Reviews (continued)
Phrasebooks
Lonely Planet Japanese Phrase Book, 3rd ed.
Lau et al. (New York; LP Publications, 1998)
In my opinion this is the best Japanese phrasebook you can own. It contains everything you need, is in a handy size, and I have beaten the tar out my book with no damage to anything but the cover (a plastic cover like Langenscheidt books use would probably have inspired me to give it a 10). A lot of thought was put into this book, and it shows. The fourth edition has even better values! A lot of things like talking to customs officer and increased variety of conversations have contributed to an even better book.
Score: 9
Advantages: Handy size, packed with info. Romaji present for first-timers (the only people who actually need this) , and hiragana and kanji so you can just point. Good price for what you get.
Disadvantages: None.
Making Out in Japanese
Geers et al. (New York: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 2002)
A great ice breaker to use with your Japanese friends in casual situations. Actually contains a lot more than just vocabulary for picking up members of the opposite sex. Slightly dated, but contains a lot of expressions that long term residents of Japan would find very useful in casting off annoying English leeches, drunken salarymen, and other nuisances. There is a new edition which is much improved!
Score: 8
Advantages: Great fun with your friends. Some of the pickup lines work very well.
Disadvantages: Strange size, doesn't fit in your pocket. Typical of Tuttle publishing, the construction/binding is cheap.
More Making Out in Japanese
Geers et al. (New York: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1996)
Not as good as the first one. Contains only pick-up lines and nasty things to say to your ex. Still useful, but many of the expressions are either dated or limited to specific regions, and more precise data about where/when to use them is necessary. Some of the expressions are quite strong and not to be used casually. There is a new edition which I have not gotten my hands on yet.
Score: 6
Advantages: More fun to be had.
Disadvantages: Not as useful as the first one. The expressions need to be updated, as the Japanese language goes through trends and phases quickly.
Reading/writing
Reading and Writing in Japanese for Beginners
Chinami et al. (Tokyo: ALC Press, 2000) ISBN4-7574-0242-2
This is another exercise text. I like because it is geared towards adults. So, the tasks that you find are all very constructive. Some (like making your own business card in Japanese) will require other support materials. The lessons are arranged from easiest to hardest. The lessons are intensely practical, and the absolute beginner will be intimidated by the amount of kanji in the text. Ideally you should be studying kanji at the same time.
Score: with a teacher, 8, without a teacher for most people this would be a 5
Advantages: All lessons are interesting and useful, and lean towards achieving a specific goal or task. Addressing an envelope, reading a map, writing a postcard, reading road signs, etc. This text wasn't expensive. I found this text useful because I began it after I had been in Japan for about a year and wasn't intimidated by the hordes of kanji within.
Disadvantages: Too hard for a beginner without the support of a teacher, or conversely just the kind of thing for people who really like diving in at the deep end.
Speaking
Bridging the Communication Gap: Lessons in Conversational Japanese
various (Tokyo: Alc Press, 2001) ISBN4-7574-0318-6
A communications book for people who speak Japanese regularly and often. This is really a book that will make your conversational skills much better and more "Japanese" instead of the direct-translation that some of us end up using from time to time. This is not a book that would be useful for beginners, and is targeted at upper intermediate and advanced level learners of Japanese who are specifically interested in improving their spoken Japanese. An excellent text, and no romaji. There is not enough English for someone with an intermediate level of Japanese. It would have been nice to have an index and an English table of contents. It's strongest point is the use of a variety of hierarchically based examples (ie. Soto-uchi, senior-junior, unknown relationship).
Score: 7
Advantages: A useful aid for those seeking to improve their spoken Japanese. Loads of examples of situations where given expressions are correctly and incorrectly used.
Disadvantages: Cheap binding and expensive. Lack of index of expressions and no English TOC.
Japanese for Busy People
(kana versions) , AJALT, (New York: Kodansha International, 1995)
This series is marketed as one of the most popular and effective ways of learning Japanese. I often wonder why. It is not particularly effective for the non-business learner of Japanese. The beginning book is marketed as "survival Japanese", but I am not sure that Mr. Smith's many conversations about business cards and talking about new company employees are particularly useful for most people. If you were a traveller going to Japan, this book would be a complete failure, since it doesn't tell you how to catch a train or get decent directions somewhere. It does tell you how to accept your Japanese colleagues kind invitation to go skiing, however (?!). The best things about this series are the availability of a non-romaji version, and the sheer variety of telephone conversations in the book. Also, you aren't left hanging, there are many more volumes to be studied. I stopped after getting part way through Volume II, since the subject material wasn't of particular interest to me. Still, the Japanese is decent, and everything is verifiably useful in its context. So, assuming you are making a stab at achieving a vague level of fluency in a reasonable amount of time, this can help. Also, it is a nicely designed book with easy to read type, and reasonable explanations of the material covered. You could easily tackle it without a teacher. I wasn't thrilled at the price, considering it's a floppy text which wears easily. I also wonder whether a self-described "busy person" would be able to complete the lessons since each one of them contains a lot of information to digest.
