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Welcome to Japanese: A Beginner's Survey of the Language
This is a concise and user–friendly introduction to the Japanese language.
Students, businesspeople or tourists will have a much more rewarding experience if they learn basic Japanese prior to or during their time in Japan. Using a self–study resource is a great way to learn Japanese. In this book we would therefore like to "demistify" Japanese, to show how the language is formed and used, and to encourage you to pursue the study of it. Of course it has its challenges, especially with regards to the writing system, but we try to put these in a balanced context. And we like to think that, by describing the various facets of the Japanese language to you, we thereby empower you with a degree of knowledge and familiarity.
Welcome to Japanese is not intended as a language learning textbook. Rather, it is an introductory description, comprising four an overview; an account of how sounds are made into words; an account of how words are made into sentences; and finally an account of how the language is written. Naturally, in the course of these accounts we will introduce a range of beginner Japanese vocabulary, Japanese grammar, and Japanese script, which will be useful in a learning context. In fact, for those interested, we go into fairly advanced levels in the description of grammar. We give you example sentences for each grammar point, and try to make our description as clear as possible, but we stress again that we do not intend this as a teaching text. There are no exercises, for instance, and it's very much a case of going through at your own pace and dwelling on those parts that you find most interesting. Welcome to Japanese
Chapter 1: Getting acquainted with the Language Chapter 2: Challenges and Rewards Chapter 3: Making the Right Noises Chapter 4: It's Only Words? Chapter 5: The basic Parts of Speech Chapter 6: More Advanced Usage Chapter 7: The Writing System And so, Welcome to Japanese!
Students, businesspeople or tourists will have a much more rewarding experience if they learn basic Japanese prior to or during their time in Japan. Using a self–study resource is a great way to learn Japanese. In this book we would therefore like to "demistify" Japanese, to show how the language is formed and used, and to encourage you to pursue the study of it. Of course it has its challenges, especially with regards to the writing system, but we try to put these in a balanced context. And we like to think that, by describing the various facets of the Japanese language to you, we thereby empower you with a degree of knowledge and familiarity.
Welcome to Japanese is not intended as a language learning textbook. Rather, it is an introductory description, comprising four an overview; an account of how sounds are made into words; an account of how words are made into sentences; and finally an account of how the language is written. Naturally, in the course of these accounts we will introduce a range of beginner Japanese vocabulary, Japanese grammar, and Japanese script, which will be useful in a learning context. In fact, for those interested, we go into fairly advanced levels in the description of grammar. We give you example sentences for each grammar point, and try to make our description as clear as possible, but we stress again that we do not intend this as a teaching text. There are no exercises, for instance, and it's very much a case of going through at your own pace and dwelling on those parts that you find most interesting. Welcome to Japanese
Chapter 1: Getting acquainted with the Language Chapter 2: Challenges and Rewards Chapter 3: Making the Right Noises Chapter 4: It's Only Words? Chapter 5: The basic Parts of Speech Chapter 6: More Advanced Usage Chapter 7: The Writing System And so, Welcome to Japanese!
160 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2004
6 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth G. Henshall
20 books17 followersKenneth G. Henshall is a graduate of the universities of London (B.A.), Sydney (PhD), and Adelaide (Dip. Ed.), and is now a professor of Japanese at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He has also taught at the universities of Auckland, Western Australia, California and Waikato. He is well-known for his translations of literature and history books, and is the author of A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 24, 2020
Seandainya mau belajar bahasa Jepang, saya bingung memulainya dari mana. Ada begitu banyak sumber, entahkah aplikasi, artikel, buku, sampai video. Akhirnya saya menemukan buku ini, yang sepertinya, paling tidak, bisa memberikan gambaran umum tentang dasar-dasar bahasa Jepang. Taruhlah buku ini sebagai pengantar, pengenalan.
Lima hari kemudian ...
(... setelah pembacaan selama satu jam sehari ...)
Yomō mimashita keredomo, dame deshita ....
Intinya, sebelum dan sesudah membaca buku ini, persepsi saya terhadap bahasa Jepang tidak berubah:
MUZUKASHI!!!
