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Japanese for Beginners
Very good condition. Text pages are clean with no internal markings. Slight stain on first blank page. Dust jacket is good with slight edging and smudging. Thank you for your purchase.
- GenresNonfiction
208 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 11, 2017
I'm glad to have finally finished reading this book. As it is for beginners, almost everything is in Romaji, save the few pages at the back for the hiragana/katakana table plus each chapter's example sentences in Japanese listed at the back. I find that the system the book was designed is quite effective in presenting each lesson in a logical manner and making it easy to use. The units are divided into certain themes or situations.
If you're interested in reading this book, one thing you should know is that you'd need to know how to use it (it's easy, don't worry). In the first pages, the book explains abbreviations it uses to guide the reader. These abbreviations pertain to parts of speech, guides (i.e. compare, take note), direction to another unit, and so on. The first page of each unit lists the vocabulary words that will be used; the next two contain example sentences and some grammar points; the fourth one is called 'Further Study', the fifth one is an example of a conversation using the just learned grammar points; and the last one is called 'Look and Learn' and is mostly visuals. The back part has - in addition to the syllabary charts - an index of vocabulary words and grammatical patterns.
As an advanced beginner/pre-intermediate Japanese language learner (I've [very] slowly been studying Japanese on and off for more than a decade; I can read hiragana/katakana easily and some kanji; I can make basic conversation), I sometimes wish the examples were written in Japanese with furigana. I understand this book is for beginners but it would be helpful to differentiate some homonyms if they were written in kanji. The good news is once you've finished with this one, the next step is to read the next book called Japanese For Today and it does have more text in Japanese – I have a copy of it as well.
One thing I noticed is that as a speaker of English as a second language, I found some parts of the book easier to understand for native English speakers (the book had English consultants). That means you kind of need to be good in English. I mean, I had this book when I was around 14 and I found it difficult to understand (again, English is my second language; also, I'm not a wide reader). Now that I'm almost 30, I have better understanding and appreciation of the book.
Another thing, because the book was published in 1977, some content may be dated. For example, what is a telex? I honestly don't know and will look it up.
And if you're looking for exercises, this book doesn't have any. It's totally up to you to practice as there are no fill in the blanks, questions, or prompts from which you could apply what you have learned.
Overall, I would say that Japanese For Beginners is extremely useful. I found that I learned a number of important things from this book that I didn't from another one that I use, and that other book had examples and conversations written entirely in Japanese. This I believe is because of its explanations and the way it's written. It's written in a manner that is at times like short narratives. There's a flow of ideas and it's not boring. Despite the age of the book, I think younger learners can still benefit from it. Do give the book a try if you are planning to study or have already begun studying Japanese.
If you're interested in reading this book, one thing you should know is that you'd need to know how to use it (it's easy, don't worry). In the first pages, the book explains abbreviations it uses to guide the reader. These abbreviations pertain to parts of speech, guides (i.e. compare, take note), direction to another unit, and so on. The first page of each unit lists the vocabulary words that will be used; the next two contain example sentences and some grammar points; the fourth one is called 'Further Study', the fifth one is an example of a conversation using the just learned grammar points; and the last one is called 'Look and Learn' and is mostly visuals. The back part has - in addition to the syllabary charts - an index of vocabulary words and grammatical patterns.
As an advanced beginner/pre-intermediate Japanese language learner (I've [very] slowly been studying Japanese on and off for more than a decade; I can read hiragana/katakana easily and some kanji; I can make basic conversation), I sometimes wish the examples were written in Japanese with furigana. I understand this book is for beginners but it would be helpful to differentiate some homonyms if they were written in kanji. The good news is once you've finished with this one, the next step is to read the next book called Japanese For Today and it does have more text in Japanese – I have a copy of it as well.
One thing I noticed is that as a speaker of English as a second language, I found some parts of the book easier to understand for native English speakers (the book had English consultants). That means you kind of need to be good in English. I mean, I had this book when I was around 14 and I found it difficult to understand (again, English is my second language; also, I'm not a wide reader). Now that I'm almost 30, I have better understanding and appreciation of the book.
Another thing, because the book was published in 1977, some content may be dated. For example, what is a telex? I honestly don't know and will look it up.
And if you're looking for exercises, this book doesn't have any. It's totally up to you to practice as there are no fill in the blanks, questions, or prompts from which you could apply what you have learned.
Overall, I would say that Japanese For Beginners is extremely useful. I found that I learned a number of important things from this book that I didn't from another one that I use, and that other book had examples and conversations written entirely in Japanese. This I believe is because of its explanations and the way it's written. It's written in a manner that is at times like short narratives. There's a flow of ideas and it's not boring. Despite the age of the book, I think younger learners can still benefit from it. Do give the book a try if you are planning to study or have already begun studying Japanese.
June 18, 2017
Yet another Japanese textbook, includes cassettes! Old!
April 7, 2012
Was very helpful
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews