Book Description
Picture mnemonics are a proven tool in the world of language learning. Japanese Katakana for Beginners makes character learning quick and effective by implementing this established system. The method used in Japanese Katakana for Beginners has helped thousands of students learn katakana successfully in the United
States and Japan.
Full of useful writing tips, rules that allow students to write all Japanese sounds, and exercises such as word searches, crossword puzzles, fill in the blanks, timed recognition quizzes and more, this book is an excellent tool to increase knowledge of the Japanese language.
... Read more

Book Description
Some Japanese words and phrases, even though they lie at the core of the language, forever elude the student's grasp. They are not explained satisfactorily in dictionaries or textbooks for the simple reason that they cannot be conveniently defined. Japanese Core Words and Phrases brings these
recalcitrants to bay.

The book is divided into two parts, each of which is arranged in alphabetical order. The first part is devoted to words indicating physical as well as psychological distance-roughly equivalent to "this," "that," "that over there," and "where," but quite different in usage. Physical distance is
covered in most textbooks, but psychological distance-every student's nemesis-is not.

The second part of the book covers a variety of idiomatic expressions, many of which appear in Japanese proficiency tests. Each entry word or phrase is not simply explained but exemplified in sentence form, clarifying its meaning (in the case of many students) for the very first time.

Japanese Core Words and Phrases has a great deal to offer the beginning student and much to offer the intermediate student. Little more can be asked of a book on the Japanese language.

Previously published in the Power Japanese series as Core Words and Phrases: Things You Can't Find in a Dictionary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

good ol' koudansha
Well, as the title so boldly states you WILL find things in this little gem that you wouldn't find in just any dictionary(although you might want to try eiwa-waei dictionaries aimed at native japanese speakers if you've reached a certain level of proficiency). I do have one gripe, though. Why can't language guide publishers be more careful when it comes to typo's?They've even misspelled the name of the author on page 3(dai6satsuhakkou).Who is "Kazuko Shoji"? This kind of thing is pretty common in koudansha publications which is pretty sad considering the outstanding work of(most of)the authors. Fortunately, romanised text helps clear any discrepancies most of the time but it's still annoying.

Wish I'd bought this sooner!
This book really is excellent in every way. I'm an intermediate/advanced japanese student, although I mainly study on my own these days. Because of that, I needed something to teach me some of the little things that are difficult to find in a book, yet are a big part of the language, and this book does that. It has a HUGE list of Japanese idioms, set phrases, and similar grammatical tools that are absolutely integral to the Japanese language, and I often found myself going "Oh yah, that's the kind of thing I would say in English, but never thought to learn it in Japanese!"

Basically, if you want to take a break from the textbooks and learn some really good fundamental and natural Japanese grammar, this book is for you. For the price, you simply can't beat it. I also HIGHLY recommend "Basic Connections:Making Your Japanese Flow." With those two books, you'll have enough info to last you a long time!

A little more advanced than I was looking for
This book seems quite useful, and is well-indexed... but this is really for intermediate to advanced students of Japanese.To use this book, you should be able to read some Kanji, and already have a good knowledge of Japanese sentence structure and a reasonable vocabulary.

A Great List of Expressions that are not in Dictionaries
I feel that my comprehension of written Japanese has improved as a result of reading this book. By reading novels in Japanese I found out how insufficient most dictionaries and grammar references are with regard to the Japanese I often found in novels. Thus, I was quite pleased when I found this book because it seemed to cover a lot of the words that I had been unsuccessfully searching for in dictionaries. This book is broken down into two sections: gdemonstrative pronounsh and gidiomatic expression.h Under each section there is a list of phrases; each phrase covered receives over a paragraph long explanation, as well as numerous example sentences. Furthermore, I feel that this bookfs best point is the selection of words covered. Thus, I feel that this book is a good value because you will likely not find the same expressions in other resources. Also, I think that this book has particular value to those students who want to start to gain confidence reading Japanese literature. ... Read more

Book Description
SPEAK JAPANESE WITH CONFIDENCE IN JUST 6 WEEKS!

The Living Language® Japanese Complete Course teaches the basics of Japanese language and usage. It uses a highly effective speed-learning method developed by U.S. government experts to teach languages to overseas-bound service personnel and diplomats.

THREE 60-MINUTE COMPACT DISCS WITH 40 LESSONS
•Begin with simple words and progress to complex phrases and sentences.
•Just listen and repeat after the native speakers on the recordings to learn naturally, the way you learned English.

JAPANESE COURSEBOOK
•40 lessons from the recordings with translations, additional vocabulary, detailed explanations, quizzes, and reviews.
•Verb charts, a comprehensive grammar summary, and a section on letter writing are also included.

JAPANESE–ENGLISH / ENGLISH–JAPANESE DICTIONARY
•More than 20,000 words, idioms, and expressions.
•Examples show how words are used in everyday conversation.
•1,000 frequently used words are highlighted for easy reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Complete in substance, not in format
This little box does indeed contain every datum necessary to speak japanese well. However, all the audio material is placed on two audio cassettes without any repetition. That's the only way to put this much material on two cassettes. I recommend digitizing the tapes, breaking the recordings up into the forty individual lessons, and practicing them repetitively one by one. In that form, there is a lot to be gained from this set. I wish the included dictionary were more literal in its sense of word translation. The great thing about this set is that it is complete at so small a price.

If price is not an issue, I suggest Pimsleur for learning competence in a language, but I'm glad I bought this set, just to begin with.

Important point for consideration
The Living Language Complete Course, is really better for students trying to get a quick handle on Japanese.Grammar explanations are minimized in favor of pattern sentences and learning the writing system is deferred.

The Living Language Ultimate Course is more dedicated towards the serious student who wants to know the mechanics of Japanese and delve deeper into the writing system as well.

This should be on the box so potential buyers can make a more informed choice; instead, it is on the company's home page FAQ.