Saya melalui banyak halaman buku ini tanpa menangkap sedikit pun. Mungkin pembacaan akan agak sedikit efektif bila saya membacanya secara perlahan sekali, berusaha memahami satu kalimat terlebih dahulu sebelum lanjut ke kalimat berikut--alih-alih langsung terabas begitu saja bak membaca novel.
Mungkin akan agak sedikit mudah pula bila buku ini berbahasa Indonesia, satu-satunya bahasa yang saya kuasai benar (walaupun tidak menjamin nilai 10 kalau saya mengerjakan soal-soal ulangannya). Isi buku ini kurang lebih membandingkan tata bahasa Jepang dengan tata bahasa Inggris, karena memang diperuntukkan bagi penutur bahasa Inggris. Padahal boleh jadi ada beberapa hal dalam bahasa Jepang yang lebih dekat kepada bahasa Indonesia ketimbang bahasa Inggris. Bahasa Inggris itu eksplisit, jelas, dan spesifik, adapun baik bahasa Jepang dan bahasa Indonesia bisa samar. Malah buku ini bilang, (kurang lebihnya) menerjemahkan bahasa Jepang ke bahasa Inggris itu bagaikan mimpi buruk.
Contohnya, dalam bahasa Inggris, subjek mesti dinyatakan. "Where are you going?" "I am going to eat." Dalam kalimat bahasa Jepang, subjek tidak mesti ada. Begitu pula dalam bahasa Indonesia. Paling tidak, menurut saya sebagai penutur aslinya, dalam bercakap-cakap bahasa Indonesia kerap kali yang digunakan adalah kalimat tidak lengkap. "Mau ngapain?" "Mau makan."
Contoh lainnya yaitu sama-sama ada pertimbangan kesopanan dalam bahasa Jepang dan bahasa Indonesia. Misalnya saja, dalam bahasa Indonesia, lebih sopan bila menanyakan, "Siapa namanya?" ketimbang "Siapa namamu?" walaupun menurut tata bahasa kalimat yang kedua itu yang benar.
Contoh lainnya yaitu tidak ada penanda majemuk. Dalam bahasa Inggris, misalnya, untuk menyatakan suatu benda yang jumlahnya lebih dari satu, ditambahkan "s". "Dog" menjadi "dogs". Dalam bahasa Jepang, tidak ada yang seperti itu. Demikian juga dalam bahasa Indonesia, penanda majemuk tidak mesti jelas. Misalkan, ada yang bilang, "Ada anjing di sana." Anjing yang dimaksud bisa satu, bisa juga ternyata banyak.
Malah, karena "anjing" itu bisa berarti kata makian, adakalanya di"sopan"kan menjadi, "Ada gogok di sana."
Paling tidak, buku ini mengusulkan bahwa mungkin ada baiknya memulai dari percakapan sehari-hari--sebagaimana setiap anak belajar bahasa ibunya. Di samping itu, kuasailah terlebih dahulu hiragana dan katakana, adapun kanji nanti saja.
Bagaimanapun juga, secara keseluruhan, dengan buku ini saya belum berhasil terbujuk untuk belajar bahasa Jepang, hahahaha.
Lima hari kemudian ...
(... setelah pembacaan selama satu jam sehari ...)
Yomō mimashita keredomo, dame deshita ....
Intinya, sebelum dan sesudah membaca buku ini, persepsi saya terhadap bahasa Jepang tidak berubah:
MUZUKASHI!!!
Saya melalui banyak halaman buku ini tanpa menangkap sedikit pun. Mungkin pembacaan akan agak sedikit efektif bila saya membacanya secara perlahan sekali, berusaha memahami satu kalimat terlebih dahulu sebelum lanjut ke kalimat berikut--alih-alih langsung terabas begitu saja bak membaca novel.
Mungkin akan agak sedikit mudah pula bila buku ini berbahasa Indonesia, satu-satunya bahasa yang saya kuasai benar (walaupun tidak menjamin nilai 10 kalau saya mengerjakan soal-soal ulangannya). Isi buku ini kurang lebih membandingkan tata bahasa Jepang dengan tata bahasa Inggris, karena memang diperuntukkan bagi penutur bahasa Inggris. Padahal boleh jadi ada beberapa hal dalam bahasa Jepang yang lebih dekat kepada bahasa Indonesia ketimbang bahasa Inggris. Bahasa Inggris itu eksplisit, jelas, dan spesifik, adapun baik bahasa Jepang dan bahasa Indonesia bisa samar. Malah buku ini bilang, (kurang lebihnya) menerjemahkan bahasa Jepang ke bahasa Inggris itu bagaikan mimpi buruk.
Contohnya, dalam bahasa Inggris, subjek mesti dinyatakan. "Where are you going?" "I am going to eat." Dalam kalimat bahasa Jepang, subjek tidak mesti ada. Begitu pula dalam bahasa Indonesia. Paling tidak, menurut saya sebagai penutur aslinya, dalam bercakap-cakap bahasa Indonesia kerap kali yang digunakan adalah kalimat tidak lengkap. "Mau ngapain?" "Mau makan."
Contoh lainnya yaitu sama-sama ada pertimbangan kesopanan dalam bahasa Jepang dan bahasa Indonesia. Misalnya saja, dalam bahasa Indonesia, lebih sopan bila menanyakan, "Siapa namanya?" ketimbang "Siapa namamu?" walaupun menurut tata bahasa kalimat yang kedua itu yang benar.
Contoh lainnya yaitu tidak ada penanda majemuk. Dalam bahasa Inggris, misalnya, untuk menyatakan suatu benda yang jumlahnya lebih dari satu, ditambahkan "s". "Dog" menjadi "dogs". Dalam bahasa Jepang, tidak ada yang seperti itu. Demikian juga dalam bahasa Indonesia, penanda majemuk tidak mesti jelas. Misalkan, ada yang bilang, "Ada anjing di sana." Anjing yang dimaksud bisa satu, bisa juga ternyata banyak.
Malah, karena "anjing" itu bisa berarti kata makian, adakalanya di"sopan"kan menjadi, "Ada gogok di sana."
Paling tidak, buku ini mengusulkan bahwa mungkin ada baiknya memulai dari percakapan sehari-hari--sebagaimana setiap anak belajar bahasa ibunya. Di samping itu, kuasailah terlebih dahulu hiragana dan katakana, adapun kanji nanti saja.
Bagaimanapun juga, secara keseluruhan, dengan buku ini saya belum berhasil terbujuk untuk belajar bahasa Jepang, hahahaha.
July 10, 2023
I'm learning Japanese at the moment, and I thought it would be fun and informative to read a book that was about the language, but not intending to teach you it, the same way as when I began knitting, I yearned for books about knitting, its customs and history, not just pattern or how-to books.
This book began well, it was interesting, and I learned about some aspects of the language that I had not yet picked up from my lessons elsewhere. But if it started at 5 stars, it dwindled to 1 by the end, where the author was trying to make some kind of invisible point about Japanese by listing sentence after sentence.
There was a great deal along the way that was so terribly specific that it really did read like a book that was intending to teach the language. For example, it's easy enough to say "in French, you change verb endings depending on several factors: whether the action is past or present, whether the subject is plural, whethere they're first person or not," and even that's a handful, but if you begin listing them out, you've completely lost your audience, and Mr. Henshall did much of that for Japanese.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
This book began well, it was interesting, and I learned about some aspects of the language that I had not yet picked up from my lessons elsewhere. But if it started at 5 stars, it dwindled to 1 by the end, where the author was trying to make some kind of invisible point about Japanese by listing sentence after sentence.
There was a great deal along the way that was so terribly specific that it really did read like a book that was intending to teach the language. For example, it's easy enough to say "in French, you change verb endings depending on several factors: whether the action is past or present, whether the subject is plural, whethere they're first person or not," and even that's a handful, but if you begin listing them out, you've completely lost your audience, and Mr. Henshall did much of that for Japanese.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews