■Television course / DVD teaching material for young learners
This is all-new Japanese teaching material. Among the estimated 2,980,000 Japanese-language learners today (2006 Survey of Overseas Organizations Involved in Japanese-Language Education, conducted by The Japan Foundation), over 50% are enrolled at primary or secondary education institutions. The material targets these young learners by using a television course / DVD teaching material to make the study of beginning Japanese fun.

■Language study: the focus is “CAN-DO”
The material revolves around skits (language study mini-dramas) showing Erin, an exchange student at a senior high school in Japan, in 25 everyday situations. Each skit is structured to achieve a particular goal in Japanese (CAN-DO).

■Understanding a different culture and multiculturalism: a variety of scenes of Japan
Language study and cultural understanding are closely related. This material for young learners is designed not only to gain a command of the Japanese language, but also to promote cultural understanding through shots of various Japanese scenes. Rather than simply showing Japanese culture, the material uses a variety of techniques to encourage learners to compare Japanese culture to their own and give them the opportunity to think about their own cultural background.

■Drama-style skits

Skits (basic and advanced) feature young actors and actresses, and are structured in a drama format so that Japanese-language learners can enjoy watching and studying. The basic skits center on the routine life of Erin (Ellie Toyota), an exchange student, and her classmates, Saki (Kana Kurashina) and Megumi (Meguru Ishii).
After each lesson’s skit, the things Erin can do in Japanese increase one by one.
The story of the advanced skits focuses on the relationships among Saki, Megumi and their friends, Kenta (Jutta Yuki) and Kaoru (Hideo Ishiguro). The advanced skits feature more natural conversation among Japanese people. 

■Anchored and explained by animation characters

Japanese animations and comics enjoy worldwide popularity and are one of the reasons target learners are motivated to study Japanese. This material uses computer-generated animation characters to explain key phrases in skits and introduce individual sections. “Honigon” is the teacher, while the animated person of Erin learns Japanese from Honigon, and the data robot “N21-J”.

■Friends and advanced learners around the world encourage study of Japanese
  In addition to video images of Japan, this material also introduces interviews with Japanese-language learners around the world and people who use Japanese in their work. It is hoped that showing video taken in over 10 different countries will encourage learners to study and set new goals.

Lesson	What I can do in Japanese (CAN-DO)	venue/topic	Lesson	What I can do in Japanese (CAN-DO)	venue/topic
1	First-meeting greetings	Classroom	14	Making Assumptions	Cell Phones
2	Making Requests	School	15	Expressing Desires	Festivals
3	Indicating Things	Home	16	Explaining	Injuries and Illness
4	Asking Locations	Convenience  Store	17	Describing Contradictory Ideas	In Class
5	Expressing Time	Cram School	18	Comparing	100-yen Shop
6	Asking Prices	Bus	19	Giving Reasons	Part-time Jobs
7	Discussing Interests	Friend's Room	20	Talking about Experiences	School Trip
8	Ordering	Fast-Food	21	Asking about Rules	Leisure
9	Describing Present Situation	After-school Lessons	22	Explaining Problems	Trouble
10	Asking Permission	Fashion	23	Making Suggestions to Friends	Amusement Park
11	Describing Order of Events	Hot Springs	24	Describing Changes	School Festival
12	Talking with Friends	Club Activities	25	Conveying What You Feel	Parting
13	Asking How	Train Station

*For more detailed syllabus: Click here (Excel/35KB)