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Japanese Demystified: A Self-Teaching Guide
Say sayonara to your fears of speaking Japanese! Interested in learning to speak Japanese but feel intimidated by the complex characters and pronunciations? No need to worry! Even if your only experience is ordering sushi, Japanese Demystified will have you saying konnichiwa to your new language skills in no time. Beginning with a review of Japanese writing systems, basic pronunciation, and everyday expressions, this book covers key grammar fundamentals such as particles, nouns, verb forms, and honorifics. You'll build your Japanese vocabulary with essential words and phrases and quickly master this challenging language. Test yourself at the end of every chapter for reinforcement that you're fast on your way to speaking, writing, and understanding Japanese. This fast and easy guide Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for a more experienced student, Japanese Demystified is your shortcut to mastering this complex language.
410 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2008
55 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Eriko Sato
65 books14 followersEriko Sato, Ph.D is Assistant Professor of Japanese Linguistics and Pedagogy in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Sato's research interests include Japanese linguistics and pedagogy, translation studies, and second language acquisition. In addition to several journal articles in these research areas, Sato published a number of Japanese textbooks and grammar/kanji reference books. Sato serves as the advisor for Teacher Certification Program for Japanese, the Executive Committee Chair for the Japan Center at Stony Brook and the Director of the Pre-College Japanese Program.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 19, 2015
I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to improve their Japanese, and I could see it being used in both the classroom and self-study.
on-hold
May 16, 2016It's an okay book for self-study, but I found some mistakes in the book (ie. one or two spelling mistakes and one of the answers for a quiz was wrong.)
The explainations aren't like super detailed or anything; they're kind of brief and to the point.
I do like the quizzes at the end of each chapter and the tests at the end of each unit/section though -- they are really helpful!
The explainations aren't like super detailed or anything; they're kind of brief and to the point.
I do like the quizzes at the end of each chapter and the tests at the end of each unit/section though -- they are really helpful!
Currently reading
April 6, 2011I think this is one of the most useful textbooks on learning Japanese I have picked up to date. It starts off with pronunciation and the alphabet rather then just plunging you into words and phrases. I definitely recommend it so far for someone trying to learn the language.
June 10, 2017
I would not recommend this for an absolute beginner. It's labeled "beginner-intermediate" on the back cover, but says something like "easy enough for a beginner", but I'm what I would guess to be an advanced beginner - I've read Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese by Helen Gilhooly, and watched every episode of NHK's Let's Learn Japanese - and I struggled a bit.
First: the chapters don't have a practice dialogue, and there are very few vocabulary lists. Yes, there are accompanying CDs - I only had the book, because that's what my library has - but I still think a good Japanese language book should have some practice dialogues with some kind of story so that you better memorize certain things, instead of sample sentences like "Where is the library?"
Second: the author has a habit of introducing a word once in a sample sentence, and expects you to remember it five (or more) chapters later.
Third: the glossary and index are rather incomplete. When I needed to look up words to answer a question on a test, I had to make an educated guess as to where in the book it might've been mentioned.
Fourth: while it explains some grammatical terms, it does not explain others. I had to use an English grammar handbook to look up what auxiliary verbs and copular verbs were, and to get a better understanding of transitive and intransitive.
In short: if you want to give this book a try, I suggest having a good grammar book on hand. Maybe even a Japanese-English English-Japanese dictionary.
First: the chapters don't have a practice dialogue, and there are very few vocabulary lists. Yes, there are accompanying CDs - I only had the book, because that's what my library has - but I still think a good Japanese language book should have some practice dialogues with some kind of story so that you better memorize certain things, instead of sample sentences like "Where is the library?"
Second: the author has a habit of introducing a word once in a sample sentence, and expects you to remember it five (or more) chapters later.
Third: the glossary and index are rather incomplete. When I needed to look up words to answer a question on a test, I had to make an educated guess as to where in the book it might've been mentioned.