So if you want a good course that isn't technical yet will get you talking quickly get the complete course.If you want a more scholarly work equivalent to a college Japanese education and fully learn the mechanics of the language, get the ultimate series.

I haven't tried the basic course although I am using the ultimate course, but after reading the other reviews addressing the lack of serious content I thought it might help to address why that is so.After all, the word "Complete" can be misleading.

Perfect tool to learn Japanese and it's a lot of fun too!
This complete course come with three audio CD's, Japanese to English/English Japanese dictionary, and a course book. This is a perfect tool for everyone who wants to learn Japanese! It's a lot of fun as you listen and repeat the words and phrases. It has 40 lessons on three CD's and it's a lot of fun! I really like the third disk because it has awesome dialoges and it's really cool!

If you want to learn Japanese and become really fluent try this complete course set and you'll start speaking Japanese right away! It's fast, easy, and a lot of fun when you learn a new language! Remember practice makes perfect and you'll want to learn more new words and phrase everyday and you'll be really fluent when you impress someone who speaks Japanese! It's fun to learn a new language and I really like this complete course set! Try it and you'll start speaking and understand Japanese!

Sayonara!

good book set , still needs work
I had this book set for over 4 years,and I have to say it is pretty good at teaching japanese (I picked it up pretty fast using their recommended study plan). But it still needs work...............

PROS:
Native speakers on the CD help you speak japanese clearly and tune your ears to fleunt spoken japanese .

Proper Verb and Sentence structure lessons

Essential Words and Phrases are given and explained

Japanese Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide

Japanese Grammar supplement inback of the book

Easy for absolute beginners

CONS:

Native speakers only cover the *SELECTED* words in the book.

No Kanji or Kana are used with the lessons (although there is a japanese alphabet section in the back of the book)

Even though grammar is explained, it could be simplified with using charts instead of blocky paragraphs.

"... LIFELESS Language CompleteCourses...."
As a language teacher, I was extremely disappointed with the enclosed textbookand CDs.The book consisted of a series of vocabulary lists, short, decontextualized phrases and grammar lessons.The audio CDs were one person simply reading through the vocabulary lists and phrases. The course was not structured in meaningful waysto help the learner retain the language or communicate in Japanese.The addition of some authentic dialogs with audio recordings would have improved the course significantly. ... Read more

Book Description
Contemporary Japanese: A Text for College Studentsis designed for beginning students of Japanese language at the university level, intended for use in the classroom as well as for self-study. Each lesson is based on a single communicative objective and uses a "guess and try" approach to learning, which encourages problem-solving versus rote learning. This innovative way of teaching through observing real-life conversations enlivens the learning process, and will motivate independent and non-vocational learners.

Contemporary Japanese: A Text for College Students Volume I contains 14 chapters, broken into 61 short lessons, each of which involves a variety of activities and is designed to be covered in a single session—the `daily multivitamin' approach. An audio CD containing pronunciation guides, and dialogs for each chapter accompanies the book.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best College Textbook for Beginners on the US Market
I'm a Japanese language major and in my fourth year of 'serious' study, so I'm not exactly in the market for such an elementary textbook, but I have flipped through it several times at bookstores, and I have to say this is the elementary textbook I wish I had studied! And for one simple reason too: it actually teaches pitch-accent! A textbook that actually teaches (let alone even mentions) the phenomenon of pitch-accent in the Japanese language is nothing short of a rarity. It's a little more common in more advanced materials, but not even dictionaries include the most basic information on Japanese accentuation. Considering how important good accentuation is to actually being understood by Japanese, it boggles the mind how so few learning materials for English-speakers attempt to teach it, and any student who studies from this textbook will have a serious advantage over students of college textbooks like Nakama and Yokoso. Unless you add accencenuation to your beginning studies along with vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing that other textbooks cover so well, you'll be spending a lot time and effort later in your studies trying to correct how atrociously foreign-sounding your accent is to the Japanese ear. Since accentuation has to be learned on a word-by-word basis, start when your vocabulary is at zero, not at several thousand!

Good but needs a lot of supplementation
There is a lot to like about this book. I am reading it to review Japanese after having taken it twenty years ago in college and it has served admirably. It would probably make an excellent text for a first year Japanese course. However, some frustrating omissions make me skeptical that someone could learn Japanese on their own from this book without substantial supplementation.

Some things are excellent. The Japanese is indeed contemporary and conversational. Romaji are completely avoided throughout with kanji being introduced at a healthy pace. Indeed, immediately after teaching hiragana, the text starts using many kanji with furigana for the ones not yet introduced, so only natural looking Japanese is used. This is by far the best approach. Also, many of the explanatory notes are exceptional. For example, they have a diagram that makes completely clear the difference between many of the "time of day" words (e.g., describing the critical difference between yoru, ban, and yuugata, even though they are all often translated similarly). Useful cultural notes are well-integrated into the text.

The problems mainly come from brevity. It feels like the outline of an excellent textbook was never fully fleshed out. The dialogs and readings are few in number and short. Since the drills are also meager and haphazard, the student actually sees relatively little Japanese. Also, the short CD is not suitable for listening to in a car, since none of the drill instructions are given in the CD. Since languages are really learned by doing, a lot of supplementation is required like a classroom, Japanese reader, or for kanji practice, Tuttle's excellent "250 essential kanji for everyday use". ... Read more

Book Description
These pocket dictionaries give business and vacation travelers everything they need for a smooth, successful trip. Organized by subject, the traveler can quickly find the vocabulary relevant to the situation, whether transportation, hotels, meals, shopping, post offices and banks, sports, or health care, accompanied by a pronunciation guide. At the end of each phrase book is a 2,000-word mini-dictionary. Fully updated from the original editions to reflect currency changes such as the Euro and new vocabulary such as e-tickets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great phrase book to get you by on a short stay in Japan
I found this little Japanese phrase book came in handy during typical everyday situations- dining, asking for directions, greeting people.Useful phrases are grouped by context (situation) which makes it easier to quickly locate the correct expression.Pronunciation guide was good but could be improved.Overall, I would recommend this small phrase book to any English speaker who plans on a short visit to Japan (e.g. on a busniness trip).

