Unlocking Japanese with Paul Noble

by Paul Noble

Ever tried to learn Japanese and found it too hard?
Bestselling language coach Paul Noble has a quick and easy way to get you back on track with his unique tried-and-tested method. Paul’s course teaches you how to speak Japanese more effectively, giving you the building blocks to form a huge range of conversations. This is a practical way to learn the aspects of language that you’ll actually need and use; from booking a hotel room to navigating a menu, Paul will effortlessly build your confidence and give you the tools to handle any vacation situation. You will unlock a range of vocabulary you already know. There is nothing so complicated in foreign languages that it cannot be made simple.” Paul Noble A quick, easy and fun way to unlock your basic language skills. Perfect for beginners, this book will give you all the information you need to build basic conversations and get by on your travels.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2022

Reviews

[Sophie Crane]

Started this book knowing almost no Japanese. I just finished it (in about 3 months) and can now proudly say that I know a lot of new words and sentences, can construct sentences myself and know all the hiragana. The hiragana learning part was a bit too slow for me though, so to challenge myself I started learning all the katakana as well from other resources. Already started the second book and I can't wait to learn more. Also started learning a little kanji, but of course that is much harder. Now I'll be able to speak a little Japanese/ask for things when I'm going to Japan (Hopefully) next year.
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is particularly strange, especially for its lack of standard grammar, I must say that I found it very useful, although I would not recommend it to those who are completely unfamiliar with the Japanese language and especially its alphabets at least syllabic.

Per quanto questo libro sia particolarmente strano, specialmente per la sua assenza di grammatica standard, ma devo dire che mi é servito parecchio, anche se non lo consiglierei a chi é completamente digiuno della lingua giapponese e soprattutto dei suo alfabeti almeno sillabici.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Despina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book for beginners to start learning the Japanese language.

A bit of context - I have been learning Japanese for two years now (very part time) and have done classes/read textbooks. I have to say that this book is not the most helpful to my level, and I think you would have to know at least some Japanese before starting it. The reason is because it doesn't explain grammar structures in any depth, or provide a lot of vocabulary explanation, and uses exemplar sentences on repeat as its teaching method. Though repetition is effective in remembering things, I don't think this book would automatically solidify my knowledge in Japanese and should likely be used alongside much other material to make it fully effective. If this was a way to remember sentence structures and practice what you have learned in another context, then this book would likely be best productive in this way.

I would say it is worth noting the entire book is written in English script (romaji) and doesn't use hiragana/katakana and certainly no kanji, which I found quite disorienting because it jumps straight into things which you would assume require (ordinarily) at least hiragana/katakana knowledge). Also, some of the pronounciation guides are a bit ... wrong? I'll use a single example. 'I ate' in Japanese is tabemashita, normally pronounced ta (like tannoy) - be (like bell) - ma (like Matt) - sh (like shush, the i in shi is silent) - ta. For some reason the pronounciation guide for this word is 'ta-bay-mash-ta'. There were another few words I noticed as I went through which had a similar very 'English-ized' pronounciation, which would make your Japanese speaking sound incredibly unnatural.

I would also recommend reading this in paperback/physical form. The reason is that my ARC was on Kindle and it asks you to cover up the red writing a lot, which I struggled to do effectively on the touch screen. I think this would be much easier in physical format.

Overall a decent revision tool for Japanese beginners, but I personally wouldn't recommend it as an exclusive 'learn Japanese from scratch' book.

I was provided with an advanced reader copy via Netgalley and leave this review voluntarily.

[Hikari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most books for Japanese beginners, this one focuses on getting you speaking the language and creating sentences very quickly rather than spending the first 2 weeks or so simply learning the hiragana/ katakana alphabets. This means that initial progress feels pretty quick as you repeat the sentences (which are themselves repeated multiple times) then spend time playing with building blocks to create more sentences to further solidify your learning. What I found interesting is that most of the verbs introduced are in the past tense - not something I'd seen before in a beginner's textbook.

What's good about it is the speed that you start to create sentences of your own and builds your confidence in being able to understand Japanese. However, this approach does boot the hard slog of hiragana/katakana/ kanji memorisation down the road as everything is in romanji. However, the stated aim of the book is to encourage all those who've ever felt "I could never learn Japanese" and show them that they can.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I was reviewing an electronic copy but I would strongly recommend getting this book in hard copy due to the teaching style of getting the reader to cover up answers before revealing them.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlocking Japanese with Paul Noble by Paul Noble I just love his books and learning new languages. This is the latest book for beginners to start learning the Japanese language.

Paul keeps things simple with three basic rules; don’t skip anything, don’t try to memorise anything and cover up to test yourself.
A fun, jargon-free way to learn
Easy-to-understand Japanese pronunciation
PROVEN to work; Paul can teach anyone a language, even people who think they’re incapable

Not saying I would be able to ever speak Japanese but it was an interesting way of looking into another language.

I have another set different language by Paul Noble and has been very good.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Japanese culture,art, history, anime of course manga and literature , so I thought why not try and learn some of the language. This was a great introduction and although I thought it would be scary, this book made it less scary, inviting you in and making things seem clearer, well written and set out this is a great first step into a new language, thanks Paul.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

[Alex Townley · Rating 3 out of 5]

To preface, I've had experience with learning Japanese on and off for the last 20 years, so I've worked with lots of different types of workbooks and learning methods. I'm in no way proficient, as I never kept up my studies, but am familiar with the majority of the content.

I'm not sure it's my favourite method of learning. It seems effective in breaking sentences down and introducing building blocks in a memorable way, but the repetitive nature can be tiresome, and as someone with ADHD, it really doesn't keep my interest for long. I struggled with the formatting in the kindle version, but that may be just an ARC issue. I also don't feel like some of the pronunciation examples are quite right, especially when English accents can vary so much on those same comparative words.

I like the approach to simple conversations and adding levels of complexity as you develop. I do think things like the particles should be explained fully on introduction, and the Japanese alphabets should be worked through more. The author does seem to acknowledge these and outlines this book as more of a speedy essentials workbook for conversation, so that may work for some. I'm not writing it off, and I may try it again, but for now I'm sort of undecided.