dannysunshine wrote:I actually held that very book in my hands last Saturday at a bookstore near where I live. I didn't have much time to look at it – or the other books I had collected - just 30 minutes before a movie started. Anyway, my initial impression was that it's a good resource for both cultural insights and learning colloquial Japanese, but it's not really a study guide for the Japanese beginner.
I also had a look at Japanese in Mangaland. The principle is basically the same, using manga images to illustrate language points. If I remember correctly, the language explained seemed more basic. Hopefully I can return to the bookstore this week-end and make a final decision about Japanese books I'll purchase. I can post my findings if you like.
dannysunshine wrote:I did discover that Japanese for Busy People does have CDs (which I'm sure everyone else already knew!), but I'd have to order them and I'm not sure how I feel about the textbook.
In the introduction, the authors say that the book contains adult language and that "the simplistic and childish ways of expression found in most beginning texts do not occur" (page eight). But it does seem a little simplistic to me -- and geared to a business person. Car, what do you think?
I'm still a little lost on how to begin. I'm working on the kana, but I don't have any audio.
dannysunshine wrote:I've used TY books before and thought that I was learning more British English than the target language -- and I don't want to learn British English since I already am a native speaker of 'Amerikanisch.' (Ich glaube es gibt doch ein Unterschied zwischen Amerikanisch und Englisch, oder?)
I'm practicing my stroke order too for now. Thank you for your thoughts on 'Japanese for Busy People.' I think you're right about the language taught in the book. 'Regular', i.e., non-business, people will find useful information.
Good luck with your studies!
BobMaster0 wrote:I've been studying Japanese for about two years now and thought I'd give my thoughts on books since that's what everyone seems to be discussing here.
In looking for books, I avoided anything using romaji like the plague, and stayed far away from anything with the word "manga" in the title.
Now that I think about it, I do have the Kodansha Furigana Japanese Dictionary. It's not a bad dictionary, and works for when you are starting out.
However, nothing is quite like having a nice electronic dictionary at your side. While not a cheap investment, if you are serious about studying Japanese over a long period of time, getting an electronic dictionary is a worthwhile long-term investment. It will serve you well, and last a long time.
ありがとうございます!
Is Romaji really that bad?
What's better then? I usually don't use my printed dictionaries much, but like to have one just in case.
Which one(s) can you recommend? What about the available online dictionaries?
BobMaster0 wrote:Is Romaji really that bad?
While I don't have a good argument to support it at the moment, I feel like using a text with romaji is just not worth it. Real Japanese texts are not going to have romaji, so why should my study materials. That's another reason I learned so many kanji so soon. I got tired of seeing things I couldn't read.
BobMaster0 wrote:Which one(s) can you recommend? What about the available online dictionaries?
The electronic dictionary I use is the SHARP PW-9300. I bought it about 6 months ago from amazon.co.jp. I checked the price online just now and it was listed at ¥12,980, which I think is a good deal.
BobMaster0 wrote:As for online dictionaries, the one I use more than any other is http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/. The interface is in Japanese, so that might make it difficult to use at first. This was introduced to me originally by my girlfriend, who is Japanese. The only other dictionary I've ever used is Jim Breen's dictionary. It's good and highly regarded by most people I've talked to. You can check it out here: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html. I'm sure there are other good resources out there, I just haven't found them or looked for them yet.
BobMaster0 wrote:While I don't have a good argument to support it at the moment, I feel like using a text with romaji is just not worth it. Real Japanese texts are not going to have romaji, so why should my study materials.
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