Admission requirements
This course is only accessible for BA Japanstudies students. Students must have successfully completed 10 EC in BA2 seminars and the courses Production IIb and Production IIc (or the study abroad programme in Japan: ‘Japanverblijf’).
Description
The course consists of two components – six sessions of two hours each. Students should not expect any connection between the two, they are two separate entities that merely operate under the same umbrella.
Component I (in block 1): ‘Business Japanese’ Students are introduced to the specific type of vocabulary and expressions that are customarily used in Japanese companies. This will include, but will not be limited to, self-introduction in the business situations, communication via telephone, and writing professional e-mails.
Component II (in block 2): ‘Introduction to Working Environments’ Students are introduced to a variety of different working environments by guest speakers from the world of business, government, cultural industries etc. After each session students will be given a practical assignment.
Course objectives
The main objective of this course is to provide students with a hands-on introduction to the working environments that they might encounter in their future careers. The ‘Business Japanese’ component builds on the acquired language proficiency, but offers an additional benefits, which may prove important on the job market.
Component II ,in particular, is unlike any other class within the BA Japanstudies curriculum. To begin with, it provides students with hardly any new knowledge, but instead forces them to start thinking about what they would like to do after graduation. Guest speakers present different perspectives on the directions the future career of a Japanstudies graduate may develop. Like in the real world, these views may contradict each other, and might at times be unclear and confusing. It is up to each student to assess which piece of information is useful and which is not. Not every assignment is equally relevant for everyone, and this is why there is a choice (3 out of 5). They are helpful in making students realize that their own initiative and creative thinking is necessary to make the knowledge that they had acquired so far become applicable in a real life situation.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
- Participation (pass/fail)
- 3 assignments after each guest appearance session (pass/fail)
- Business Japanese final exam (50%)
Weighing
All 3 elements must be passed to receive a passing grade for the course. Elements 1 and 2 will be graded on a pass/fail basis, which means that the grade of the Element 3 will determine the final grade.
Resit
- There is no resit possibility for the ‘participation’ element. Students who will attend less than 4 sessions OF EACH COMPONENT will fail the course.
- Students who will fail to submit 3 assignments before the set deadline will be able ‘resit’ this element by submitting a 2000 word paper on a topic to be determined in consultation with the instructor. The deadline for submitting the paper is 31 January 2022.
- Resit final exam Business Japanese will be scheduled.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Study material will be made available via Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Vrieshof
Remarks
BrightSpace will be used extensively during this course.