Product Description

Japanese has become increasingly popular as a language to learn in recent years, and a growing awareness of Japan has been created through industry, television, newspaper articles, Japanese events and exhibitions. This course is designed for those who really want to learn Japanese but are daunted by the prospect of complicated grammar, classes and coursebooks. This book starts right from the beginning and explains everything in simple English. There are hints throughout to make learning easy and you can learn at your own pace with plenty of practice of each new point. It is a friendly introduction to the language which should help you to understand and speak Japanese sufficiently well to function effectively in basic everyday situations, both business and social. The course also offers an insight into Japanese culture and there is even an opportunity for you to learn some of the basics of reading Japanese if you want to. The book is divided into two main parts. Units 1-12 introduce you to the basic structures and grammatical points you'll need in everyday situations such as shopping, eating out, travelling, meeting a Japanese business person and entertaining a Japanese person in your home. They give you the opportunity to put into practice and consolidate the language you have learnt in the first 12 units. Unit 13 is a special unit designed to give you the chance to find out something about reading Japanese. If you would rather miss this unit out and concentrate on speaking and listening, you can do so without it affecting your understanding of the other units. All the Japanese in other units is given using the roman alphabet. By the end of the course you should be able to communicate in a wide range of real-life situations and have all the practical information you need to enjoy your next trip to Japan. The book (0-340-87036-2) is accompanied by two CDs or cassettes (0-340-87040-0 or 0-340-87039-7) which are available separately or in a pack with the book (0-340-87038-9 or 0-340-87037-0).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13627 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-30
• Released on: 2006-11-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
Helen Gilhooly has lived and worked in Japan and has extensive experience of teaching Japanese and writing materials for learners of all ages. She has an MA and PGCE in Japanese and is currently the Language College Director of Aldercar Community Language College in Derbyshire. She is also a teacher trainer of Japanese at Nottingham University.

Customer Reviews

Well balanced, easy course
This is a well balanced and easy course. It combines good explanations with useful dialogues and the vocabulary lists at the start of each unit allow you to immediately understand what is being said. The book briefly touches upon written Japanese but it really only covers Katakana. You'll need another book if you want to learn Hiragana en Kanji as well (and you probably will).
The whole course is pleasantly written and can easily be studied without the cassettes. I would have given it five stars if it wasn't for the fact that a large amount of the vocabulary lists and some parts of the dialogue are missing from the tapes. I also couldn't understand why small parts of the vocabulary were given after the dialogue instead of adding them to the main vocabulary list.
These are minor objections however and out of the three courses I own (Hugo's Japanese in three months, BBC's Talk Japanese and TY Beginner's Japanese) this is certainly my favourite one.

Make learing enjoyable
After reading the Teach Yourself; Japanese Script (by the same author) i felt right at home with this book. The style in which the book is presented is very informal and gives some insights into japanese culture that have kept me entertained while reading.
There is a supporting CD or tape but the version i had did not come with one. This would normally mean the end of the world but the book also puts the dialogue and activities for each section. There are some times, such as the pronounciation exercises, where it may have been better to have a CD but i have learned far more from this book and can talk adequatly even if my pronounciation is a little suspect!
If you are going to buy this book then i suggest you get the CDs/tapes and the Beginners Japanese Script book (also in the TY series).

Amazing, brilliant, smashing!!
I had no previous knowledge of any Japanese before I bought this book, but now; after going through the book and cassette, I can converse in Japanese on many subjects. Thebook is quite easy to get to grips with and teaches grammar and vocabulary along side "dialogues" with frequent tests. The dialogues follow the "Yamaguchi" family. It is best used with the cassette and i found that this aids pronunciation. I went through the whole book, covering two chapters a week in a small time ach day. This book helps with Japanese grammar and vocab so that the reader can make their own sentences. Along the way is some information on Japan. A brilliant book if you are thinking of visiting Japan or feel like learning Japanese. It gives very good ground for further work in the language.