With its spectacular natural beauty, world heritage sites, immensely rich history, global pop culture influence, and the technology-forward allure of cities like Tokyo, Japan attracts tens of millions of travelers from around the world every year. Learning the language opens the country and culture to you in a way non-Japanese speakers would miss. Now is the time to jump into this fascinating language with Learning Japanese: A Gateway into Culture. In 36 lessons, you will learn not only to speak, read, and write Japanese, but to appreciate the culture as revealed in the language—a culture built on respect for others and the supreme importance of civility.

Your professor, Yuki Sasaki Caldwell, is a native Japanese speaker who has lived and worked in the United States for decades. She teaches with an energy and enthusiasm for her subject that is contagious; she wants you to learn Japanese! In addition to hearing the spoken language and seeing the written language, this course’s on-screen transliteration and graphics make it easy for you to follow along as you increase your Japanese language skills.

One of the most significant values in Japanese culture is the desire to be polite. Supporting that value, the Japanese language has three separate forms of speech corresponding to three levels of politeness: the plain or dictionary form, the polite form, and the honorific or humble form. In this course, Yuki teaches the three forms and guides you in choosing which form to use in which circumstances. She explains the cultural emphasis on Japanese values, such as humility, respect for others, and never bragging about your own achievements. You’ll also learn the three Japanese writing systems.

Learning anything new is exciting, but especially learning a language that will open a culture so different from your own. Learning Japanese: A Gateway into Culture gives you a brand-new way of looking at the world—and an opportunity to truly understand this alluring land and people.