Score: 6
Advantages: Good for business types. Nuts and bolts stuff like buying something, or accepting invitations to go to a sumo match, or asking if someone's husband is about.
Disadvantages: Mind numbingly boring. Not much effort went into making the material "fun", which is an important part of learning a language.
Minna no Nihongo
(Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 1998)
Main text
Work book
Kanji book
Translation and grammatical notes
This is a series aimed at taking you from the very beginning level right to the lower Intermediate level. Before you do anything else, you are expected to learn hiragana and katakana. You will never see any romaji. These texts are well supported, you can buy additional CDs and videos as you require them, or use only the text. The basic materials are buying the conversation book, and the accompanying exercise book which can be used to write what you are learning. I used these texts at the school I went to. They are great. If you learn from the beginning by this method, you will never enter romaji hell. All kanji are in furigana format. Do not buy these texts with the intent of being taught kanji, they are aimed at improving your speaking ability. There is, however, an additional book aimed at kanji learners. I am using it now, in conjunction with other methods, using the kanji books. I find that they introduce relatively complex kanji too quickly, and other than rote memorization and writing don't offer a particularly good method of kanji study.
Overall, I was neither inspired nor bored by this series (other than the mildly amusing dates of the stereotypically American charisma man Mr. Miller with the stereotypically demure and proper Japanese lady Ms. Kimura) , it's definitely a functional series and will teach you what you need to know. It is very well supported with materials and is probably the best text I know of to be used in a classroom setting. I was taught using these textbooks, level I and II.
Score: 8
Advantages: It's a complete system, if you buy everything. But if you buy everything, you're going to be paying a lot of money. Each level has full resources (main book, grammar and translation in English book, exercise book, CD's). Speaking is useful and task oriented. Buying things, asking directions, typical Japanese social situations. Grammar notes are good. You get as much information as you need but no more.
Disadvantages: Floppy textbooks. They fall apart quickly. Expensive if you need more than the main text and supporting translation/grammar book. For one level, you can easily blow over $100 US.
Shin Nihongo no Chukkyu
(Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 2000)
Student book ISBN4-88319-161-3
Grammatical notes in English
ISBN4-88319-230-X
English Translation
ISBN4-88319-284-9
This course is designed by the 3A company to follow their Minna no Nihongo series, but is also used as an introduction to technical Japanese. You can switch over to this course (intermediate level) after completing levels I and II of Minna no Nihongo, or you could begin Shin Nihongo at level I and move up to this level. Minna no Nihongo was designed to be a friendlier course for international learners, whereas according to what I have heard (this is not direct, first-hand knowledge, so reader beware) that Shin Nihongo is designed for a more technical, university style approach. In any event, I have not used the earlier textbooks but switched over to Shin Nihongo after I completed Minna no Nihongo I and II." The target group is lower intermediate level students. Essentially the same advantages and disadvantages as the the previous series. As of this writing I have just begun my way through this series, so watch this space.
Topikku niyoru Nihongo Sogo Enshu - Chukyu Zenki
various (Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 2001) ISBN4-88319-194-X
We now arrive at the hard core; if you are taking a test above JLPT 3 you will inevitably buy something similar to this text. The material in this text is firmly aimed at intermediate students and has relevant/interesting topics that would appeal to most people. I picked it out of a plethora of books because it was neatly laid out and I could understand about 50-60% of the material in it. This assures me that I can read enough of it not to be frustrated and that there is still plenty of new points to learn. The key to this book is being able to increase the conversational fluency of your ideas in Japanese and improve your practical ability to read about a variety of information in Japanese.
Score: 7
Advantages: Good intermediate textbooks are hard to find! Good layout and interesting material. No romaji!
Disadvantages: Cheap floppy binding and construction assures its destruction within months. 1500円 price makes me want to borrow and photocopy since it's not that big a book.