Good Start
Having been to Japan a few times, and exposed to the sound of the language, I can very well see how helpful this nice, concise volume is, and how well the phonetics work. It was well thought out regarding the most common and useful words and phrases, the portability, the division of contents. An easy learning guide, and great to pull and peruse on a short train jaunt.

GOOD FOR BEGINNERS
This book has a lot words in Japanese that you will have to know when visiting a country that speaks the language.If you mispronounce words from the book while speaking to someone, don't worry, they will correct your pronunciation and anunciation.I highly recommend that you get audio tapes so you can not only learn the tranlations from English to Japanese, but you can learn to pronounce them correctly as well.I am currently on a seven month deployment in Okinawa, Japan, as an Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps.This book has been a great help and it is small enough to stick in your pocket and read later when you are waiting for an appointment, etc.The trick to learning words from this books is to learn a little at a time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Worst Japanese Textbook
I was in a class using this book. It was awful. The romanization was useless in teaching proper pronunciation, and also made it difficult to read. Despite having "drill sessions" in the class, my classmates struggled with pronunciation because of this textbook.
I finally chose to wait until a better class, and a better book, came along. I have been in a class where they used a different textbook, and that was far more productive because of it.
Save your money.

Required textbook
This is the book I needed for my third year of Japanese. I like the way it is set up and how it encourages practical language use. It may be a little difficult for someone who wants to learn outside of a classroom.

Absolutely Horrid
I don't know where to begin... I came from a high school where we used the Genki Text and went off to college to be placed in a class below my level which used this text book. This text is horrifying, first off the romanization of the Japanese words is just plain peculiar and they don't even use the kana or kanji in this text (how you learn to read Japanese through this method I do not know). The method through which they present the material is awful as well. I have this monstrosity because I'm in a class that it's a required text for, but if you have a choice I recommend the Genki test from The Japan Times.

Disappointing
I can't say that I'm overly impressed with this textbook. If I weren't a Japanese major and didn't need to take the class that requires this book, I'd probably have thrown it away long before now. The use of romaji throughout the entire book is very annoying and the way the grammar points are set up doesn't make them memorable at all. I've been in Japanese 201 since late August and have yet to learn anything new. I previously took 101 and 102 using the Yookoso textbook, which I thought was wonderful and I miss it dearly.

Save your precious time and money
Studied Japanese before college and used this series as an undergraduate AT YALE.Many of my peers and I agree: this book is *ABSOLUTELY PAINFUL* and sorely outdated.(Russia is still the USSR in here.)Another point worth mentioning is the fact that Harvard discontinued using JSL and replaced it with the Nakama series. ... Read more

Book Description
Japanese for College Students is a genuinely integrated, comprehensive course for learning every aspect of beginning Japanese: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It utilizes a functional approach tried and proved in the classrooms of International Christian University, known for the
excellence and experience of its staff. In three volumes, the series contains 300 hours of study, 2,000 words, and 450 kanji. Three sets of tapes complete the series.

TheTeacher's Manual is full of suggestions, advice, and ideas on how to complete a well-rounded course. See the excerpted Introduction below.

Features of Japanese for College Students

Listening and Speaking
* Varied, ready-to-use drill exercises make preparation a snap
* All activities within the text--no additional workbooks to buy
* Focused exercises utilize essential vocabulary
* Functional approach emphasizes quick attainment of useful skills
* Hundreds of additional related exercises included in the Teacher's Manual.
* Set of tapes (sold separately) enhances the speed and fluency of language learning

Grammar Notes
* Clear, straightforward explanations
* Plentiful examples eliminate the need for confusing, semi-grammatical terms
* Two Comprehensive grammar indexes (English and Japanese) for easy reference to the text
* Cultural and linguistic information provided as necessary

Reading
* Relevant, interesting, and up-to-date material
* Passages integrate previously learned material while concentrating on new vocabulary
* Two vocabulary indexes give definitions, kanji, and the place first introduced in the text
* Traditional Japanese subscript pronunciation guide (rubi) added where necessary
* Both horizontal and vertical printing are given, as well as hand-written passages
* Comprehension checks and reading/writing activities accompany each passage

Writing
* Employs the three Japanese scripts-hiragana, katakana, and kanji-from the outset
* Kanji introduced according to relevance and frequency of use
* New kanji presented with all common readings and stroke order
* Kanji index makes it easy to find previously introduced characters ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Excellent Book
This is an excellent Japanese book for any college student that want to improve his skills.

Pretty good book
At the beginning of each chapter, a number of sentences are written in Japanese. I would have liked to see translations of those sentences on the same page. But, that is not a big problem.
I like the "Grammar notes" in each chapter. They are clear, easy to understand and well organized.
Ii hon desu.

The best language textbook I've ever used.
This book is GREAT.I can't get enough of it.I went through the whole thing (the first one, there are four in the whole set) and I'm taking it with me next year when I go to be a foreign exchange student in Japan because it's such an indispensable guide.The exercises are pretty thorough and the readings are really good.The grammar in it can be a little much at times, but it's still excellent.And, once you work through it you feel like you've mastered it.
The only thing that I don't absolutely love about it is that I think that if you read some supplementary things (on the internet or whatever) about verbs especially ... (and adjectives a little) you'll be even better off.But it's not completely necessary, only if you want to fully understand EVERY aspect of the verbs, but the book still does a great job.
I recommend it 100% to anyone wanting to really learn Japanese.

