This course aims to develop functional Japanese language skills through exploring the features of Japanese society and culture. Among the unique features of Japan, we will focus on the three topics this semester, Japanese Youth, Communication Styles in Japan, and Current News. Students will continue developing intermediate grammatical structures and vocabulary in order to expand the volume and fluency of their speech and increase the reading/writing capacity on various every day and social/cultural topics. Major class activities include reading of passages including some authentic ones, video viewing, pair/group dialogues, discussions, essay/message writings, kanji studies, and presentations.