Good starter book for the Japanese language

[Hattamhatter_99]

I've been interested in the Japanese culture for a long time and about 3 months ago I've decided to learn the language. Not as easy as it sounds. I purchased two books and they didn't help me at all I was wondering if you guys knew of a book or two that teaches the basic stuff like the sentance construction and all that stuff thanks in advance!!

 

[yukio_michael]

I recommend "Japanese for Everyone", it's a great book in and of itself and is only one volume. It has a heavy usage of Kana and gradually introduces you to the Kanji, while re-enforcing things you already know... It's got good illustrations to go along with the text, which is itself well written.

Some people will complain that the dictionary is in roumaji... but... I complain that the audio is only available on Cassette... I paid $70 for the cassettes, which are a pain to listen to since~ of course, not to many cassette players these days.

I'll stress it again, use roumaji as LITTLE as possible, it will only hinder your understanding of Japanese... also, there is no substitute for human interaction... you may learn comprehension skills, but you need to try out and get feedback on your ability to speak the language.

If you need any other info, let me know, I've purchased a lot of books over the years, and I come back to the one mentioned above. (I've also seen the coursework for a number of ones I've stayed away from too). まあ～

 

[Hattamhatter_99]

Hmm....well I wanna learn how to speak Japanese before I start writing it cuz that would make alot more sense

 

[yukio_michael]

You would think so, but the writing, at least getting down how the sylables exist in the basic hiragana sylablary is found to be integeral to learning fluency with language.

You wont get very far by only learning how to enunciate the language without being able to at least read Hiragana.

 

[mangaman]

I've used Minna no Nihongo 1 and 2, Genki 1 and 2, and the first Japanese for Busy people and although all three are ok I'd say Jap. for busy people is the worst. For self study I highly reccommend the Genki series, Minna no Nihongo is high quality but harder to follow on your own as it jumps around but if a Japanese school was using it I would have no problem with it.

 

[dc_johnson45]

I've been interested in the Japanese culture for a long time and about 3 months ago I've decided to learn the language. Not as easy as it sounds. I purchased two books and they didn't help me at all I was wondering if you guys knew of a book or two that teaches the basic stuff like the sentence construction and all that stuff thanks in advance!!

As recommended, 'Japanese for Everyone' is an excellent book, but you must buy the tapes as well. Tapes cost me ~$100. See my thread in this forum on where to get the tapes. Also, 'Japanese for Everyone' requires A LOT of study. It covers in the first 1 1/2 chapters what 'Japanese for Busy People' does in about 4 chapters. Plus, it starts out in kana.. a little romaji in the beginning, but its gone by Chapter 3 (BTW, this is a GOOD thing... )

If you decided to use this book, you NEED to buy Heisig's 'Remembering the Kana' (its two books in one, Remembering the Hiragana & Remembering the Katakana, and its ~ $10 at Amazon.. a good deal!) And you need to digest this book BEFORE you start 'Japanese for Everyone'.

Lastly, you really should look into learning from a native speaker. Tapes and books only get you so far, and usually only in reading comprehension. If you live near any size city, I would recommend looking either at schools, or Japanese organizations in your area. For example, I take classes at the local Aikido dojo, although I do not practice Aikido. They were more than happy to have me come to the classes...

 

[Ma Cherie]

I would recommend Master the Basics: Japanese. It helped me out alot!

 

[Rgchrono]

genki one and two, along with the japan's time a dictionary for basic japanese grammar has help me some. I would say those 3 books are the best books you can have to learn the basics.

 

[Matadon]

I'll put in my two yen, and vote for the 'Genki' series by the Japan Times; I started with a completely different set of books, and when I switched universities, moved from the 'Learn Japanese' texts to the 'Genki' texts, and was amazed at how well-written they are.

You'll be required to learn how to write, of course, because by the third chapter of Genki-I, everything is in kana, and they slowly begin introducing kanji at a rate of about 15 per chapter. While this might feel fast at first, it starts to feel slow once you get about halfway though the second book, and by the end of the second book, you're probably just picking up kanji on the side anyway (yeah, like I'm going to need to ever write 殴る).

Vocab is topical, grammar explanations are well-written, and it's definitely suitable for self-study, although on that note, I recommend at least taking a semester or two at a local community college. Why? Because just interacting with a native speaker on a daily basis will give you the a big boost on being able to pronounce things correctly. Nothing is sadder than a book-taught gaikokujin who can write Japanese almost fluently, but who sounds like a bad anime when he-or-she talks.

 

[rajs20]

My 2 cents:

1. if you're looking for a "basic" book as you said, then Genki is pretty good... It goes at a fairly slow pace and everything is described fairly clearly. Japanese for everyone (not the same as Minna no Nihongo, btw) is a great text too, although it's a bit denser and more "advanced" than Genki so I would probably avoid that unless you're extremely motivated to learn Japanese.

2. I *really* recommend learning hiragana and katakana. All those characters probably look a bit intimidating, but with a little bit of effort you can easily memorize them in a matter of days. I know you only want to learn how to Speak japanese, but since you're going to be self-taught, you're going to need a good textbook, and good textbooks usually use kana. Of course, don't bother learning Kanji, especially since most basic texts provide hiragana in little letters (furigana) next to each kanji.

 

[dc_johnson45]

2. I *really* recommend learning hiragana and katakana. All those characters probably look a bit intimidating, but with a little bit of effort you can easily memorize them in a matter of days. I know you only want to learn how to Speak japanese, but since you're going to be self-taught, you're going to need a good textbook, and good textbooks usually use kana. Of course, don't bother learning Kanji, especially since most basic texts provide hiragana in little letters (furigana) next to each kanji.

Actually, if you don't learn kanji, you will be totally lost in any Japanese situation. I would recommend learning kanji in conjunction with the kana. In fact, I personally find it easier to learn kanji with vocabulary, as it helps you to distinguish similar sounding words.

Furigana (the little kana above/beside kanji) are provided in 'normal' japanese for words the general japanese public may not be familiar with... and since the standard kanji list is 2000+ kanji, there's a pretty good chance you will not encounter furigana for common words...

 

[Matadon]

Actually, if you don't learn kanji, you will be totally lost in any Japanese situation. I would recommend learning kanji in conjunction with the kana. In fact, I personally find it easier to learn kanji with vocabulary, as it helps you to distinguish similar sounding words.

Furigana (the little kana above/beside kanji) are provided in 'normal' japanese for words the general japanese public may not be familiar with... and since the standard kanji list is 2000+ kanji, there's a pretty good chance you will not encounter furigana for common words...

I second this motion; you will be totally non-functional without the ability to read and write. Doubly so because some Japanese either won't or can't understand you verbally, but will be able to read whatever you put on paper readily. Do pay attention to stroke order, line length, and relative sizes of the radicals, and try to practice as much as possible -- there are tons of kanji that I once learned for class, and can still read, but can't write because I don't use them enough.

 

[nhk9]

I personally think the Genki book is fairly useful. It explains many cultural aspects, as well as some exceptional grammar constructions.

Anyway, if you are not too familiar with SVO languages, try to find an article or two about it first. An article about Japanese grammar at wikipedia should also help clarify what SVO really is. For us SOV English speakers, learning SVO the first time may not be an easy task... so it's very important to get used to the feel of the Japanese grammar construction before going into the grammatical details. But hang in there though... the first couple of years would always be the toughest... afterwards things would become more or less standardized, and you would find yourself learning kanjis and words at a much faster pace than before.

 

[dc_johnson45]

Just to clarify a bit... I believe English is a SVO (Subject - Verb - Object) language, and Japanese is a SOV (Subject - Object - Verb) language. Probably just a slip of the fingers

 

[KawasakiDave]

Nonsense

Actually, if you don't learn kanji, you will be totally lost in any Japanese situation.

Many people, myself included, function quite nicely in Japan, thank you, despite knowing little or no kanji. Of course it would be better to learn kanji if possible (which I'm starting to do with Heisig,) but to say someone would be 'totally lost' or 'totally non-functional' in ANY Japanese situation without the ability to read/write kanji is nonsense.

 

[Mike Cash]

Many people, myself included, function quite nicely in Japan, thank you, despite knowing little or no kanji. Of course it would be better to learn kanji if possible (which I'm starting to do with Heisig,) but to say someone would be 'totally lost' or 'totally non-functional' in ANY Japanese situation without the ability to read/write kanji is nonsense.

That's akin to a blind man saying he doesn't care to see because he can find his way through his own living room just fine in the dark.

 

[dc_johnson45]

Many people, myself included, function quite nicely in Japan, thank you, despite knowing little or no kanji. Of course it would be better to learn kanji if possible (which I'm starting to do with Heisig,) but to say someone would be 'totally lost' or 'totally non-functional' in ANY Japanese situation without the ability to read/write kanji is nonsense.

This was meant to emphasize the need to learn kanji as early as possible. Certainly you could 'get around', just as non-english speakers 'get around' in the US, but could you go out to lunch & order straight off the menu? That's what I mean by 'totally lost', not that you somehow wouldn't know how to exit a subway or something...

 

[goofy2feet]

A few years ago I got started off in Japanese with a brilliant book, written by an IBM engineer who had to learn Japanese quick for his work. Unfortunately I can't remember the title/publisher, but it was a great book - I wonder if anyone knows the one I am talking about??? ::

 

[AngkorianKnight]

English-Japanese, Japanese-English, and kanji dictionaries can help also. I used the Youkoso textbooks.

 

[dc_johnson45]

A few years ago I got started off in Japanese with a brilliant book, written by an IBM engineer who had to learn Japanese quick for his work. Unfortunately I can't remember the title/publisher, but it was a great book - I wonder if anyone knows the one I am talking about??? ::

Japanese Step by Step by Gene Nishi.

Its quite cheap on Amazon, and worth every penny. The book has a few quirks; for example it flips between Kanji and romaji throughout, and he tends to throw a lot of vocabulary at you (5 pages of verbs in chapter 4, with the advice 'memorize these'), but if you have a programmers mind you will like the book.

He uses flow charts to explain grammar points like -masu verb forms, and it works for me...