A dry but helpful solution
This is a very dry and boring book but it does teach Japanese.The text goes far into particles and verb conjugations.A complete mastery of Japanese is in this three volume set.It teach approximately 10 kanji at the end of each chapter.It provides reading excercises and grammar points.This is also useful for learning English from Japanese.Not as useful in learning english as it teaches Japanese.Provides informaiton on the readings and is overall one of the best buys for the price.Should be used with many supplements.Does not completely differientate the particles.A chart would have been useful.Does not point out many conjugation problems that other texts seem to when ddealing with the "ta and te" forms of the verb.Excellent for the college student and even somewhat on the college level.I use this for self-teaching myself.

A step in a different direction for textbooks
Designed to be used in classes with an experienced instructor who is familiar with the CLT method of language learning (Comunicative Language Learning), this series can be used easily by the student studying alone.The lessons are set on and around the International Christian Univesitycampus, but (as is written in the intoduction) there is no need to stick toany set lessons. The text was designed to be flexible and usable the worldover.

As a word of advice, however, it would be best to accompany thesetexts with other grammer, vocabulary, and character guides as sometimes(and for some people) the explanations offered in the text are incompleteor difficult to understand.

With application, particulary in an academicsetting, in mind this series is most highly recomended for use in collegeclasses. Unlike other texts, "natural" language (Japanese) isstressed above all else, even at the expense of quick understanding,meaning a knowlegable instructor or friend can be indespensible for fullermastery. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (12)

Hilariously funny... but useful!
My daughter got this, who is interested in learning Japanese. Along with being educational, it was hysterically funny, (and dirty in places!). I don't know if I'd use some of these phrases if I were to go to Japan, but it's a fun and interesting read anyway.

Hilarious and practical.
I think it's fair to say that the goal of anyone serious about learning a foreign language is to not sound like you're reciting a text book. Get familiar with a few people, start using the lingo included here, and you're golden.

nice hook, good phrasebook
I got this and Making Out In Japanese for my son and his girlfriend, so they could be silly at each other and maybe improve their minds with another language at the same time.I'm told they've since been lent out to a friend who is preparing for a trip to Japan.
Personally, I wish I'd picked them up for myself, too.
I'd recommend these books for anyone trying to learn casual Japanese.
Delivery was about what I expected and the transactions came off without a hitch.

slang in japan
Have you ever noticed how hot some Japanese girls are? In some cases even more than most white erotic models. Have you ever wanted to ask one out? I know I have and now it's possible thanks to Matt Fargo's book D!rty Japanese. Matt who has lived and worked in Japan brings a guide to the slang that japanese people use. It's first in english, then japanese as it would be spoken and finally written in Japanese. We get different phrases for different situations. It's easy to read and a fun way to start learning the lingo so in the meantimedoko do i go mitsukeru a korugaru.

Richard Oliver

It's so good I wouldn't let my kids read it (if I had any)!
Wow, what a great book! It's more of a handbook, but wow, this little fellow sure carries a lot of information! I know Japanese, and the only thing that I was missing was the informal/slang part, and this book certainly covers it all! Not only that, but it increased my vocabulary a lot, I wouldn't have dream of knowing how to say the different types of breasts or "dicks," but thanks to this book I know them! This is a really good handbook, easy to carry around, well organized and with a huge amount of info. Totally recommended! ... Read more

Book Description
Booklet included in the book/cassette or book/CD package of Living Japanese, Revised. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A useful book... Just for advanced...
Well, this dictionary it's useful, but just for the people that already know japanese, in other way, it's just another dicctionary of the bunch. It's isn't a dictionary that engages you to take a text, and begin totranslate with it, That's impossible with this dictionary. But by other waythis book it's very cheap, and as a dictionary, it can improve yourvocabulary... Just that.

THIS BOOK WAS FANTASTIC!
THIS BOOK HELPED HELPED ME TOUNDERSTAND HE LANGUAGE AND ITS CULTURE ... Read more

Book Description
This book surveys the two main indigenous languages of Japan, Japanese and Ainu. No genetic relationship has been established between them, and structurally they differ significantly. Shibatani has therefore divided his study into two independent parts. The first is the most comprehensive study of the polysynthetic Ainu language yet to appear in English. The second part deals extensively with Japanese. It discusses topics from the evolution of the writing system and the differences between men's and women's speech, to issues of greater theoretical complexity, such as phonology, the lexicon and word formation, and the syntax of agglutinative morphology.As an American trained scholar in Japan, the author is in a unique position that affords him a dual perspective on language deriving from Western linguistic scholarship and the Japanese grammatical tradition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good, but doesn't seem as accessible as other such Cambridge volumes
Masayoshi Shibatani's THE LANGUAGES OF JAPAN, an entry in the Cambridge LanguageSurveys series, covers but two languages within its pages: Ainu and Japanese. The book is especially valuable for its inclusion of the former, as until recently little scholarship had been done on English on this endangered minority language of northern Japan.

I was especially pleased with Shibitani's survey because it is refreshingly diachronic. His first concern in presenting each language is to summarize the various disagreements over genetic affiliation. Ainu's status as an isolate seems secure and theories relating it to other languages seem quaint, but Shibitani gives what seems to be cutting-edge evidence of Japanese as an Altaic superstratum on an Austronesian substratum. The development of the modern phonology out of earlier forms is also discussed, including the problem of the Old Japanese vowel system. There's also some discussion of the evolution of the lexicon, and which dialects retain what. There may be some outcry over Shibatani's decision to consider Ryukyuan a dialect of Japanese, but in forming the survey he seems to have decided to see Japan as having two main languages on the basis of the uncertain origin of each. Since Rykyuan and Japanese are from a common source, they are grouped together. In fact, Shibatani writes, "Once a genetic relationship is established between two languages, it is a moot point whether to regard them as two languages or as two dialects of the same languages." The work also includes a substantial synchronic discussion of general grammar and word-formation.

I felt that I, in spite of his attempt to clearly present these languages, I would have gotten far more out of the book if I had better Japanese. The book is not as suitable for hobby reading by the linguistics student as other entries in the Cambridge Language Survey series. Nonetheless, it's worth look at for those interested in Japanese and the little-documented (in English at any rate) Ainu language.