Japanese Language Proficiency Test preparatory materials
Kanzen Masuta 2-kyu Nihongo Noryoku Shiken Bunpo Mondai Taisaku
various (Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 1997) ISBN4-88319-088-9
(Complete Master Series-The Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 Grammar Exercises)
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. A blow by blow, point by point review of all grammar points required for JLPT 2. Explanation sections followed by practice questions and relationships to other expressions. This book is probably most useful to intermediate level students as I believe those who have ended the beginner level might find it too intimidating. There is something slightly masochistically satisfying about seeing 173 points of grammar laid out end to end and knowing that at the end of a lot of work your understanding of Japanese grammar is going to be turbo-charged.
There are a lot books aimed at JLPT 2 grammar points. The reason I chose this book was because it had been recommended to me by a friend who had passed the JLPT 2 exam the previous year. He mentioned that after having finished this book he had no difficulties with any practice JLPT 2 grammar exam. (For the record, most people I have talked to consider the reading section to be the most difficult part of the JLPT exam)
Score: 7
Advantages: Here it all is, in one place. I do like the fact that they try to consider different levels of Japanese with respect to reading and writing as much as possible within the limitation of being someone studying for level 2. No romaji!
Disadvantages: Again, cheap floppy binding and construction assures its destruction within months. 1200円 price makes me want to borrow and photocopy since it's not that big a book. The material is not that interesting, but that's hardly the fault of the writer/editor. Slightly dated, and since there is considerable evidence that the JLPT does get harder every year (how much is a matter of opinion) you may want to look for something newer.
Kanzen Masuta Kanji Nihongo Noryoku Shiken 2-kyu Reberu
various (Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 2002) ISBN4-88319-229-6
(Complete Master Series - The Japanese Language Proficiency Test: Level 2 Kanji)
Mastered the Heisig system? It's time to see what you've learned. Once again, this book is specifically aimed at those studying the Kanji for JLPT 2. All 1,024 kanji and all the vocabulary required for the test are nicely organized into this floppy text. I don't understand why the other texts in the series are so expensive since this one is double the size and includes a listening CD. Dictation exercises are also quite useful. Supposedly the text is written by a group of teachers who have filtered down the essential elements to getting all the kanji required for level 2 into your skull. Does it succeed? There is only one way to find out, since I will take the next test in December.
Score: 8
Advantages: Big and chunky, and full of material. A listening CD. A price (1400円) which makes one wonder why the others are so expensive, relatively speaking.
Disadvantage: Cheap floppy construction. This volume will self destruct…
The Preparatory Course for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test: Level 2
various (Tokyo: Unicom Inc., 2003) ISBN4-89689-8
I bought this as a supplement to cover any material not covered in the other texts. At the time of this writing I have only just begun using it, so I will not offer a score at this point. It contains two listening CDs and a lovely index which I desperately needed.
The Preparatory Course for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test: Level 2 – 2nd Grade Kanji & Vocabulary – English translation
Craig Dibble (Tokyo: Unicom Inc., 1997) ISBN4-89689-216-X
Overpriced, cheaply produced, but highly necessary. This is what it is, a full list of all the grammar, kanji and vocabulary necessary to pass each level of the JLPT. A bit stinky in the sense that it is all in romaji. It should have been done in hiragana and katakana at the minimum. Also, none of the kanji are even printed in the translation.
Score: 6
Advantages: It's the only point by point grammar translation of the JLPT available as far as I know.
Disadvantages: Shoddy construction and all romaji. Does a JLPT level 2 wanna-be really need romaji?
Internet Sites
These are only sites that I regularly use. There are a lot of sites out there, and I don't use many in my daily studies. These sites are the ones that have been most useful to me.
- www.rikai.com/perl/HomePage.pl?Language=Ja
- An absolutely brilliant reading aid site. Input the Japanese language page and have it all furigana'ed. Or you can cut and paste text into the text box.
- www.kanjisite.com/index.html
- A useful site for JLPT kanji study.
- www.kantango.com
- Vocabulary site, great for quick reference of kanji you don't know. You can also produce your own vocabulary lists. Top notch work.
- www.kanjiclinic.com
- A useful set of resources. The articles vary from lame to insightful.
- www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html
- Jim Breen's Japanese page. He is one of the true heroes of Japanese study. Send him money if you have any, he does a lot of work for no reward at all and has compiled a huge list of resources. Far from being a mere compiler, his work in electronic/internet based dictionaries and translating is worthy of deification.
- www.aikgroup.co.jp/j-school/index.htm
- A list of schools for Japanese study in Japan.
- www.davidhallgren.se/nihon/tv.asp
- Get Japanese TV off the internet. Great stuff for studying listening skills.