Designing a beginner Japanese course

I am going into UK college (ages 16-18) next year and we have an enrichment slot as well as after school slots. Most likely in the after school slot I am considering running a Japanese beginner class provided it gets a good response. I already know a few people that are interested and that is without promoting it. The problem is that I learnt Japanese in a very strange order therefore I am completely stuck when it comes to creating a course.

What comes first? Kana, basic greetings and sentences, grammar.

Should I teach kana before I move on or will that put people off?
Will teaching people words in romaji before they learn kana be a mistake?
Should I leave grammar until last so people are not frightened despite the fact that it may ruin their sentence structure?

This is also for future reference for those who are unsure on where to study. I know that this thread has been done numerous times before but they are usually 'Where should I start?' threads. I need a thread that appeals to an entire group of people.

Thank you in advance.

When I took my first class, people were generally discouraged when learning Kana. It seems like they want something they can use immediately. Although I recommend that an individual learn Kana before starting a class, I wouldn't start the class itself that way. Your probably better off starting with coined phrases, and do them verbally. Yeah, you would probably hand out sheets in Romaji so they could memorize them at home. Then I would make sure they knew the Kana before going into learning particles and grammar. It seems far easier to see what is going on grammatically when it's not in Romaji.

That said, the brain seems to like a change of focus every hour or so. So, if your class is long enough, you might want to do 2 different elements a day so people don't start sleeping before the class is over.

Good luck.

Fortunately, you don't have to independently reinvent the field of pedagogy; you just need to use some good proper textbooks (and associated materials, where available) prepared by education professionals who have already worked all this out for you.

Is your grasp of Japanese sufficient that you feel comfortable taking responsibility for proctoring others? Answering their questions about grammar and usage? Serving as their model for pronunciation and intonation?

Mike Cash said:

Fortunately, you don't have to independently reinvent the field of pedagogy; you just need to use some good proper textbooks (and associated materials, where available) prepared by education professionals who have already worked all this out for you.
Is your grasp of Japanese sufficient that you feel comfortable taking responsibility for proctoring others? Answering their questions about grammar and usage? Serving as their model for pronunciation and intonation?

Click to expand...

So you are suggesting that I should use textbooks to guide students through lessons rather than creating lessons from scratch? I guess it would be a better idea to follow a professional syllabus instead of using my 'gut-feeling'. Thank you for the advice.

It will take a burden off of you and result in a more productive use of everyone's time and effort. Heck, you may even learn something yourself.