Not what it claims to be!
The section on Ainu was very good, although not as thorough as the Japanese section.

One glaring omission was a section on the Ryukyuan languages. According to the author, it's "been proven" recently that Ryukyuan is actually just a "dialect of Japanese". This couldn't be farther from the truth.

The native languages of the Ryukyu Islands cannot be understood by people from the Japanese mainland. If the language native to the Ryukyus is indeed a dialect of Japanese, it is far more divergent from the standard language than any other Japanese "dialect". A story told in Ryukyuan could not be understood by most Tokyoites. A story told in Amami (the northernmost of the Ryukyuan languages) would even be difficult for a speaker of the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese (the southernmost) to understand.

The Okinawan language is as different from Tokyo Japanese as is Spanish from Italian, probably more like Swedish from German. The same can be said of all of the other Ryukyuan languages.

According to the author, the reason Ryukyuan is just a dialect is because of its historical relationship to Japanese. The same can be said of Swedish and German or Spanish and French with similar circumstances. In addition, they're all spoken in the nation of Japan... but so what? Catalan, Spanish, Asturian, Aragonese, and Galician are all closely related (even more closely than the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese), they are all native to Spain, and yet they are considered separate languages by all linguists and most laypeople as well.

The way equal treatment is not given to Ainu and Japanese is not a good thing and would take between half a star and a star off. The treatment of Ryukyuan is *extremely* disappointing and would take one or two stars off. Also disappointing is the lack of discussion of dialectal variation of each feature.

What *is* written is written well, however, and this book is a very wonderful reference for Ainu and a good one for Japanese, too. As a reference for the languages of Japan, it's 2/3rds the book it claims to be.

One reviewer claims that languages and dialects are differentiated by political divisions only. This is not true. In linguistics, languages and dialects are differentiated by the standard of mutual intelligibility: can speakers of one variety understand speakers of the other? For Ryukyuan languages and Japanese, the answer is a resounding "no". Examples to this abound in other countries: in Spain, there are Galician, Catalan, Spanish, Asturian, etc., all are considered separate languages because mutual intelligibility is difficult; in Portugal, there are Portuguese, Mirandese, Extremaduran, and Galician, all considered separate languages despite a close relationship and being spoken in the same country.

Even if they are merely "dialects", they are spoken by over 1 million Japanese people, and they are wildly different from Japanese, so in a book called "The Languages of Japan", they definitely deserve more than the 7 pages they get.

Some might defend Shibatani's poor treatment of Ainu, claiming that there's little information available on it anyways, and that what we do know is too little too late because Ainu is extinct.

This couldn't be farther from the truth. There are still over 200 native speakers of Ainu alive today (August 2005), including former Japanese Diet member Shigeru Kayano. There is also no lack of information on the Ainu language (most of it in Japanese, which is Shibatani's native language), including dictionaries, grammars, descriptions, stories in the language, textbooks teaching the language, songs in the language, and even FM Pipaus, a local radio station with broadcasts in and about the language. Shibatani did not make full use of the resources available to him, and the result is a poorly-written piece of [...].

This book is disappointingly deficient.

Excellent Book!
First, whether Ryukyuan is a "dialect" or a "separate" language is just a matter of semantics.As the author states, the only difference between the two is, in most cases, the presence of a separate government.In Japan's case, the Ryukuu islands are a part of Japan, and are therefore their old dialects are just dialects.Also, in the Japanese language, they are refered to as "hogan", which means "dialect" in English.If these islands were a separate nation, they would be a "different language", in the same way that Portuguese is a "different" (i.e., not a dialect) from Spanish.Ultimately, the thing to remember is that they are (were): 1. a closely related part of the small Japanese linguistic family, and 2. very difficult to understand for other Japanese speaking the other major dialects in northern, southern, and central Japan.

Anyway, I loved this book.After having learned Japanese, it was a pleasure to read an academic (but easy to understand) survey of the language, its dialects, and its history.Indeed, this book launched my amateur fascination with linguistics; perhaps someday I shall go so far as to get a degree in it.Now, I am reading an interesting book on African linguistics, but that calls for a separate review.

Defintely, buy this book!It is well worth the pocket change that they ask.The Ainu section is indeed a bit disappointing, but ultimately there was little information gathered on that language to begin with, and it is probably too late, since the language is essentially dead now.

Necessary Reading to Correct False Views on Language
Linguists (especially English-speaking ones) would do well to look to the Japanese language and test their theories against it *first* before making o'erhasty generalizations about language. I turned to this book after reading Anna Wierzbicka's work on 'semantic universals' and found that it validated my ideas that there is no exact equivalent in the Japanese language for the English word 'you' (or 'Du' in German, 'tu' in French, etc.). However, Shibatani's work is enjoyable and very informative. Non-linguists can (I think) understand it without much difficulty, and students of Japanese (as well as native speakers!) may enjoy his overview of the history and development of the language. He also goes out of his way to disprove certain 'myths' about Japanese. Plus it has a bibliography of works in both Japanese and English.

I sincerely hope more books of this kind will emerge.

An Excellent Reference Book
Shibatani's book "the Languages of Japan" is now 10 years old, but it still proves to be an excellent resource not only for the weathered linguist, but for anyone with any interest in Japanese, Ainu, and theirvarious dialects.

This edition gives a concise overview of Ainu andJapanese from phoentics to semantics and more. I found the chapter onJapanese dialects especially fascinating, and the first half of the bookthat is dedicated to Ainu is one of the most comprehensive modern works onthe language of Japan's indigineous peoples.

