Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics

by Mangajin Magazine, Kazuko Ashizawa (Illustrator), Anthony Owsley (Illustrator)

Book by Simmons, Vaughan P

Genres: Japanese Literature, Nonfiction, Language, Manga, Japan, Graphic Novels, Reference

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was fantastic language learning tool all around. Using comics is an excellent way to communicate nuance and different contexts. The only reason I knocked off a star was for one particular chosen comic example that I thought was insensitive and could easily have been substituted for something else.

[Razi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, informative, and legitimately interesting.

Literature about language is usually so dry and boring. English-lanuage literature about Japanese culture is often so superficial and banal. Mangajin is a pleasant surprise and deserves greater popularity among Japanese language learners.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The book gives cultural insight into the varied usages of common phrases and "basic" Japanese, that is, things a beginning student might be introduced to very early in their studies. But, that knowledge is really only a small piece of the pie. It's easy enough to translate, for example, すみません, as "excuse me", but it can also mean "sorry" or "thank you" or other nuanced meanings depending on the context. Using many manga examples (all from real manga) and thorough explanations of these examples, the book helps you start to develop a feel for the subtleties. (I read this sometime in '08, I think. It was still towards the beginning of my studies, so I might go back and read it again sometime.)

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pity the cover's not available--It's an hysterical parody: a samurai with a sword in one hand and a copy of this book in the other.

If you have any interest in learning something about Japanese phrases, idioms, and culture as connected to conversation, this is the book to get! The comics used to illustrate dialogue and situations are easy to understand, and they're laid out top-to-bottom so you don't have to worry about that pesty reading-right-to-left problem.

The "lessons"--including one on the highly important difference between women's and men's language--are comprehensive yet easy to understand, presented with skill and humor.

[Christian Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was continually surprised by how well written this book was. The care that went into assembling the manga examples and developing the transcriptions and translations is matched by the authors' pitch-perfect explanation and supporting text. I would recommend skipping Lesson 4 on Gaijin bloopers; the rest of the book is great.

[Tella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this and the 2nd instalment to be surprisingly useful when I first began learning Japanese. Not only do the segments of comics make it more interesting, but also give great examples of use complete with cultural context.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a pleasure to read. Composed of 24 short lessons in Japanese language with cultural notes, it was helpful in
getting a better grasp on some basic phrases when I was studying introductory Japanese. My instructor used it as a teaching aid, as well.

[yengyeng · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Basic Japanese" is a mis-label, surely. This book offers advanced lessons on tone and choice of words based situations. After reading this, you'll level up on your hai, domo, dozo and baka usage. Very useful desu ne.

[Butsuri]

Japanese

[Chris Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended additional reading for students of Japanese. 楽しくて、面白いですよ！