- Japanese

Japanese Program

The full-year program in Japanese consists of an introductory level in the summer, intermediate level in the fall, and advanced level in the spring. Students need not enroll in the entire full-year program to participate in FALCON. Some students enroll in the summer course to get an intensive introduction to the language, then either go to Japan or continue in regular, non-intensive courses at Cornell or at their home institutions.

Students who can demonstrate appropriate knowledge of the language can join the program at non-introductory levels (fall or spring). However, because introductory programs differ widely in content and methodology, completing an introductory course elsewhere does not necessarily enable students to qualify for the fall FALCON program. Students without the necessary background are normally required to begin their study of Japanese at Cornell in the summer if they do not testwish to enroll in fall or spring FALCON courses.

For hundreds of years after its decline as a spoken language, students were taught Latin for the simple reason that it would improve their minds. "An incomparable training ground for mental gymnastics," it's been called. For English speakers, Japanese more than compares. At FALCON, you'll dedicate yourself to studying the language with few outside distractions. Follow Professor Sukle's method of instruction, and you'll be a lithe mental gymnast in no time. An added incentive: unlike Latin, Japanese is widely spoken, and has a dynamic publishing industry supporting it. After FALCON, you'll be able to navigate life in Japan, or life as a Japan expert anywhere. You'll be equipped with the necessary training to take your language skills, both spoken and written, to whatever level you desire. It's up to you.
-Ivan Schneider, Full-Year 1988-89

Intensive Japanese

Japanese 1160 | Japanese 2260 | Japanese 3360

Remembering Eleanor Jorden

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Eleanor Jorden, Wednesday, February 18, 2009. She was living in the home of her daughter, Telly, and her son-in-law. Her son Temple lived in the vicinity and had been able to see her often. Temple reports that she passed away peacefully in her sleep.

We will always remember her as a great colleague, as a brilliant, charismatic, inspiring teacher and, above all, as a warm, witty and caring human being and friend. She first came to Cornell in 1969 as a Visiting Scholar after retiring from the Foreign Service Institute Language School, where she had held the position of Dean of the School of Asian Languages. In 1971 she was granted tenure at Cornell and the following year founded the FALCON Program. She had already become the primary force in the teaching of Japanese, having published the two-volume text, Beginning Japanese. For many, many decades, year after year Beginning Japanese topped the best-seller list of Yale University Press and it remains in print today. During her time at Cornell, she published Reading Japanese, a revolutionary and highly-acclaimed textbook, still in print. Toward the end of her 18 years at Cornell, she began her mammoth work, Japanese: the Spoken Language, which came out in three volumes. After leaving Cornell in 1988, she assumed a position with the National Foreign Language Center in Washington, DC, where she published, with Richard Lambert, the comprehensive and important study, "Japanese Language Instruction in the United States: Resources, Practice, and Investment Strategy."

Only a small sampling of the awards she has received in her lengthy and productive career include: The Order of the Precious Crown, granted by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan in 1985; The Japan Foundation Award in 1985; The Papalia Award for Excellence in Teacher Education, from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in 1993. She also received four honorary doctorates and served as President of the Association for Asian Studies once and President of the Association of Teachers of Japanese twice.

-Robert J Sukle

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