This volume is small andthus limited in its content, but overall it still remains a valuable andexcellent resource for linguists and language buffs. ... Read more

Book Description
Japanese From Zero! is an innovative and integrated approach to learning Japanese that was developed by professional Japanese interpreter George Trombley, Yukari Takenaka and was continuously refined over eight years in the classroom by native Japanese professors.Using up-to-date and easy-to-grasp grammar, Japanese From Zero! is the perfect course for current students of Japanese as well as absolute beginners.In volume two of the Japanese From Zero! series, readers are introduced to new grammar concepts, over 800 new words and expressions, and are also taught the Katakana writing system. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

As espected.. GREAT like da rest of the series.
I've read the first book of the series and now im half way through this one. One of the best books around if you wanna brush up on some grammer or just pick up the language for the first time. Just give it some time and soon u'll have japanese nailed down. Also if you have rosetta stone these books will help a lot in conjunction with the program to better understand it all. I cant wait to start learning the third installment which touches on kanji and finish the other 2 books to be ready to have long conversations when i go to japan. BUY NOW its a really good learning experience.

-iB ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

it's as easy as 1,2,3
We've all heard of authors stating that their laugagebooks or videos are the easiest to comprehend. So how is this casset any different, because it's 100% true! Whether you speak Japanese as a second language or if the only Japanese symbols you have veiwed are the ones on the back of pokemon cards,if you are serious about learning this exotic language that has been spoken for centuries buy this casset. ... Read more

Book Description
This delightful little story about the journey of a snake and an ant was written and illustrated by Jorma Rodieck when he was nine years old. Available in three bilingual editions. We at Open Hand hope that this book will encourage more children to write stories and to publish, and that it will stimulate everyone to learn more than one language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

awesome child's writing in bilingual format
Inspiring to teach students that they can get published in a big way and really communicate through writing to a large audience.this 9year old author's work is very cute and translated into Japanese--I think it speaks easily to other audiences as welll--a fast read for simple Japanese language use...my daughter loves it, I plan to use it in my Japanese language class.

Expose kids to other languages
I bought a set of these three bilingual (English and Spanish/French/Japanese) books for my niece, aged three and a half. She's not quite reading yet, but I wanted to expose her to the idea of different languages early.She likes the bold and simple illustrations and the story when it is read to her in English.

A simple children story...
I bought the Japanese-English version of this book. The idea was to practice Japanese reading with an easy text. Unfortunately, this is the typical book for the very young so that texts are scarce (and extremelysimple) while bold images cover the best part of each page. Fine as a bookfor small children but not a good choice to practice foreign languagereading. ... Read more

Book Description
Renowned for its Japanese for Busy People series, The Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (AJALT) has developed a new comprehensive course for teaching Japanese to young adults in English-speaking countries.

Japanese for Young People is a new three-level series designed for junior high and high school students, with an optional starter level for elementary students. With an emphasis on the coordination of structure and verbal communication skills, this program builds upon the basics of Japanese grammar
through the use of key sentences, dialogues, exercises, and entertaining activities. Exposure to spoken Japanese is facilitated by three compact discs.

Japanese for Young People provides the perfect foundation for learning one of the world's most difficult languages.

Japanese for Young People is a new three-level series designed primarily for junior-high and high school curricula, encouraging systematic Japanese-language process.The student books introduce the building blocks of grammar through key sentences, dialogues, exercises and activities.Workbooks
contain hundreds of exercises and games to help with the written language, while tapes provide natural, native Japanese.From the authors of Japanese for Busy People. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Helpful for beginners, but there's better..
I'm currently using this book in my first year Japanese class in college. It is rather helpful, but comparing this book to Genki Vol. 1, Genki is much better. Genki does a much better way of explaining the particles, vocabulary, sentence structue, etc.
If you're learning on your own, or learning in school, and are using this book I suggest you pick up Genki too. It'll be worth it in the end if you want to further your knowledge of the language.

Helpful
I have tried many different kinds of Japanese learning programs, but this has been the most useful so far. Although I would suggest getting a CD/Book if you don't hear Japanese often, this is a great starter program. It incorporates kana into the lessons, so you will learn also how to write.

I recommend it for all ages!

Great
I thought that this book was extraodinary!It helped me so much.The dialogue was awsome and the colorfull pages were great.I used all three books and now I speak Japanese fluently.

LearnJapanese
This book has been a guide for me through my studies of Japanese. The pictures are very colorful and helpful. The makers of this book have made up characters through which help to make the dialogue parts more intresting and comphrensable. Also through a mixture of english and hiragana, it is easy to understand while challenging you to learn hiragana at the same time. I highly recommend this book for children between the ages of 8-14, who are trying to learn japanese.

It's not that great
If you are looking for a book that helps you with Japanese grammar then this book is not for you. The book does not give in depth lessons and there are no english translations for sentences making it even more difficult to learn the language. The color pages is the only thing that is good about the book. I do not recommend this book for beginners, look elsewhere. ... Read more

Book Description
The beginning student, tourist, traveler, businessperson-everyone interested in the Japanese language as it is spoken today-will find this book to be an invaluable learning aid. Thirty easy-to-follow lessons present the most common features of the language in short, simple and immediately useful sentences. Practice exercises, accompanied by a Japanese-English dictionary, enable the user to apply grammar and vocabulary, and emphasize colloquial Japanese conversation. Based on years of successful, proven linguistic methods, Easy Japanese is an eminently practical introduction to the language.
... Read more

Book Description
There are three types of Japanese script-katakana, hiragana, and kanji. It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of katakana or hiragana-one must know all of them. Let's Learn Hiragana, and its companion volume
Let's Learn Katakana, is a textbook that introduces the learner to the basics of one of these fundamental Japanese scripts. Being a workbook, it contains all the exercises that allow the student to master hiragana by the time the book has been finished. Let's Learn Hiragana is a classic in the
field, and the huge number of students that have used it successfully is a sign of its preeminence as a self-study guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

AMAZING!!!!!
Ok, believe it or not, Using this book, I mastered reading Hiragana in 3 days.Of course, I couldn't put it down, and I also bought hiragana flash cards too which helped a lot as well, but still, the books was AMAZING.if you are trying to learn Hiragana in a flash, this is a great book.I can now read hiragana just by looking at it, and I can write it too.It's a great book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn hiragana easily, and in a way, kinda fun too!