Fourth: while it explains some grammatical terms, it does not explain others. I had to use an English grammar handbook to look up what auxiliary verbs and copular verbs were, and to get a better understanding of transitive and intransitive.
In short: if you want to give this book a try, I suggest having a good grammar book on hand. Maybe even a Japanese-English English-Japanese dictionary.
January 12, 2020
This book will at least get you to JLPT N3 level.
The reason I gave three stars instead of two is because of the variety of things covered within a single textbook. Most textbooks only cover about 1/3 (maybe less) the topics that this one does.
However, the strikes against it are:
#1 The use of Roomaji. Throughout the ENTIRE BOOK.
I could understand the first couple chapters using roomaji as an introduction to the Japanese Kana (alphabets), but after that... it should have been completely removed.
If I had the patience to go through and white-out all of the roomaji, I think I'd find this book much more useful.
#2 The typos. Oh, gods the amount of typos!!!
All I could assume is that they did not edit it at all. For an educational textbook the amount of errors is unacceptable. It may sound like I'm being melodramatic, but when an absolute beginner is attempting to learn an Eastern Asiatic language that requires using a completely different writing system and grammar structure then is consistently given the wrong pronunciations (and told to repeat them out loud) from a textbook claiming to be "the shortcut to mastering this complex language"?? That's bad.
#3 The lack of depth.
There is no real explanation for the use of things and no real reinforcement of the vocabulary learned (as apposed to what it says on the cover.) The entire book glosses over lessons, often giving lists of vocabulary words that you'll never see again.
#4 The overall lack of originality.
This book uses the same methods as other textbooks - that is attempting to teach an Eastern Asian language under the same rules, functions, and definitions as Western English.
Teaching this way is setting learners up for complications and confusions in the future. It is an antiquated method that needs to be put down.
A piece of a passage showing just a couple of the issues listed above (note there are 20 chapters total):
Chapter 17 - Expressing Attitude - Indicating a Strong Opinion with べきだ beki da
べきだ beki da is placed at the end of a sentence, indicating that the statement expresses the speaker's strong subjective opinion about what should be the case.
べきだ beki da usually follows a verb in the dictionary form.
.....
学生はまじめに勉強するべきです
Gakusei wa majime ni benkyo suru beki desu.
Students should study seriously
するべきだ suru beki da is often contracted to すべきだ subeki da. For example, the previous sentence can also be:
学生はまじめに勉強すべきです。
Gakusei wa majime ni benkyo su beki desu.
Students should study seriously
___________________________________
Honestly, this is more like somebody took highlights and notes from other language textbooks and classes then published it into their own book and marketed it as something revolutionary.
All in all, it would be more useful for those who already have a few years under their belt to flip through as a refresher than any real independent language learning tombe - IF the roomaji was removed.
The reason I gave three stars instead of two is because of the variety of things covered within a single textbook. Most textbooks only cover about 1/3 (maybe less) the topics that this one does.
However, the strikes against it are:
#1 The use of Roomaji. Throughout the ENTIRE BOOK.
I could understand the first couple chapters using roomaji as an introduction to the Japanese Kana (alphabets), but after that... it should have been completely removed.
If I had the patience to go through and white-out all of the roomaji, I think I'd find this book much more useful.
#2 The typos. Oh, gods the amount of typos!!!
All I could assume is that they did not edit it at all. For an educational textbook the amount of errors is unacceptable. It may sound like I'm being melodramatic, but when an absolute beginner is attempting to learn an Eastern Asiatic language that requires using a completely different writing system and grammar structure then is consistently given the wrong pronunciations (and told to repeat them out loud) from a textbook claiming to be "the shortcut to mastering this complex language"?? That's bad.
#3 The lack of depth.
There is no real explanation for the use of things and no real reinforcement of the vocabulary learned (as apposed to what it says on the cover.) The entire book glosses over lessons, often giving lists of vocabulary words that you'll never see again.
