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Introduction to Modern Japanese
Book plus Set of 6 accompanying cassette tapes
Paperback
First published September 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 11, 2011
This is the first book I used when I started to learn Japanese and it is still one of my favourites.
The initial section shows you Kana. It doesn't train you in it, but you can easily do that on your own.
Each lesson has an introductory dialogue written in Japanese script, including Kanji, with English translation and romanization on the opposite page. This is followed by simple grammatical renditions of the text.
The exercises section is large and the main method used is drills. Some of them are very simple were you just need to put new words into formulaeic sentences, others are very demanding where you need to build complete sentences given only a few key-words. All grammar exercises are for self-study, no group and classroom stuff.
Between Lessons 1-18 all exercises are written in romanization and English, between Lessons 19-24 they are written in Japanese and romanization, and between Lessons 25-30 the exercises are written only in Japanese. So you gradually adapt to reading instructions written only in Japanese.
It covers 450 basic Kanji. The grammar coverage is comprehensive, and I would argue that it covers significantly more than "For Everyone", "Busy People", and both of the Genki's.
Whether you will like this book or not depends on how much you like older textbooks, as they tend to use the same pedagody. You can get relatively modern books like "Japanese for Everyone" inexpensively these days, so if you prefer modern books you DO have other options.
If you are completely new to Japanese I recommend you work through Samuel E. Martin's 'Essential Japanese' first because the pace in Mizutani's book is quite fast and could therefore confuse you.
To me this book is a classic, alongside Samuel E. Martin's 'Essential Japanese' and Eleanor H. Jorden's 'Beginning Japanese 1 & 2' I rank it as one of the best I have used for learning Japanese. To me old textbooks equals Quality.
The initial section shows you Kana. It doesn't train you in it, but you can easily do that on your own.
Each lesson has an introductory dialogue written in Japanese script, including Kanji, with English translation and romanization on the opposite page. This is followed by simple grammatical renditions of the text.
The exercises section is large and the main method used is drills. Some of them are very simple were you just need to put new words into formulaeic sentences, others are very demanding where you need to build complete sentences given only a few key-words. All grammar exercises are for self-study, no group and classroom stuff.
Between Lessons 1-18 all exercises are written in romanization and English, between Lessons 19-24 they are written in Japanese and romanization, and between Lessons 25-30 the exercises are written only in Japanese. So you gradually adapt to reading instructions written only in Japanese.
It covers 450 basic Kanji. The grammar coverage is comprehensive, and I would argue that it covers significantly more than "For Everyone", "Busy People", and both of the Genki's.
Whether you will like this book or not depends on how much you like older textbooks, as they tend to use the same pedagody. You can get relatively modern books like "Japanese for Everyone" inexpensively these days, so if you prefer modern books you DO have other options.
If you are completely new to Japanese I recommend you work through Samuel E. Martin's 'Essential Japanese' first because the pace in Mizutani's book is quite fast and could therefore confuse you.
To me this book is a classic, alongside Samuel E. Martin's 'Essential Japanese' and Eleanor H. Jorden's 'Beginning Japanese 1 & 2' I rank it as one of the best I have used for learning Japanese. To me old textbooks equals Quality.
December 22, 2014
I found a copy of this at a second-hand book store. What a great buy! I like it a lot.
As stated in another review it gives a brief tour of Japanese writing and pronunciations and you familiarize with that, but they also have everything transliterated into the roman alphabet it shouldn't slow you down too much.
I love that it has plenty of grammar (much needed if you want to make your own sentences), plenty of drills for practice, dialogues for learning common phrases, and quizzes for review (with answers to quizzes and aural comprehension in the back).
I am currently taking a beginner's class and this book has helped me immensely. I wish I had the tapes to accompany the book!
The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that it is a little old...
As stated in another review it gives a brief tour of Japanese writing and pronunciations and you familiarize with that, but they also have everything transliterated into the roman alphabet it shouldn't slow you down too much.
I love that it has plenty of grammar (much needed if you want to make your own sentences), plenty of drills for practice, dialogues for learning common phrases, and quizzes for review (with answers to quizzes and aural comprehension in the back).
I am currently taking a beginner's class and this book has helped me immensely. I wish I had the tapes to accompany the book!
The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that it is a little old...
January 7, 2022
I've seen the hardcover
bright blue cover
The Japan Times 1977?/1992
425 pages
some might be bundled with the cassette tapes
bright blue cover
The Japan Times 1977?/1992
425 pages
some might be bundled with the cassette tapes
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews