Japanese for American High School Students: Book 1 provides a comprehensive, programmatic, and student-oriented two-year course of instruction. Each lesson strengthens and reinforces the instructional material with numerous and varied fun-filled activities to engage and energize students. The content of each lesson is also structured to present a virtual teacher's guide, especially useful for new or less experienced teachers.

Instruction is presented through a wide variety of means, including dialogues, essays, stories, oral practice, review sections, skits, songs, and games. A wealth of written and oral exercises not only make the teacher's task easier but also constitute a built-in workbook. A dedicated website includes audio files and other valuable materials keyed to the text.

The author drew on 20 years of experience in teaching Japanese to American high school students. The text reflects her hard-won understanding of the critical assistance that teachers need the most: step-by-step guidance with daily lessons, tried-and-true methods of inspiring students, and pedagogical approaches that actually work in today's classroom.