FSI Japanese Fast Course

Japanese is the language of around 128 million native speakers, most of whom live in Japan. It related to few – if any – other languages, and little is known about its early history or development before around the 8th century CE, giving it a certain air of mystery.

Due to Japan’s powerful economy as well as the country’s importance in the world of business, Japanese is among the more common non-European languages for English speakers to learn. However, due to some tricky grammar and, especially, the complicated writing system, it is counted among the most difficult tongues to master.

Thanks to its popularity, there is no shortage of resources to turn to if you want to learn Japanese. However, any additional study materials are always useful, making this free online Japanese course a potentially invaluable supplement to whatever books you are already using.

Course Details

What are FSI FAST Courses?

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is a branch of the US government that has been proving language training for diplomatic staff for around three-quarters of a century. The core of FSI’s teaching is the Basic course, intensive programs of around six months that were intended to leave students with a high level of competence in their target language in a relatively short amount of time.

However, not everyone can dedicate six months to full-time study, so FAST courses were developed as an alternative for those with more limited time.

FAST stands for Familiarization And Short-Term Training, and these much shorter courses were designed to give students a basic grasp of the language at the same time as proving them with an introduction to the culture and customs of the destination country.

This way, they would have received at least some degree of preparation before beginning their postings abroad.

What is FSI Japanese FAST?

FSI Japanese FAST was published in 1988 and consists of eight chapters, each dealing with common situations you might expect to face while traveling, living or working in Japan. In each chapter, you learn the necessary basic phrases for dealing with each situation confidently, without dwelling too much on linguistic or grammatical detail.

The emphasis is on communication rather than total mastery of the language, and the goal of this six-week course was to leave students feeling confident and ready to try their new language skills when they arrived in the country.

How can you use FSI Japanese FAST?

This FSI Japanese FAST course would have been an excellent resource to work through before a trip to Japan since it teaches you a useful stock of basic phrases and expressions, giving you the linguistic tools you need to make the most of your time in the country.

Unfortunately, the audio recordings that go with the course are currently unavailable, making it much less useful than it would otherwise have been.

However, if you are studying Japanese with another coursebook – or even taking lessons with a teacher – working through the text of this course could still be a good way to consolidate your knowledge of the language while learning a bit more about Japanese culture.

If the recordings become available in the future, I will upload them to the site to go with the text to help anyone hoping to study Japanese with this course.

Alternatively, the complete Japanese Headstart course is available on this site, so you might consider trying that instead.

Taking it further

However you decide to use this free Japanese course, you won’t be able to master the language without practicing. For this reason, as soon as possible, I urge you to take the Japanese you learn and try it out in the real world.

Look for native Japanese speakers to converse with, and above all, do everything you can to make using Japanese part of your daily life. Because when you do this, you will quickly see how much progress you are already making in this challenging but fascinating language.

---

Course Contents

Lesson	Topic	Key Skills
Chapter I — First Encounters	Student Text (PDF)	526 pages · text only (no audio)
Lesson 1	Introduction to Japan and the Japanese Language (こんにちは)	State your name, greetings, counting to 99
Lesson 2	Finding Out Where You Are (ここはどこですか)	koko/soko/asoko, particles wa and desu
Lesson 3	Identifying Objects (これは何ですか)	kore/sore/are, demonstrative pronouns
Lesson 4	Asking About Availability (ありますか)	arimasu ka, expressing “I want…”
Lesson 5	Introductions (自己紹介)	Formal introductions, business cards, -san
Chapter II — Getting Directions
Lesson 6	Place Names of Interest in Tokyo (東京の名所)	Major landmarks, reading place names
Lesson 7	Some Basic Place Expressions (場所の表現)	ue/shita/naka/soto, relative positions
Lesson 8	Getting the Answer You Want (1) (道をたずねる)	Asking directions, migi/hidari/massugu
Lesson 9	Getting the Answer You Want (2) (道をたずねる)	Complex directions, landmarks as reference
Lesson 10	Asking the Distance (距離をたずねる)	dono gurai, time-based distance
Lesson 11	Review: Making It Work (1) (復習)	Integrated practice for Chapters I–II
Chapter III — Transportation
Lesson 12	Buying a Train Ticket (切符を買う)	Ticket machines, fares, destinations
Lesson 13	Taking the Right Train (正しい電車に乗る)	Platform signs, express vs. local trains
Lesson 14	Getting Off at the Right Stop (正しい駅で降りる)	Station announcements, confirming stops
Lesson 15	Finding the Right Exit and Changing Trains (出口と乗り換え)	Transfers, navigating stations
Lesson 16	Taking a Taxi (タクシーに乗る)	Giving directions, fares, tipping customs
Chapter IV — Shopping
Lesson 17	Locating Merchandise (商品を探す)	Store departments, counter words
Lesson 18	Asking for Service and Indicating Preference (サービスと好み)	motto/chotto, expressing preferences
Lesson 19	Making a Decision (決める)	Sizes, colors, adjectives for description
Lesson 20	Paying and Receiving Change (支払い)	Prices, cash/card payment, receipts
Lesson 21	Daily Greetings (日常のあいさつ)	Time-of-day greetings, seasonal expressions
Lesson 22	Review: Making It Work (2) (復習)	Integrated practice for Chapters III–IV
Chapter V — Eating Out
Lesson 23	Seating and Asking for Service (席につく)	Requesting a table, getting the menu
Lesson 24	Placing an Order (注文する)	Ordering food and drinks, dietary needs
Lesson 25	Placing an Order and Paying (注文と会計)	Asking for the check, paying the bill
Chapter VI — Telephoning
Lesson 26	Opening a Telephone Conversation (電話をかける)	Phone etiquette, identifying yourself
Lesson 27	Making and Receiving a Business Call (ビジネスの電話)	Leaving/taking messages, formal language
Lesson 28	More Telephone Calls (もっと電話)	Reservations, confirmations, wrong numbers
Chapter VII — Emergencies and Problems
Lesson 29	Emergencies (緊急事態)	Calling for help, medical vocabulary
Lesson 30	Getting Things Fixed (修理を頼む)	Reporting problems, requesting repairs
Chapter VIII — Useful Expressions
Lesson 31	Going Out for Entertainment (娯楽)	Suggesting outings, buying event tickets
Lesson 32	Expressing Appreciation, Regret and Other Sentiments (感謝と気持ち)	Formal thanks, apologies, etiquette
Lesson 33	Review: Making It Work (3) (復習)	Final review for Chapters V–VIII