The Japanese Have a Word for It: The Complete Guide to Japanese Thought and Culture Review

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(More customer reviews)He may not be Reischauer but Mr. De Mente packs enough cultural and historical background into this book to make it a worthy read for Japanese scholars or anyone with an interest in Japan. The author presents the reader with about 150 Japanese words and phrases that have special meaning for the Japanese. For example, he translates the word "kamatoto" into English as "The Dumb Blonde" i.e the Japanese propensity to feign innocence in order to gain the upper hand in a relationship or business deal. "Wa" or "harmony" is succinctly though brilliantly explained and would be something any foreign businessperson dealing with Japan should appreciate. I have read other books by Mr. De Mente but this is by far his most informative and well written. Recommended!

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This is an ideal introduction to Japanese th ought and culture and a practical guide, both for anticipati ng Japanese behaviour and avoiding cultural faux pas. The co mpanion will interest tourists, students and business travel lers to Japan. '

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Japanese Step by Step : An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese Review

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(More customer reviews)Read this book first before wasting your money on other books. I just finished my first read through of this book. It was amazing. I learned more about how the Japanese language is structured in a few days than I have from other books in months.
Many students of Japanese just need basic information at the beginning in order to be productive in their studies.
Gene Nishi gets straight to the point, starting with the basic sentence structure, adding more information as the book progresses. And since everything complex is made up of simple things, you can start to see how a complicated Japanese sentence can be analyzed and understood. After reading through this book, I could get the "gist" of basic to intermediate Japanese sentences even though my vocabulary is yet not up to snuff. I could just tell that "someone gave something to someone else at such and such time", for example. While that may sound trivial, my abilities will only increase as I engage in Japanese conversation and read the Japanese papers, because the blanks will be filled in from the context, just like any other language acquisition process. The point is, I now know where the blanks are,thanks to this book!
Gene Nishi also does an excellent job of targeting this book to a particular audience: adult professionals who need to conversate with Japanese adult professionals(although this book would work for any student). Right now, I do not need to know all of the embellishments and ornaments in everyday Japanese language. I don't have the time. I just need to be able to have relatively educated conversations with a native speaker. This book has all of the tools to enable me to get the solid foundation needed to achieve that goal. He describes the different classes of adjectives, verbs and some of the more common particles(wa, ga, ni, de, no) in a clearer manner than anywhere else. Gene also said that learning the 1006 Kanji taught to Japanese grade schoolers would cover 90% of those used by newspapers. That was quite a relief! I had heard there were 20000 of them! If I learn 3 a day, I'm on my way. See how this book reduces some of the complications? Finally, Nishi's organization of this book makes a lot of sense. He starts from simple examples and works up to more complicated ones.
A few notes, while this book is an excellent start, once you finish it, to get the deepest understanding you will need to look at other books for the following reasons:
1. Understanding the Japanese language from a linguistic perspective. A few of Gene's descriptions do not match what I've learned elsewhere(for example, the Japanese characters or "Mora" are not divisible! You should not think of the particle "no" as a combination of the n sound and the o sound. To the Japanese, the particle "no" is one indivisible unit.)
2. Mastering the Kana
3. Learning Kanji
4. Understanding the tonal structure of spoken Japanese
5. Doing exercises! This is not an exercise oriented book. The books by Eleanor Jorden are the best in that area. I plan on going that route after mastering this book.

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This self-study text offers a breakthrough approach for beginning learners of Japanese, as well as an indispensable reference for intermediate students. The unique study method in Japanese Step By Step teaches how to construct Japanese sentences, from the simplest to the most complex, using an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method. Also contains flow charts for verb conjugations and derivations.