Very good study aid
While taking a Basic Japanese course I was having difficulty remembering my hiragana. The lessons are helpful and easy to complete. The crossword puzzle was a great challenge! When I finished this book I aced my written and oral tests.I even began to read Japanese magazines and books with basic hiragana.Along with my class lessons this book helped me a lot!!Now I'm doing the 'Let's learn Katakana' book.They should make a 'Let's Learn Kanji' book!!

Simple, Easy and Fast
I've been struggling with hiragana for quite a while before i discovered this book on this website. I read previous reviews and almost all agreed on one fact: This book is a must-have for japanese language learners.

In less than 14 days, i was able to read all the hiragana characters. Wow! I didn't know it could be so easy!!! now i'm learning the katakana characters, of course, from the SAME author.

Very useful!
I've been looking for a good book so that I can start to teach myself how to write Japanese characters, and to my surprize this book really did the trick. I personally am not taking any other Japanese classes, nor have I had any in the past, but I love reading manga and really wanted to see if I could try to read the originals. So it became a hobby really, and this book has really aided me in my goal to read Japanese!

An easy way to learn Hiragana
Although you do need to practice outside of this book as well, Let's Learn Hiragana has a nice set-up so it's easy to understand and work through. There's an introduction about the usage of hiragana and an overview of what's in the book, then there's sections for groups of ten morae. I've only had time to finish two sections, but with outside practice and the worksheet, I've already memorized the twenty. A great way to start learning the kana system! ... Read more

Book Description

A revolutionary new approach to language learning based on scientific research

A terrific way to jump-start language learning, the Subliminal system is an audio-based approach that engages both hemispheres of a learner's brain, simultaneously, for quick, long-lasting results. The only commercially available system of its kind, the Subliminal series:

• Features a unique multisensory approach combining listening, speaking, reading, and writing for maximum retention
• Is scientifically proven to be the quickest, easiest way to learn the 1,000+ foreign words and phrases most used in everyday conversation
• Includes three 75-minute audio CDs and a companion workbook

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting method for building vocabulary
I believe some of the sound issues described in other reviews have been fixed, as of early 2007. Also, one reviewer mentions he can't locate the patent advertised on the cover -- it is, perhaps, a gimmick that doesn't appear to have paid off, given that there don't seem to be any versions of this product available for languages other than Japanese and Spanish. But the papers cited in the book appear to be legitimate, and the technique is certainly interesting.

I've found the method to be very effective. I'm memorizing about 30 words or phrases a day, spending approximately half an hour. The following strategy is working for me:
repeat the Japanese word after the bilingual audio (while reading text);
repeat the Japanese word again after the monolingual audio (while reading text);
test myself at the end of each list by writing the Japanese words (by list I mean a set of words, repeated in 3 different orders);
if I've made ANY mistakes, go back to the start of the list and repeat;
learn 3 lists a day.

These are essentially the instructions listed in the book. The only addition I've made I borrowed from Pimsleur. I simply retest myself on the lists from the day before, 2 days before, 4 days before, 8 days before, and so on (doubling each review period). If I make any mistakes, start again at step 1 above.

If anyone is interested, I've set myself the goal of memorizing the words in this (and the words in the Vocabulearn cds) over the course of this year, before even diving into grammar, syntax, kanji/katakana, etc. I suspect it will be much easier to learn a language with an ~8000-word vocabulary (the ~8K estimate includes the words in Vocabulearn) at my command.

Personally, I would love to see this method extended to include more languages and more vocabulary. It's certainly not effortless, but I do find it to be more effective than other methods I've encountered.

A decent vocabulary builder
I have had the opportunity to visit Japan several times for business and have always wanted to learn the language but have never managed to fit a proper course into my busy schedule. I have tried several different "teach yourself" methods, and have found that the programs that work best for me are audio only, with short tracks. I study primarily in the car, or at the gym, thus courses that require a text (some of the Living Language courses) don't work for me. I have found courses with long tracks, such as Pimsleur, to be less effective because it takes too long to repeat the material. Pimsleur compensates by introducing new vocabulary very slowly, and is very repetitive (the program's best attribute).

I started with the Living Language course, and then switched to one of the low cost Pimsleur sets. After finishing the Pimsleur I purchased the Learn in Your Car CDs, because the price tag of the full Pimsleur course was exorbitant for a product that is really not that great. I found that I made a lot more progress with the Learn in Your Car CDs than Pimsleur. The method is about the same, but Learn in Your Car has more vocabulary, and is broken into smaller focused sections. Both courses are canned renditions of similar sets in other languages, rather than original material written by a fluent Japanese instructor. Of the two Pimsleur is slightly better at offering cultural notes and a small amount of insight into why X is done in Japanese instead of Y, but overall both courses are poor at explaining usage and grammar. This is a big problem, because Japanese word choice and pronunciation is heavily influenced by the sex, age and social status of the speaker and his/her relationship to the listener. Watching Japanese TV helps a lot.

The reason I purchased this set is because I wanted to build my vocabulary a bit faster; and it does a fine job at that, but should not be billed as a general purpose program. Currently I listen to the Learn in Your Car CDs while driving to the office, and I listen to this set at the gym as a vocabulary builder. I also purchased some Kanji flash cards by Tuttle Language (great product).

Contrary to the prior reviewer I found the Japanese on this set to be audible, but the recording seems to be old and occasionally the microphone gain is a little too high and some of the audio is lost. Sometimes I can hear a little breathing, but I haven't found it terribly distracting.

When I began listening to the first CD I was very happy that the Japanese speaker was providing hints regarding pronunciation in English. However, most of the CD consists of short lists of English words repeated along with their Japanese approximation. Every 3 or 4 minutes a list is followed by a short dialogue, that is generally relevant to the previous word lists. The best feature of the CD is that words are repeated within the same list, and also in other lists, which helps reinforce what you have learned. I'm not certain of the benefit of hearing the English word and Japanese word together. Generally I find that it is better if I have to think of the Japanese word myself.

