Japanese

Language, history and culture

Japanese is written and spoken by 130 million people and Japanese culture is popular world-wide. As the world's third largest national economy, Japan is also one of Canada’s most important economic and commercial partners. About 40% of Canadian exports to Japan originate in British Columbia. Learning to speak and write Japanese can be very beneficial for your career in today’s global economy. Camosun’s Japanese courses also provide transfer credit that can be used in your future academic pursuits.

Learning Japanese at Camosun

Camosun offers introductory and intermediate Japanese language courses, covering the three writing systems, kanji, hiragana and katakana.

Historically, kanji was used by men, especially Samurai. Hiragana evolved from kanji and was initially used by women. Katakana was used in formal documents up to the second world war, and in modern Japanese, katakana is used to write loan words that have been adopted from other languages.

Camosun's courses focus on the dialect that is spoken in the Tokyo (Kanto) area, which is generally understood in all areas of Japan. Cultural and historical materials are added to enhance the understanding of the language.

Japanese courses

Related programs

Camosun offers flexible programs that give you the chance to explore your passion for Japanese.

Program or individual courses

You can take Japanese courses within one of our 2 year programs or as individual courses within our university transfer program. If you plan to take individual courses at Camosun, when you apply online, you will select University Transfer as your program option.

Apply online