Elementary Japanese Vol 1

by Yoko Hasegawa

This is an extensive beginning level Japanese textbook and language learning program.

Elementary Japanese is designed for students who are just beginning their study of Japanese at the first–:year college level or on their own. The author and contributors have created a highly structured approach to leaning Japanese that is based on learning the fundamental patters and constructions of the language as well as the writing system including basic kanji. Systematic grammatical explanations are provided in enough detail for this book to be used as a reference work as well as an introductory textbook. The accompanying MP3 audio CD ensures correct pronunciation and helps to build listening comprehension.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

-Describe yourself, your family and your friends.
-Talk about daily events using basic vocabulary and grammatical constructions.
-Understand conversations on these topics as well as classroom activities.
-Read simple articles and write short and simple compositions and letters.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Language, Reference, Textbooks

400 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2005

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am self studying using this book and book two of the series. This book is excellent for the student who is self studying, because all of the grammar an vocabulary are explained thoroughly. There is very little left up to the student to try to figure out; and though the exercises are designed for use in a classroom, they can be easily adapted. Additionally, this book is all-in-one in that it offers dialogues, cultural notes, grammar, vocabulary, and kanji in one volume. It also comes with a CD that contains the readings, pronunciation of all the vocabulary, and additional exercises.

This book is not for someone who is casual about learning the language. It is more grammar-centric than books that are focused on conversational Japanese (like the Japanese for Busy People series). Also, it starts teaching kanji relatively early. In addition, kanji is only given furigana (a pronunciation guideline) one time for each different pronunciation of the kanji, from then on out it is up to the student to remember the correct pronunciation or to look it up. Looking it up is aided by extensive appendices. Nevertheless, this book offers far less hand holding than ones that put furigana over every kanji. Having said this, it think that this has helped me greatly in my reading because it has forced me to actually learn the kanji even if the process is a little slower than it would be with another book.

The only reason I would consider docking this from being a five star review comes down to hiragana, katakana, and some minor formatting and editing issues. The first two chapters, where you learn hiragana and katakana, are useful for pronunciation, but don't help you to actually learn to write the characters (this is not true of the kanji, where all aspects are addressed). This makes it necessary to use an outside source. Sources can be readily found for free online or elsewhere, but it still is a minor shortcoming of the book. Also, the book is sturdy, relatively easy to use, and the information is stellar, but the paper quality, formatting and illustrations are not up to the quality of the actual information. Also, there are a few typos and slightly awkward sentences. This is likely due to the fact that this was published by a smaller press that doesn't have the same budget as a major textbook publisher. Don't let these issues things deter you though, this is a great tool to have to begin learning Japanese.

[Leng Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is good to study Japanese!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest. I didn't finish this book. It had a lot of useful information, but I felt it would be more useful in a classroom setting with a teacher. I didn't find it helpful for self-study.

[Cetki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this book for class. Was very helpful with teaching me the basics. ありがとうございます　長谷川先生！

[Olivia]

wtf.

[Cloay]

- available in SG NLB 495.683421 (Yishun)

[Jacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I found this to be a good companion, it didn't teach me (a self-learner) in depth very much, probably leaving it up to the teacher to do so. I ended up using youtube videos and Japanese forums outside of this coursebook to actually be able to understand what it wanted from me. I also found the way they introduced things to be a little backwards (such as doing phrases before learning hiragana, though I can see why that'd be alright in a classroom as they want you chatting and all that). Overall, pretty useful in telling me what exactly to look up, though not good enough by itself for even basic level beginners like me.