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fox1 · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 268

hey... thank u in advance for your tip! Basically, I want to learn Japanese... one thing needed of course: a textbook.

The reason for my post is to ask...: what Japanese textbook would you recommend?

I am thinking of getting "Japanese For Busy People - Kana Version", and essentially, I'm posting here just to confirm that it isn't terrible or something

stretch · Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 59

Go for it. It's as good as any especially in the kana version.
I'd also get...
Random House -J/E Dictionary- Good dictionary with kana. by Seigo Nakao http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679780017/qid=1123509346/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8746391-4839903?v=glance&s=books
and...
Kanji and Kana by Hadamitsky and Spahn http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=br_ss_hs/104-8746391-4839903?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above%26dispatch%3Dsearch%26results-process%3Dbin&field-keywords=kanji+and+kana

enjoy!

Nicedog777 · Joined: 22 Jun 2005 Posts: 35 Location: Japan.

Oh yeah, that one's pretty good. I have part I and II, and they are rather quality.

Gotta start reading them, though... Embarassed

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

For info on learning written Japanese and Kanji look at the book reviews on

http://www.kanjiclinic.com

Some good info on there.

wintersweet · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject:

It's not a bad choice. It's certainly standard in a lot of US classrooms. As a supplement, I highly recommend Gene Nishi's Japanese Step by Step : An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese, which addresses some things that nearly all other textbooks totally ignore, such as pitch. And he uses kanji, which is great for me since I have a head start on kanji (due to studying Chinese) and felt really crippled in my non-kanji-using Japanese college extension course (which used Japanese for Busy People).

freddie's friend daniel · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 84 Location: Osaka-fu

Supplement your text book with A Basic Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (ISBN4-7890-0454-6) published by the Japan Times. I found it to be excellent.

kylemory · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 10:01 am Post subject:

i am taking a course at a YMCA in my town, and we use a Japanese course book called Minna No Nihongo, you have to buy the text book, and the English text to go with it, but i thought it was really good.
i tried other books to learn on my own with Japanese for Busy People, but found that i needed more structure.. Minna No Nihongo is much more like a school text than others if that is what you are looking for.. maybe not so good for learning on your own though.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

If you're learning on your own then Japanese for Busy people is as good as any.

Minna no Nihongo assumes prior knowledge of katakana and hiragana and can be a real pain to study alone. Great in a class though.

nomadder · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:14 pm Post subject:

I agree with Kylemory and I also like the Teach Yourself series. The All-round confidence book covers lots of grammar with exercises. The Minna book is good practice for reading the kana.

Good Luck!

hivans · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 51 Location: fukuoka

I think this has been covered in previous posts on the subject but I would suggest you look at a textbook called Genki. This link might help

http://www.genki-online.com/

I did some research when I started studying Japanese and as a language teacher and I felt it had the edge over Minna no Nihongo and Japanese for Busy People. Also, at that time my Japanese teacher felt it used more modern day language than the other textbooks.

Good luck with your studies anyway

nomadder · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:22 pm Post subject:

Thanks!

Genki looks like it might be a good option though it suffers the same big problem as all Japanese texts which is the boring, eye numbing layout. It's hard enough to read all of those characters let alone deal with the lifeless page. I only wish they could take a page out of the English textbooks(pun intended) and make their books a little more fun and easier on the eye.

Munchen · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 76

Just a reminder that this subject has been discussed many times on this forum. Be sure to search back into some of the previous messages to get a complete view of useful suggestions.
From my observation in places like Borders and Barnes & Noble, Japanese language materials probably are the most plentiful next to Spanish and I think the most for Asian languages.
I've learned something from all of them being sort of a language buff..
If you have good public library facilities, be sure to check. Saves having to put out out money for some expensive texts.

Rorschach · Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 130 Location: Osaka

Bozo Yoroshiku · Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 12:29 pm Post subject:

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

A useful link for you on learning Japanese

http://www.jref.com/language/