Mastering the basics of foreign language conversation is easier than you think. In these courses you will learn how to ask simple questions, talk about yourself, make enquiries and socialise. By the end of the course, with proper application and home practise, you should be able to make yourself understood by a native speaker.

Japanese for Fun and Travel

Course Description

This course is designed to give students an introduction to the Japanese language and culture. 

The course takes an activities-based communicative approach integrating language learning and cultural information and includes:

• Conversation with the teacher and fellow students and role-plays
• Reading and writing
• Visual images and aural work 
• Grammatical explanations
• Exercises, card games, and board games
• Homework

Course Structure

Students are provided with notes to support the course topics which include:

• Introduction and basic knowledge of the sounds and scripts of Japanese language
• Essential greetings and basic useful phrases
• Basic sentence pattern 
• Phrases for self-introduction – name and nationality
• Asking and answering what is this? and what is that?
• Asking and answering where is …?
• Numbers and times
• Phrases for shopping and ordering food and drink 
• Phrases for hotels, taxis and railway stations
• Basic adjectives to describe things and have a casual chat
• Phrases to state your likes and dislikes
• Describing what you do in your daily life
• Culture information including etiquette, body language, traditions, and current topics

Course Learning Outcomes

This introductory course will enable students to communicate in Japanese at a basic level when travelling, and improve students’ comprehensive ability to speak, listen to and read Japanese.

By the end of the course students should be able to carry out a conversation in everyday Japanese and be able to read and write the Japanese scripts called ‘Hiragana’ to some extent.

Students who complete the course may wish to continue their learning by enrolling in the WEA Japanese 1 course.

Your Tutor is Emiko Kobashi

Emiko Kobashi was born and raised in Japan, where she spent 13 years teaching English at secondary schools. In 1998, Emiko came to Adelaide as an exchange teacher through a program between Okayama Prefecture (her hometown) and South Australia, which are Sister States.

Since then, Emiko has been teaching Japanese across various sectors in South Australia, including at UniSA, public schools, WEA, and PCE, working with a diverse range of learners, from young children in Reception to adults. 

Emiko has in the past taught at WEA for 10 years, from 2005 to 2014, and she is thrilled to be returning in 2025. Emiko looks forward to meeting and teaching adult learners once again. 

In addition to teaching, Emiko has also been creating Japanese language learning videos on YouTube.

Outside of work, Emiko enjoys watching Japanese comedy shows, exploring new cafes for delicious pastries, and taking walks in nature.