#4 The overall lack of originality.
This book uses the same methods as other textbooks - that is attempting to teach an Eastern Asian language under the same rules, functions, and definitions as Western English.
Teaching this way is setting learners up for complications and confusions in the future. It is an antiquated method that needs to be put down.
A piece of a passage showing just a couple of the issues listed above (note there are 20 chapters total):
Chapter 17 - Expressing Attitude - Indicating a Strong Opinion with べきだ beki da
べきだ beki da is placed at the end of a sentence, indicating that the statement expresses the speaker's strong subjective opinion about what should be the case.
べきだ beki da usually follows a verb in the dictionary form.
.....
学生はまじめに勉強するべきです
Gakusei wa majime ni benkyo suru beki desu.
Students should study seriously
するべきだ suru beki da is often contracted to すべきだ subeki da. For example, the previous sentence can also be:
学生はまじめに勉強すべきです。
Gakusei wa majime ni benkyo su beki desu.
Students should study seriously
___________________________________
Honestly, this is more like somebody took highlights and notes from other language textbooks and classes then published it into their own book and marketed it as something revolutionary.
All in all, it would be more useful for those who already have a few years under their belt to flip through as a refresher than any real independent language learning tombe - IF the roomaji was removed.
June 2, 2024
Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book
I did it! I finally finished Japanese Demystified ! After I don’t know how many years of me checking out this book from the library, reading a little, returning it, checking it out again, rinse, repeat, I finally did it!
This is a textbook, so that’s why it took me a while to get through. But I really wanted to take my time with it and read the lessons and do the work at the end of the chapters to really understand it. Japanese is a tough language to learn, and the thing I’ve found that I struggle the most with is grammar. That’s why I picked up this book in particular, and it ended up being very helpful in that department! I liked how the author explained things and it was all mostly easy to understand. The lessons at the end of the book, I’m not gonna lie, really went over my head though.
Those were just above my learning level, but overall I thought the book was very helpful! I already have some of this author’s other books on my TBR! And at the time of posting this review, I actually have really fallen off my Japanese studies. I’m self-taught—I’m literally doing this just for fun, but I really miss studying the language so I’m hoping to get back into it soon!
I did it! I finally finished Japanese Demystified ! After I don’t know how many years of me checking out this book from the library, reading a little, returning it, checking it out again, rinse, repeat, I finally did it!
This is a textbook, so that’s why it took me a while to get through. But I really wanted to take my time with it and read the lessons and do the work at the end of the chapters to really understand it. Japanese is a tough language to learn, and the thing I’ve found that I struggle the most with is grammar. That’s why I picked up this book in particular, and it ended up being very helpful in that department! I liked how the author explained things and it was all mostly easy to understand. The lessons at the end of the book, I’m not gonna lie, really went over my head though.
Those were just above my learning level, but overall I thought the book was very helpful! I already have some of this author’s other books on my TBR! And at the time of posting this review, I actually have really fallen off my Japanese studies. I’m self-taught—I’m literally doing this just for fun, but I really miss studying the language so I’m hoping to get back into it soon!
July 28, 2013
In the three years that I have been studying Japanese, this book has been the most useful to me and the one I often returned to after reading others. Perhaps what makes it so helpful are the practices and quizzes the book offers. If any one- whose first and primary language was English- asked me for recommendation, it would be this book, along with Pimsleur's Japanese series 1-3.
November 29, 2011
As far as what is offered in the US, this is a really good book to learn Japanese. Of course those who are serious about learning Japanese will need better study material. I highly recommend whiterabbitpress.com
Read
September 22, 2009total crap.
abandoned-unfinished
December 28, 2018I've classified this as abandoned/unfinished as part of my 2018 amnesty on trying to finish everything I've started. It isn't a commentary on this book, but more that I have over 30 books 'currently reading' and I want to get that down to two (one fiction, one non-fiction). I'll be putting this disclaimer on a number of books :(
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews