Le Japonais en Manga - Nouvelle édition - Tome 02

Japanese in Mangaland

by Marc Bernabé

Depuis sa première sortie, en 2001, Le japonais en manga a provoqué une révolution dans les méthodes d'apprentissage de la langue japonaise. Ce cours amusant et différent, publié en sept langues et fort de plusieurs éditions, a prouvé sa valeur en tant qu'outil permettant à toute personne intéressée par là langue et la culture du pays du Soleil-Levant d'intégrer les fondamentaux du japonais via les mangas. Sur la base du premier tome, ce second volume de la méthode du Japonais en manga approfondit les connaissances en grammaire, vocabulaire et écriture de la langue nippone pour aider l'étudiant à passer du niveau élémentaire à intermédiaire et préparer les N5 et N4 de l'examen officiel de japonais. Outre trente nouvelles leçons, dont certaines "conversationnelles" (qui permettront de faire face à des situations de la vie quotidienne au Japon), et les exercices correspondants, le présent ouvrage comprend plus deux cents activités complémentaires qui contribueront à consolider les divers concepts appris. Pour s'exercer à la lecture et la compréhension, il inclut Kage, un manga de trente-six pages créé spécialement pour ce tome avec un niveau de grammaire, de vocabulaire et de kanji évoluant au rythme des leçons assimilées. Ce volume révisé et amélioré reprend le matériel publié précédemment dans la première version du Japonais en manga 2 et du Cahier d'exercices 2.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Nonfiction, Language, Reference

544 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Traductor e intérprete del japonés, con especial hincapié en la traducción de manga y anime, campo en el que cuenta con un bagaje de cientos de volúmenes y episodios traducidos, además de ser especialista en didáctica de la lengua y cultura japonesas para hispanohablantes. Entre sus obras se cuentan la serie de cuatro libros Japonés en viñetas (Norma, 2001-2006), la serie de tres libros Kanji en viñetas (Norma, 2006-2009), Apuntes de Japón (Glénat, 2002), la serie Kanji para recordar (Herder, 2001-2004, junto con J. W. Heisig y V. Calafell) y la guía de viajes Rumbo a Japón (Laertes, 2005, junto con V. Calafell y J. Espí). Recientemente ha trabajado en los libros Hanzi para recordar (Herder, 2009, junto con J.W. Heisig, T. Richardson y V. Calafell, obra para aprender los caracteres chinos en dos versiones: chino simplificado y tradicional. Es fundador y director de la empresa de traducciones e interpretaciones Daruma Serveis Lingüístics, SL, desde donde gestiona sus propias traducciones, así como las de un extenso equipo de colaboradores.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

tl;dr Not recommended for beginners. Works nicely for a quick review, reads like classroom notes, so good for prepping for the JLPT. If you're just starting out though, don't let this series be your introduction to the language. Genki and Tae Kim are MUCH better. (I would also say this book is a skip, if you're in the fence, but feel free to read the "not tl;dr" for more info to help with that decision.)

Not tl;dr:

I've only skimmed this book various times in the past. I finally decided to sit down and give it a full go, since I've picked up my studies again.

To start off with, the idea that this takes you from "basic to intermediate" is a bit of a stretch. The things covered in this book would still be considered quite basic, albeit, just more of it. While the last book covered the bare minimum basics: the alphabet, a bit of kanji (brief), numbers, some expressions, adjectives (brief), particles (brief), a few verb forms (masu, dict., te), and a few other things, mostly vocabulary, this one expands with: volitive (want; tai/hoshii), can/must, more with particles, trans/intrans, much of N4 grammar, and more expressions and vocabulary.

I was a bit disappointed with the "extra" chapters in this book. It almost seems to have lost direction from the concept of "Japanese in MANGAland" and more to "here's some handy phrases if you visit Japan" like a tourist guide instead of an instructional fun book based around manga. (I state that since the topics are flights, hotels, transportation, and shopping. If I wanted to read about phrases and tips for traveling, I'd buy a book specific to that. But here, I bought a book specific to MANGA. This would've been great to include extra chapters like festivals, holidays, school, etc. Things commonly found in manga that fit the theme and appeal of the series.)

At the start of the book, the author claims that this series of three books contains "all the grammatical patterns, kanji(,) and vocabulary required to pass levels 4 and 3 of the JLPT". I'm not sure if that's true (as I don't own the third book), but regardless, these books alone would NOT be enough for the test. And I don't just mean because they don't cover speaking. The grammar is REALLY shoved in here, and with few examples and practice questions, I just don't think it's nearly enough to cover everything. While the author covers quite a bit of things, there's no depth to the explanations. "You say this to get that just because that's how it is, okay good luck!" It's like sure, there might be (most) all the info required for the test, but like, how meaningful is that if you're just going down a check list? I feel like Genki and Tae Kim give a lot more nuance and reasoning behind things, along with more detailed examples that really show off the power of grammar. (To be fair, I haven't finished going through Tae Kim yet, but from what I've seen, that was the impression I got.)

This book rushes grammar at you so quickly with little to no aid, it almost feels gimmicky. (Still no where near as bad as the standard gimmicky books "learn Japanese in two hours!" and the like. But he does easily draw people in with that one keyword--MANGA.) Genki has a similar rushed feel to a point, but the exercises, dialogue, and back sections gave you time to process and absorb, to where the pace felt right, and spaced out nuanced meanings so as to not overwhelm you. Tae Kim offsets it by taking deeper dives and really analyzing the meaning and purpose of the grammar. You don't get either of those here. While the manga explanations are nice and do break things up, it still feels quite rushed, with so much piled on at once, and no chance to really take it in. This series really would've benefited a lot more if the author just took that dive into manga, like the title implies, and ran wild with it. The first book was better about that, like the chapters of swear words and onomatopoeia. Embrace the manga, use more examples, really cater to the crowd. Reading this book, I have no idea what the target audience is, it's lacking direction and feels confusing. (One culture note even mentions prostitution?? These books are clearly eyed at by middle and high school aged children with "manga" as the theme, I don't know why he felt the need to include that?)

A book recommended to me which supposedly accomplishes this is 'Japanese the Manga Way', which I have and hope to tackle soon. At a glance, it seems like a strong book, and really does give on the promise of "manga". Shame this book couldn't do the same. The parts where the book really shines IS where it uses manga.

If anything, this book is written almost in a way that reads like notes you take in a class. So in that sense, if you're already going to take the JLPT 4 or 3, and want to review, this honestly isn't bad. The chapters go by fast enough, given the lack of deep information and examples, that if you're in a rush or want a quick reminder, this works nicely.

Also, to be fair, while I do find Genki and Tae Kim more beneficial for true beginners, no one resource is the best in isolation. Having several is really ideal. In that sense, this book isn't bad, and used WITH other resources, I think it could work just fine. By itself, for someone new, uh, definitely not. By itself for review, much more so. In combination with others, either for beginners or review, best option (if you had/wanted to use this book). Is this book a requirement? Nope. Feel free to skip. But if you /really/ want another book for review, it's your money xD

Note: there were several mistakes here and there throughout the book. (Wrongly conjugated verbs, mislabeled chapter references, incorrect answers, etc.) Just be mindful when reading. (This is why multiple resources are important!)

One last final note: the last chapter is overwhelmingly needlessly confusing. If you need help with ageru/kureru/morau, then look up Japanese Ammo on YouTube. She sums it up perfectly and in an easy to understand fashion. I don't know what was going on here.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marc, you've done an incredible job to help us the self study learners!

[Adam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Japanese in Mangaland series. Many very helpful lessons; explaining several of the more difficult grammatical elements in the clearest way I've seen to-date.

I've had this book for awhile now, but haven't had a chance to read it until now. Presently I'm preparing for the JLPT N3, and this book has been a real help in understanding some of the grammar point I still had great difficulty with. I'm glad to have read it.

It should be noted that some of the exercise answers are incorrect despite the thoroughness of the lessons; I think it has to do with last minute changes to the exercise questions.

A unique thing about the copy I own is that the cover is upside down which is pretty weird.