also learnt songs and given Japanese articles to look at.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, September-November  2017 Session)

“The teacher was fantastic! Her enthusiasm was so much fun.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, September-November  2017 Session)

“Toshiko was knowledgeable and passionate about Japanese. Her enthusiasm and education make the course very pleasant.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, July-September 2017 Session)

“Toshiko is very professional and knowledgeable. The overall course structure is good! ”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, July-September2012 Session)

“I like the relaxed nature of the class and class participation. Toshiko is wonderful! :)”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, July-September 2012 Session)

“Small class size; the course was paced pretty well, any more faster and I would have felt lost.”  (Japanese Beginner 2 Student, June-August 2012 Session)

“Sensei Toshiko is a native speaker and has many years of experience. She is friendly and made sure to include a variety of activities. She also provided a variety of useful handouts from different sources.” (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, March-May 2012 Session)

“Toshiko Jackson is a very engaging teacher. I like listening to her experiences and her classes are very challenging.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, March-May 2012 Session)

“I would like to let you know that Ms. Chie Shattel was an exceptional teacher and she really helped me in learning the language before I had to go and answering the many questions that I had in regards to terms etc that will be useful to me in Japan. She is a very good teacher and a nice lady aswell, I am very grateful to you and to her for having me in the class, I really enjoyed it and am sorry I could not complete the rest of the course.”  (Joe McKenzie, February-April 2012 Session)

“I have enjoyed the course and need to study more. The course is quite good value for money. The teacher is very good and gives a lot of attention and time for students. She is also knowledgeable and patient.”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, April-June 2011 Session)

“Chie is a great teacher to teach Japanese”  (Japanese Beginner 1 Student, 2010 Session)

“I am finding the Japanese course very interesting and hope to complete this course and go onto part 2 as soon as possible. I think the teacher covers a large amount of learning material in the 2 hours of the class and does a great job of giving the class as much information as possible in the time available. I am really enjoying the Japanese for beginners course, I find Katsumi to be a very good  teacher. I would recommend the course to anybody wanting to learn Japanese.” (Steve, Japanese Beginners 1)

“Thank you for the excellent private Japanese tutoring at Sydney Language Solutions! My tutors were well qualified, extremely helpful, and great teachers. I learnt Japanese faster than I thought was possible, thanks to their excellent teaching methods. The admin staffs were also extremely friendly and helpful.” (Sandra, Japanese Beginners)

Chie Shattel

Qualifications:

Gaining my BAs in Business English & Teaching English as a 2 nd Language in Japan, I was able to enjoy my start in teaching prior to graduation & continued for 3 years. I am also a qualified teacher in calligraphy, tea ceremony, ikebana, kimono dressing & traditional Japanese music (Kouta).

Work Experience:

Locally, I’ve been teaching Japanese for 15 years, from year 2 to professionals needing business & travel specific language, including airline staff.

Internationally, I’d gained my Certificate as a Local & International Tour Guide & had worked for 15 years prior to that. I have coordinated placement of Japanese language teachers into Australian schools for 4 years.

I teach in Japanese schools, Community Colleges & TAFE. Returning to Japan twice yearly, I keep up to date socially, culturally & with my language.   

Toshiro Osawa 

Qualifications:
Toshiro was awarded his PhD in Philosophy from Macquarie University in 2014. His PhD project involved translating a Latin text into English, which has never been translated into a modern language. Prior to his PhD, he completed his Master’s degree in Humanities at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He also earned his Bachelor’s degree in Russian from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.



Work Experience:

Toshiro is a native speaker of Japanese and also fluent in both English (he has been living in Sydney for 4 years) and German (he had lived in Germany for 2 years). Before coming to Sydney to pursue his PhD, he held a position of German lecturer in Open Academy at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He also has extensive experience

in learning different languages (English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, Latin, and Ancient Greek). Based on these experiences, he has taught many languages as a private tutor to students of different ages: teaching Japanese to a German student; German, Russian, and English to Japanese students. All these experiences have

contributed to his development of effective language learning strategies.

Takuya Kojima

Qualifications: 

Takuya has a Bachelor of Linguistics Degree from University of Doshisha (Cognitive Linguistics) and a Graduate Diploma of Arts in Japanese Studies (Research)

Teaching Experience: 

Takuya has taught Japanese for various learners as a private tutor and as a teaching assistant at UNSW and at University of Doshisha for three years. His teaching philosophy is to let the students contextualize theirexperience and knowledge into their target language, which is Japanese. In his class, learners frequently have opportunities to use Japanese in their own words. Besides, plenty of activities and visual aids are included in classes to improve their communication skills in Japanese. He always encourage that learners should actively and positively participate in class activities.

Toshiko Jackson

Qualifications:

M.A. in Asian Studies that includes Advanced Studies for teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language, Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics, Graduate Diploma in Japanese Applied Linguistics, Diploma in Education and BA in Arts. (All postgraduate degrees are from Monash University.) She has a publication in “Australia Language Matters”, ANU, on teaching methods in Japanese. Her M.A. thesis (32,000 words) was on Japanese corporate management and its car manufacturers’ overseas activities. It earned H.D. at Monash University.

Work Experience:

Toshiko Jackson has been teaching Japanese language and culture in Australia for 26 years. She has taught in schools, coaching colleges, TAFEs, universities and corporate courses in Sydney and Melbourne in part time, full time and casual roles. Also, Toshiko has taught all Stages of HSC, Business Japanese for 4 Japanese multi-nationals’ training courses, the University of Sydney and RMIT. She taught for the Japanese Proficiency Tests, Levels 1 to 4. She was the Depart Coordinator of L.O.T.E. and Japanese Course Coordinator for the Certificate IV at Language Centre, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Melbourne for 7 years until the end of 2000. Additionally she was an interpreter and worked for translation in Melbourne for a few years. She migrated from Japan to Australia 31 years ago.

2 Minutes with Our Teacher

Japanese Book List

Learn Japanese at Our Blog

What kind of Japanese do we learn at beginners’ level?

The text book used for Japanese Beginners is Japanese for Busy People (Romanised version). Students will learn the Romanised version of Japanese in beginners’ classes.

Do I have to know Japanese characters (Hiragana, Kana and Kanji)? What is the focus of the lesson?

The lesson focus is mainly on communication skills for beginner courses. We will start with the Romanised version of Japanese. There will be many oral-activities in the classroom, and reading and writing practice will be taught step by step.

For beginners 2/pre-intermediate students, we do recommend you learn Hiragana and Katakana. Intermediate students are also advised to learn some Kanji so that you can learn pronunciation and vocabulary efficiently. We are able to focus on other areas or special requests in private lessons.

What is the difference between Romaji, Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana?

Romaji only conveys the pronunciation/sound. It is the type of script called phonetic sign(s). It does not express any meaning related to human life, human civilization, nature etc for human understanding and communication. Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic signs and not idiographic signs. Kanji is idiographic sign(s) and not phonetic sign(s).

Hiragana is used of all or any things, words, names and concepts originated from Japan and its people. Katakana script is used for those originated from the west.

I want to learn Japanese at Sydney Language Solutions. When will I learn kanji, hiragana and katakana?

Japanese Beginners 1: Romaji and Hiragana

Japanese Beginners 2: Katakana

Japanese Pre-Intermediate 1 – Above: Kanji

You can click on the picture to be directed to the bookstore website and buy the books