Ultimate Japanese: Basic-Intermediate Coursebook

by Hiroko Storm and Living Language

Book Overview

Developed by the experts at Living Language, this book offers a highly effective combination of conversational Japanese with grammar and culture. It covers the equivalent of two years of college-level... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609806823
• ISBN13: 9780609806821
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Living Language
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great for really learning Japnese

I've used primarily the book, but the cd's are very useful for getting pronunciation right. I used the book for a few months and really did learn a lot (I didn't believe it until I took a class and stuff actually made sense without having to really strain, I was pretty supprised). The book teaches exactly the way you need to learn. They teach sentance structures, sentance particles, how to put sentances together, how to read real dialogue. I find myself reading the dialogue at the beginning of a chapter and struggling for 20 minutes or so, then reading the chapter and really understanding what I struggled through, then going back and reading it again and understanding it fully.I actually used this book for 3 months before I lost it on a plane. I then purchased a few other books to see how they are, but I have just recently purchased a second copy of this book, I didn't find anything else taught at this level. Do know that this book isn't for your casual reader, it aims to teach you fluency and you will have to take quite a bit of time with it, but it does a good job of teaching you effectively and efficiently if you'll put in the effort to learn the language.

You need this book

This is a really good book. After the first lesson I was able to make my own sentences. Limited but I could make them. The book has the Audio cds too which reall help you to get the accent and such down. Makes the vocab really easy to remember.And what I found suprisin was that at the end of each chapter, there was a quiz to see if you know what you read. There are also cultural notes to help you get into what Japan is actually like.Everything is explained in detail and the book is great. Japanese actually isn't really that hard to learn if you just put a little time into it. Buy this book

Perfect for the serious beginner

This book takes a highly structured approach to teaching Japanese. Each lesson contains a clear and complete explanation of new grammar concepts, a table of new vocabulary for rapid memorisation, and example dialogue. It is positively jam-packed with information; there is not one sentence that will not teach you something new. New concepts are explained one at a time, for easy assimilation and revision. There is an excellent index and table of contents; I still occasionally use the book as a reference.I didn't speak a word of Japanese when I bought this book, but within the year it took me to finish it, I had a solid understanding of basic Japanese grammar and a good foundation of common vocabulary. The vocabulary is well-chosen, reflecting the concerns of tourists, students and businesspeople. Both casual and polite grammar is shown. The accompanying tapes also complement the book nicely, teaching proper pronunciation. I highly recommend it as a starting point for anyone with the willpower to teach themselves Japanese. I found it far superior to the other beginner's books I have seen. It will not make you fluent -- no one textbook can do that -- but it will turn you into an intermediate-level student capable of learning with real Japanese material.That said, one thing this book does not put much emphasis on is how to read and write Japanese. Although there are many reading exercises, they are optional and can be skipped over. The Japanese in the book is almost entirely written in romaji (using our letters). The book does not provide an organized framework for learning the kanji ideograms: you will have to buy a specialized kanji textbook such as Heisig's Remembering The Kanji. Using romaji has the advantage of making the first steps much easier for the total beginner, but it means you will have to make an extra effort later on in your studies to learn how to read and write. However, since I was mostly interested in spoken Japanese when I began my studies, this was the perfect compromise for me.

A very good way to learn a lot of Japanese...

When I bought this item, I didn't think it would work well because of the fact the manual is about 500 pages long. I didn't think that it was possible to teach two years of college level Japanese with a 500 page book. Well, I was wrong. It is amazing how much you can learn in a day! On my first day I learned all of the greetings that the manual teaches you. It is a simple concept, "you read the manual as the cd speaks the words. If you want to perfect your techneque, just listen to the native speakers say a word, and you repeat them. This "language kit" explains even the confusing parts of Japanese in detail. It also gives very interesting cultural highlights on Japan,"I love these"! If you want to learn how to read, write, speak and understand Japanese then I highly recomened this language kit. It Works!!!

This is the way to go!

I have to admit I've tried to learn Japanese before - an adult ed class that was painful, a girlfriend who isn't a girlfriend any more (NEVER try that!), some awful books, and I think I might remember a semester in college. Or maybe it was French. I don't know. But after all of that I still couldn't even sing along to Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto. This course was a last ditch effort. It's really great - it's simple but doesn't leave anything out, it explains things in a way that even I understand, and there are two really great sets of recordings, one for the book and one that reviews. (I listen to it while I jog.) The best thing is that I actually had a conversation (okay, it was simple, but it was still a conversation) the other day with a friend from Kyoto. Unbelievable. Next is the advanced level. Even you would be impressed, Yumiko!