Japanese for College Students: Basic, Vol. 2

By Christian International and International Christian University

Japanese for College Students: Text is a genuinely integrated, comprehensive course for learning every aspect of beginning Japanese: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It utilizes a functional approach tried and proved in the classrooms of International Christian University, known for the excellence and experience of its staff. In three volumes, the series contains 300 hours of study, 2,000 words, and 450 kanji.

Volume 2 is concerned with frequently encountered situations, enabling the student to shop, ask directions, and obtain information. This volume can be used with three separately sold cassettes tapes, totally 180 minutes of listening.

Features of Japanese for College Students: Text

Listening and Speaking
* Varied, ready-to-use drill exercises make preparation a snap
* All activities within the text-no additional workbooks to buy
* Focused exercises utilize essential vocabulary
* Functional approach emphasizes quick attainment of useful skills
* Hundreds of additional related exercises included in the Teacher's Manual.
* Set of tapes (sold separately) enhances the speed and fluency of language learning

Grammar Notes
* Clear, straightforward explanations
* Plentiful examples eliminate the need for confusing, semi-grammatical terms
* Two Comprehensive grammar indexes (English and Japanese) for easy reference to the text
* Cultural and linguistic information provided as necessary

Reading
* Relevant, interesting, and up-to-date material
* Passages integrate previously learned material while concentrating on new vocabulary
* Two vocabulary indexes give definitions, kanji, and the place first introduced in the text
* Traditional Japanese subscript pronunciation guide (rubi) added where necessary
* Both horizontal and vertical printing are given, as well as hand-written passages
* Comprehension checks and reading/writing activities accompany each passage

Writing
* Employs the three Japanese scripts-hiragana, katakana, and kanji-from the outset
* Kanji introduced according to relevance and frequency of use
* New kanji presented with all common readings and stroke order
* Kanji index makes it easy to find previously introduced characters

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 477001998X
• ISBN13: 9784770019981
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Kodansha International
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.4" x 0.7" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book

This is an excellent Japanese book for any college student that want to improve his skills.

The best language textbook I've ever used.

This book is GREAT. I can't get enough of it. I went through the whole thing (the first one, there are four in the whole set) and I'm taking it with me next year when I go to be a foreign exchange student in Japan because it's such an indispensable guide. The exercises are pretty thorough and the readings are really good. The grammar in it can be a little much at times, but it's still excellent. And, once you work through it you feel like you've mastered it. The only thing that I don't absolutely love about it is that I think that if you read some supplementary things (on the internet or whatever) about verbs especially ... (and adjectives a little) you'll be even better off. But it's not completely necessary, only if you want to fully understand EVERY aspect of the verbs, but the book still does a great job. I recommend it 100% to anyone wanting to really learn Japanese.

A dry but helpful solution

This is a very dry and boring book but it does teach Japanese. The text goes far into particles and verb conjugations. A complete mastery of Japanese is in this three volume set. It teach approximately 10 kanji at the end of each chapter. It provides reading excercises and grammar points. This is also useful for learning English from Japanese. Not as useful in learning english as it teaches Japanese. Provides informaiton on the readings and is overall one of the best buys for the price. Should be used with many supplements. Does not completely differientate the particles. A chart would have been useful. Does not point out many conjugation problems that other texts seem to when ddealing with the "ta and te" forms of the verb. Excellent for the college student and even somewhat on the college level. I use this for self-teaching myself.

The best textbook I have used

These books are for the serious learner who intends master the language. Lots of time and effort are required, but it will pay off enormously. I used these books in college and now am in Japan. They use a variety of methods to instill the patterns of grammer. They also teach Kanji at a reasonable pace. Do not buy these books for a quick fix approach. They take you through every step necessary to fully master the basics.

For mastering Japanese, not just get by.

Although I haven't even finished the first of the 3 volumes, I can give an idea what this book is targeted at. This is "the book" for young adults who want to have Japanese as their 2nd language. This book is mostly in Japanese scripts, with almost no Romanji(using alphabits). The very first chapter forces the students to learn the Kana script, otherwise it is impossible to continue. Every lessons is organized into Objectives, Points, Sentences, Expressions, Formation, Drill, Role Play, Grammar Notes, Reading(from a few senteces early on to a newspaper ariticle in later lessons), and New Kanji Practice. You'll need companion tapes to help with smooth pronounciation if there's no one to help you with that. There are 30 lessons in total, divided into 3 volumes with 10 lessons each. 245 Kanji are covered in this series. In my opinion, this book makes you learn the language the hard way, which I think is the only way to master a new language. Remember this is NOT a book which anyone can just pick up and start reading, this is a school text book, you'll need a pen, papers, and hundreds of hours of practice