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Japanese Demystified: A Self-Teaching Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)Finding this book was a wonderful thing.
With so many books on learning Japanese out there, it's hard to find a couple of good ones that provide you with the means to learn the easiest way. That "easy" way is different for all people. I have always thought that fundamentals, basic building blocks, are essential in order to understand the way something works, so that learning more difficult or involved concepts later is easier. For example, in my life, this applies to math, playing an instrument, or learning a language.
My requirements for teaching myself Japanese without the availability of local, affordable classes are as follows: First: it must be affordable. A $20 book is more my speed than an $60 or $80 one, for instance. Second: like most people, I want the most bang for my buck. I don't want to be lugging around 6 books if I can get the same information out of 2 or 3. Third: I would like it to contain Japanese writing so I can learn to read and write what I am saying. Fourth: I prefer some sort of self-test included so I know if/what I am retaining.
This book delivers all that. 445 pages of information, delivered in Japanese characters, romaji and English at the same time. Chapters 1-3 are pretty basic. I have the entire set of Pimsleur's Japanese lessons, which I love, and aside from some new vocabulary, it's about the same. Pronunciation, writing, names, titles, pronouns, particles and questions. The CDs teach you to speak, but explain nothing of the fundamentals of grammar or how the Japanese language works, nor do they explain the many verbs and their forms. I feel strongly that to learn Japanese well and thoroughly, these things are important in order to facilitate fluency as learning progresses.
I am really looking forward to using this book to augment my Pimsleur lessons. It gives me hope that I will someday be able to engage in conversation in this language with confidence. I get vocabulary, grammar, verbs and forms, and self-tests all in one book! I love that it is all arranged according to English grammar structure. This is familiar and helps me to understand the information.
For the really curious, there are 20 chapters arranged in four parts with a "final exam":
Part One is Identifying People and Things.
Including pronunciation, everyday phrases, questions, describing people and things, and expressing existence and location.
Part Two is Talking About Actions
Including coming and going, what you do (verbs), talking about the past, the Te- form, and asking permission.
Part Three is Stating Facts
Including your opinion, adverbs and adverbial clauses, comparing people and things, complex phrases and clauses, and indicating change.
Part Four is Expressing Implication, Attitude, and Perspective
Including implication, attitude, considering and planning your actions, changing perspective, and using honorifics.
At the end is a 100 question "final exam", followed by two Appendices (sentence predicates and verb forms {as a table}), two glossaries (J to E and E to J), an answer key for all the test and practices, and finally an index.
This is not the only book I plan to buy, or already own (my other favorite now is Japanese Step by Step). I highly recommend learning about Japanese culture while studying the language because so much of how Japanese express themselves is ingrained in their society and how they interpret things. It is a point of view that can be radically different from anywhere else. It is not enough to learn Japanese, you need to learn about the people as well in order to effectively express yourself in their language. Japanese Beyond Words is a wonderful book to start with.
In short, buy this book. I don't think you will be disappointed. Beginners, dive right in, it will help! Advanced students, this will probably serve more as a great reference book, or it may clear up something you've been struggling with.
Heck, for this price, you definitely get what you pay for, and then some. ^_^

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Say sayonara to your fears of speaking Japanese!

Interested in learning to speak Japanese but feel intimidated by the complex characters and pronunciations? No need to worry! Even if your only experience is ordering sushi, Japanese Demystified will have you saying konnichiwa to your new language skills in no time.

Beginning with a review of Japanese writing systems, basic pronunciation, and everyday expressions, this book covers key grammar fundamentals such as particles, nouns, verb forms, and honorifics. You'll build your Japanese vocabulary with essential words and phrases and quickly master this challenging language. Test yourself at the end of every chapter for reinforcement that you're fast on your way to speaking, writing, and understanding Japanese.

This fast and easy guide features:

Clear and straightforward explanations of Japanese grammar fundamentals
Numerous examples of simple and complex sentence structures
Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji with phonetic transliterations for all Japanese words

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Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book as a beginning Japanese student, and the scope of it blew my mind and I quickly put it away. However, after some basic grammar and vocabulary training, I soon after picked this book up again and found it to be a gem! It goes through every possible verb conjugation, with Japanese and English examples, and teaches you new and different ways to use what you know and make your sentences more meaningful. After the verb section is also a grammar section which outlines the essentials of grammar (hence the name I suppose). This is also a priceless guide. At the back, there is a small dictionary type section of basic commonly used words, both Japense-English and English-Japanese. There are also appendixes with common and useful phrases, broken down into when and where you can use them. Last of all, the back of the book hold a guide chart with both hiragana and katakana characters, which is helpful because the book is all written in roomanji. My only complaint with this book is that the sections are mixed up: The essentials of grammar should be the first section, with the verbs as the second. You could even read it that way if you would like, and I think it will be more enriching if you do. Be forewarned, however, that the verb section, while it covers all basic conjugations (-masu), also goes very deep into additional (and much more difficult) conjugations. It's helpful if you need more extensive training or to enrich your verbage, but just don't get in over your head and be overwhelmed.

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In one compact volume, Japanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar, Second Edition, offers an integrated beginner's guide to all major verbal and grammatical concepts of the Japanese language. This latest edition of the popular and accessible guide has been updated to include:

Expanded vocabulary lists featuring common idiomatic phrases
New examples of sentences and sentence structure
An in-depth introduction to Japanese scripts

Each of the 46 units includes clear explanations and examples to help you master the Japanese language. Roomaji, or transliteration, is featured throughout.

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