The Chinese language is very familiar for Japanese learners, since there is a long history of exchange with China and the Japanese language uses some Chinese characters (known in Japanese as kanji). We look forward to helping you study the beautiful language of Chinese in this wonderful study environment where there are lots of international students from China and a wealth of various educational materials.
Curriculum
Chinese language education at Tohoku University has been striving to improve the quality of its classes to meet the needs of the times. The curriculum offers classes from Basic Chinese to Developed Chinese, as well as Advanced classes, to meet the needs of each level. In particular, in Basic Chinese, we will use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) from fiscal year 2023 to promote learning through Blended Learning that combines on-demand classes, which can be taken repeatedly anytime and anywhere, with face-to-face classes in the classroom.
Specifically, of the twice-weekly classes, the first half is an on-demand class where students study and practice using class videos and smartphone applications, efficiently inputting and consolidating vocabulary, grammar, and conversation. The second half of the class is a face-to-face class, where students practice the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as presenting assignments, in order to apply the Chinese language in a practical way and to achieve a rich output.
Chinese, like Japanese, uses Chinese characters, which may seem easy to learn. However, in China, simplified Chinese characters with fewer strokes are used, and Chinese pronunciation, which has several times as many syllables as Japanese, is also considered quite difficult to master. In Chinese language education at Tohoku University, we provide a wealth of teaching materials and an ICT learning environment, including originally developed textbooks, class videos, and smartphone applications, to strongly support your Chinese language learning, and we aim to cultivate practical communication skills through various language learning activities.