Unfocused and poor sound quality...
I make a habit of testing out various Japanese learning systems so that when I am asked "What's the best course?" I can give a clear answer.

The premise behind this learning method is the right brain and left brain are fed different audio signals (right ear Japanese {left brain}, left ear English {right brain}) which is supposed to make the language easier to remember.

With my reasonably high Japanese level it is difficult to say if this course would work for me, but given the very poor quality of the recording I doubt it would work for anyone. This is a criticism of the sound quality *not* the method. No flame wars please.

I tried various headphone sets and CD players to ensure the problem was the recording, each clearly demonstrated the sound quality was too poor to be heard properly. With just the right ear sound turned on the Japanese is indistinct and difficult for even a native speaker to understand. Further, between phrases there is a distinct click that sounds as if a cheap tape recorder is being turned on and off. Within a few minutes I believe most people would become very annoyed with the clicking.

I would wager heavily this course was recorded using a very cheap tape recorder, edited using an analogue method (such as three tape recorders and a line splitter) and then digitised poorly with a cheap PC sound card before being written to a CD.

With such a poor sound quality we will never know if this learning method has merit. Until this huge drawback is corrected I cannot recommend this package to anyone.

Other Information - a full patent search in the US, Europe, and Japan failed to turn up a patent for this product under any name. No filing number is given in the book or on the packaging. However, there is a great deal of prior-art for this method on the Internet going back to the nineteen forties; if the patent office did their job properly then the prior art would prevent a patent grant. This *may* be another case of claiming a patent is held purely as an advertising gimick. ... Read more

Book Description
This workbook has been carefully designed to facilitate the quick and easy mastery of the forty-six character hiragana syllabary used to write all types of native words not written in kanji.
Each character is introduced here with brushed, handwritten, and typed samples to enhance character recognition. Entertaining illustrations and amusing examples of onomatopoeic usage of hiragana in Japanese writings further reinforce memorization in a fun way.
This easy-to-use and practical workbook is well suited for beginning students of all ages. This revised edition has 16 more pages of exercises and additional practice pages.
... Read more

Book Description
Nanette Gottlieb's comprehensive study considers the role of language in Japanese society, particularly in relation to the formation of national and personal identities. It covers important questions such as multilingualism, language and nationalism, language and technology, and literacy and reading habits. Written by a leading authority in this field, Gottlieb's work is essential reading for students and scholars wishing to know more about the Japanese language and the society in which it is spoken.Download Description
Language and Society in Japan deals with issues important to an understanding of language in Japan today, among them multilingualism, language and nationalism, and literacy and reading habits. It is organised around the theme of language and identity, in particular how language is used to construct national, international and personal identities. Contrary to popular stereotypes, Japanese is far from the only language used in Japan, and does not function in a vacuum, but comes with its own particular cultural implications. Language has played an important role in Japan's cultural and foreign policies, and language issues are intimately connected both with technological advance and with minority group experiences. Nanette Gottlieb is a leading authority in this field. Her book builds on and develops her previous work, and promises to be essential reading for students, scholars, and all those wishing to understand the role played by language in Japanese society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another quality entry in an excellent series.
Those wishing to go beyond pop-schlock evaluations of contemporary Japan (cough! Shutting Out the Sun! cough!) would do well to turn to the Contemporary Japanese Society series, which thoughtfully describse and evaluates many aspects of the country's society and politics. In this volume, Nanette Gottlieb exposes and explodes the usual myths about language in Japan elegantly, and then goes on to describe language in all its forms: writing, the media, minority languages, dialect rights, and aspects of Japanese linguistic practice are all covered. It's not the most thrilling read ever, but it's informative and objective. ... Read more

Book Description

In 2005, the celebrated scholar of Japanese literature Haruo Shirane publishedClassical Japanese: A Grammar. Now, withClassical Japanese Reader and Essential Dictionary, he completes his two-volume textbook for learning classical, or literary, Japanese& mdash;the primary written language in Japan from the seventh to the mid-twentieth century. The text contains carefully selected readings that address a wide array of grammatical concerns and that steadily progress from easy to difficult. The selections encompass a wide range of historical periods and styles, including essays, fiction, and poetry from such noted works asThe Tale of Genji,The Tales of Ise,The Pillow Book,The Tales of the Heike, andEssays in Idleness, and such authors as Ihara Saikaku, Matsuo Basho, Ueda Akinari, Motoori Norinaga, and Fukuzawa Yukichi. Each reading is accompanied by a short English introduction, a vocabulary list, and extensive grammatical notes, and ends with a comprehensive grammatical annotation.

The classical Japanese-English dictionary composes the last third of the book and features approximately 2,500 key words, highlighting those used most frequently. The first of its kind, this volume is a vital tool for students, scholars, and translators of classical Japanese.

Customer Reviews (1)

An Excellent Textbook
This is the companion volume to the same author's Classical Japanese: A Grammar (2005).It includes a useful selection of excerpts from texts from the Nara to Meiji periods (eighth to nineteenth centuries), each accompanied by vocabulary notes, grammar notes, and a complete grammatical annotation.The texts include poetry (waka and haikai) and prose (zuihitsu, nikki, setsuwa, various types of monogatari, etc.), thus exposing students to a wide range of textual styles and providing an excellent introduction to the different forms of classical Japanese.The specific vocabulary items given in the notes for each text are complemented by those included in the classical Japanese-English Essential Dictionary at the back of the book.The Essential Dictionary, which also highlights the six hundred most frequently used words in classical Japanese, is a great resource for students, particularly beginners who might find a classical Japanese-modern Japanese dictionary difficult to use.The clear layout, thoughtful text selection, and comprehensive vocabulary and grammar notes make this an excellent textbook, one which should be of immense value not only to instructors and students of classical Japanese, but also to any reader looking to teach themselves the language. ... Read more