Japanese (Language & Culture)

The World Languages Center (WLC) is a suite of rooms within SJU Alcuin 101 that serves as a meeting space for cultural enrichment, language learning and exchange, tutoring, office hours, foreign-language film screenings, and group or individual language study.

The WLC has a computer lab (Alcuin 107) equipped with webcams and headsets, and is used for language testing, language-learning software, and interactive online communication with native speakers.

Alcuin 102 is used for language faculty office hours, 113 for Fulbright scholars who serve as teaching assistants for language programs, and 119 is a seminar room that can be used for screenings, classes, presentations, or additional study space.

The WLC houses a collection of language-related textbooks and resources that go beyond the languages taught on our campuses. It is open to all interested in speaking and studying languages.

Dictionaries:
https://jisho.org/ -- excellent for both word lookup and kanji search (English interface)
https://www.alc.co.jp/ -- great dictionary for J-E or E-J, with many example sentences and phrases (Japanese interface)
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/best-japanese-dictionary/ -- great breakdown of the different types of dictionaries and how to make sense of them

Hiragana and Katakana practice for Genki:
http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/site/self/site/hiragana/hiragana.html
http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/site/self/site/gakusyu/katakana.html

Kanji practice for Genki:
http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/kanji-reading-practice

Grammar resource:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar -- strong explanation of grammar concepts that could be useful for supplementing textbook explanations and getting more example sentences

Audio/visual practice:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ -- NHK’s News Web Easy lets listeners hear a slowly dictated news article in Japanese while following along with the script, which contains kanji readings. Excellent listening and reading practice.

Browser Add-ons (allows you to hover your mouse over Japanese to get translations and readings of words and kanji):
Rikaichan (for use with Chrome)
How to use Rikaichan (available on Firefox and Chrome): http://www.polarcloud.com/rchow

Good dictionary apps for smart phones:
Imiwa? (free)
Shirabe Jisho (free)
EOW (Eijiro on the Web) (free)
Midori ($10)

Here's a library catalog search for English language dictionaries Japanese.
The specific titles below might also be helpful.