The Japanese Program at SAIS offers language instruction at the Novice, Intermediate-Low and Intermediate-Mid levels. The courses emphasize topics such as politics, economics, finance, diplomacy, foreign policy, the environment, energy and regional/global security to meet students’ needs for professional development in international studies. Classroom activities are geared toward developing students’ language skills in listening, speaking, reading and some writing.

To satisfy the language requirement in Japanese, students are expected to achieve the following levels of proficiency: Intermediate Low in listening and Intermediate Mid in speaking and reading.

Post-proficiency courses are offered for students who have met language graduation requirements and wish to further develop language skills in Japanese. The classroom activities include writing personal and business letters and discussions with specialists in the areas of their interests using the target language.