This book is good at packing a lot of Japanese into a small space! It's not the most fantastic Japanese book ever, but it's great for a class, or for some other guided instruction. Much better than any American textbooks I've seen.
Every chapter starts with vocabulary, then a skit using the new words, as well as some good examples and exercises. The illustrations are cute. Also, the appendices are very useful in a pinch.
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Thursday, January 6, 2011
Minnano Nihongo Listening Book I
Minnano Nihongo Kanji Book I
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: 3A Corporation (March 2001)
Language: Japanese
ISBN-10: 4883191028
ISBN-13: 978-4883191024
I had to use this series during my study abroad semesters in Japan. Having already found great success with the Genki series, Minna no Nihongo was highly irritating. The English explanations of the grammar points were written in very ambiguous language that could be taken to mean anything. They were obviously written by a Japanese person who is trying to sound more intelligent than they actually are, which just sounds deranged. Furthermore, all the grammatical changes are taught starting from the -masu verb form! If you do this it's almost impossible to find any pattern in Japanese verb changes, therefore learning the grammar doesn't come about through understanding but from rote memorization. Grammar is too complex to learn this way, it needs to be understood not memorized. The authors act as though there is no such thing as the plain form of a verb, which is just crazy. No I'm sorry they bring it up in the second book and treat it like a special grammar point. They make you memorize how to construct the plain form FROM the -masu form! This is clearly backward and, well, crazy. That's the only word for it. The idea that some schools have the audacity to require you to learn Japanese this way brings back old memories of "indescribable frustration". The only explanation for this incompetence is the underlying truth that many Japanese people deep down don't believe that it is possible for foreigners to learn their language. Don't believe me? Try speaking Japanese in Japan. You'll see what I mean. On top of all its flaws, to use this book effectively you will need both the main text and the translation book with you at all times and you have to coordinate between the two, knowing full well that you are doing things in an inefficient manner. Now I want you to imagine yourself sitting there juggling these two nonsensical texts, are you doing that? good. Now try to visualize a future where you are able to function effectively in everyday life using Japanese. Careful, your head might explode. Do yourself a favor, start with Genki I and II, then move onto An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, and start learning kanji as soon as possible.
Kaite Oboeru [Minnano Nihongo]
This textbook treats you like an adult who needs to speak in Japan. Each lesson introduces a few sentence patterns (i.e. grammar), gives relevant vocabulary, shows how to use it in useful situations, and provides lots of opportunity for practice.
The vocabulary is excellent. It is aggressive: it requires us to learn about 50 new words per lesson, and reuses the vocab from previous lessons. It is also well chosen: the vocab logically matches the sentence patterns for that lesson so that we can learn and practice them together. But it doesn't ask us to memorize exhaustive themed categories (animals, etc...). It recognizes that many adults need to talk about "reports" more often than "horses".
Minna No Nihongo uses a lot of pairwork, and I have found it most effective studying in a class with a teacher or at least with a dedicated partner.
The book itself is unique. I've never seen another like it. It is written for foreigners in Japan so it is written completely in japanese. Then students can buy the accompanying translation and grammatical notes (recommended) in the language of their choice (English, Korean, Chinese, etc.)
Intermediate Kanji Book Vol. 1
ISBN-10: 4893583565
ISBN-13: 978-4893583567
Release Date: 1997/08
This is by far the best book I have found for systematically studying (learning) Kanji. Let me state my brief credentials so that you can have some confidence in my review. I graduated from university with a major in Japanese and Spanish for Education, K-12 (in the US). I taught Japanese in public schools, elementary, junior high and high school, as well as tutored college students. I studied abroad at a school that focused primarily on teaching Japanese (all in Japanese), and I am currently living and working in Japan. Japanese is my personal hobby, and I spend approximately 20 hours a week studying, reading, and writing Japanese (specifically for increasing my knowledge of the language).
Format: PDF
Language: Japanese and English
Basic Kanji Book Vol. 1
ISBN-10: 4893580914
ISBN-13: 978-4893580917
Basic Kanji Book was compiled by four Japanese editors (Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, and Eriko Ishii) for the purpose of teaching the first 500 most basic kanji. These 500 kanji are divided up into 22 separate lessons. Each lesson is thematically and grammatically organized for higher connection rate in the learning process. Lessons include Kanji for time, Kanji at the Zoo, Kanji for Adjectives, Kanji for Verbs, and many more. The text is written to the goal of preparing the student for higher levels of Kanji learning by laying out the foundations that lead to the understanding of its inner workings. Though the text is complete in itself for accomplishing many basic day-to-day tasks in written Japanese.
Format: PDF
Language: English
Basik Kanji Book Vol. 2
Publisher: Bonjinsha Co. Ltd (1989)
ASIN: B000IDHNU4
Basic Kanji volumes 2 contain a total of 500 kanji; vol. 2 covers numbers 252-500. This book has 22 lessons and can be used as a workbook. There are many exercises to practice reading and writing kanji, including short passages. I like how the book is organized around themes. The content is very practical for adapting to everyday life in Japan - there are photographs of actual signs, and instructions for household appliances. I recently passed JLPT 3 and I find the material in this book appropriate for my level. However, I jumped straight into this book without studying from the first volume, so there are some kanji appearing in the lessons that I don't know yet.
Format: PDF
Language: English and Japanese
Master Japanese by Ear
Publisher: Bonjinsha Co., Ltd. (1995)
Language: Japanese
ISBN-10: 4893583077
ISBN-13: 978-4893583079
ASIN: B000R4TDGQ
Type: PDF
Language: Japanese
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