Japanese Language Classes at NIC

‘Do I need to speak Japanese in order to apply to your school?’

This is one recurrent question from our international candidates. Surprisingly, the answer is “no”. All our classes are taught in English, so Japanese proficiency is not needed when applying for NIC. However, for students wanting to acquire Japanese communication skills, our Japanese second language pathway, commencing in Year 10, will be of great interest to them.
Here is a brief outline of the Japanese language acquisition programme at the different year levels:

Year 10

In Year 10, students will have the opportunity to select Japanese as a second language. This course is designed particularly for students with no, or very limited, prior experience of studying Japanese. With 2x90 min lessons per week, students will have a total of approximately 72 language lessons throughout the academic year.

Year 11 and Year 12

In Years 11 and 12, students will study in the IB Diploma Programme, Language B course. Building upon the previous year’s experience of Japanese language study, students will further develop their ability to communicate through the study of a variety of themes and authentic Japanese texts. Materials will be based on such topics as beliefs and values, cultures and identity, leisure, arts and sciences, education, environment, ethics and so on.

Standard and Higher Level Study

In the IB Diploma Programme, students may elect to study either at the Standard or Higher levels. While the topics are the same at each level, the key differences between the levels are the number of lessons and the degree of difficulty;  By electing to study at the Standard Level, students will have 2x90 min lessons per week for a total of around 72 lessons per year, and for those electing to study at the Higher Level, they will have 3x90 min lessons per week for a total of around 108 lessons per year. At the Higher Level, students will be required to study a minimum of two Japanese novels.

*NUCB International College is a Candidate School* for the IB Diploma Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy— a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that NUCB International College believes is important for our students.  
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org