WagaWiki - User contributions [en]

Japanese TV

Infidel — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:20:47 GMT

Infidel:

== Introduction ==

It is a common for beginners to ask what would be good Japanese TV shows to watch for practice, or for their children to watch for practice. This page is meant to create a space to compile a list of good answers.

== What makes a good Beginner Show ==

A show for beginners will generally have a moderate speaking speed with good pauses between sentences, mostly consist of relatively short, simple and compound sentences as opposed to long compound-complex sentences, discuss commonplace topics, and contain lots of repetition. Ideally, one person makes a statement, and then a critical word gets echoed back in the form of a question, as happens often on children's shows. Hearing words repeated is very effective for learning new words, so it is to be preferred in a show recommended for beginners.

== List of Shows ==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PythagoraSwitch Pythagoras Switch] (ピタゴラスイッチ) is a science show for young children. A sample can be found [http://tvinjapan.blogspot.com/2006/06/pythagoras-switch-most-awesome-kids.html here].

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtato Dogtato-kun] (じゃがいぬくん, Jagainu-kun) Is a cute show also aimed at young children, involving the adventures of a half-potato, half-dog Jagainu-kun and his adventures with his friends.

[[Category: Practice]]

Infidel — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:44:00 GMT

Infidel: /* Follow the 80% rule */

I've been studying Japanese for well over 14 years now and for all that I've not made the progress I should have. In my many attempts to take short-cuts and try different methods, I often set my self back three steps for every step I took forward. Sometimes in searching for a better way, I would find one, but then I would be dissatisfied and drop a good thing in search of something even better. In short, I'm an expert on what not to do. What I'm going to do here is dedicate this page for all new students of Japanese in hopes of getting them to benefit and learn from my mistakes so you don't spend more time and effort learning Japanese than necessary.

It will probably take me a few weeks to get this page fully fleshed out. I've a lot to say on this subject. I'll also be adding stuff as it occurs to me, or as I discover something new.

==Don't be an Infidel==
===Follow good study habits===

While everyone thinks they know what consists of good habits, there are a few not-so-well-known points, and studying a language requires a few specialized habits as well.

====The three month rule====

Studies have shown that it takes about 3 months to create a new habit. Once something--in this case studying--becomes habitual, it is much easier to continue even when some other activity or change of attitude would distract you or cause you to give up. So make 3 months of habitual study your first goal.

====Many short term goals are better than few long term goals====

One of the most common mistakes a new Japanese student makes is to make memorizing the 1950 jouyou kanji a high priority. While this is a good long term goal, and the new students do at least realize it is a long term goal, they fail to see the big picture. Even if you do use a program like Heisig's ''Remembering the Kanji'' it won't save you from having to look up just about every new word you encounter. The truth is, you don't need to learn 1950 kanji before you can start reading productively, so setting a goal like this can actually set you back contrary to how it may first appear. '''expand on this on another page'''

Instead, set up a basic short term goal. Study a minimum of 15 minutes a day, with at least five minutes of review. This is what you would do if some activity came up, like a family reunion that would prevent normal study.

Let your textbook determine the rest of your short term goals for a while. Generally, I try to do one set of workbook exercises a day with 10-15 minutes of review. If you keep plugging away at your textbook, you will find yourself achieving many of your long term goals when you look back and consider how much you accomplished.

====The breaks are as important as the effort====

Like a sponge, even though we can ultimately manipulate a practically unlimited amount of information, the rate we can absorb information is limited. For most people, this is about 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted study. Ideally, after 30 minutes of study, take an hour break, then come back later for another 30 minutes. This allows you to take advantage of active breaking.

=====Active Breaking=====

Active breaking is different from passive breaking. In an Active Break, you keep your reference materials close at hand and allow yourself to essentially daydream about the stuff you just studied.

When you break off in this way, you will notice yourself thinking over the material just studied but without effort because of your daydream-like state. Don't try to direct your thoughts too much, although if you find yourself thinking how difficult something is, it is better to put that thought behind you. When you daydream, your brain is attempting to assimilate the information you daydream about and is an important function of Active Breaking. Allow your brain to do its thing by going along with it. For example, if your brain decides to start repeating a certain word or drawing a kanji in your mind, then repeat the word aloud and imagine drawing the kanji in your head. In general, this will involve zero strain, if you do find yourself straining--just a little--to remember something, so that you feel that remembering is just at the edge of your conscious thought. If possible, go back to your reference material immediately and look it up, close the book, and try to remember it again. At this point, you've usually assimilated the info into long term memory. Then go back to your daydreaming.

Active breaking doesn't do much for emptying the short term memory to learn new information, but it does dramatically increase the speed that short term memory is absorbed into long term memory. It can also help relive the "cram" headache.

=====Passive Breaking=====

Passive breaking is what most people think of when they think of breaking. Generally the material sits forgotten or unavailable, and no effort is made to review. This includes sleep time or time spent doing other activities and not thinking about your subject material at all. Passive Breaking converts only a small percentage of short term memory into long term; however, the main advantage of Passive Breaking is emptying the reservoir of short term memory to allow new information to be learned. This is why it is much better to study after a full night's rest than on a day of insufficient sleep.

====Accept your brain has its own agenda====

The brain is designed to absorb information and correlate it, but not in any particular order. When we study a list of 20 words, we have no control over the order those 20 words are learned. Unfortunately, there is no way to completely eliminate the tedium of studying word lists. Sometimes, all you can do is fall back on Active Breaking and rote repition.

====Follow the 80% rule====

This applies more for the self study, because someone taking a course will have no control over the pace.

:The rule is simple, when you feel that you know 80% of the material in any one lesson, move on to the next one. Don't wait until you know all of the material 100% before moving on.

There are two reasons for this:
*Diminishing returns
*Later reinforcement

Basically, the extra time and effort spent straining over that last 20% of material would be more efficiently spent learning new material in the next chapter. For example, spending 5 hours in an attempt to learn say 5 difficult words, would be better spent learning 20 new easier words and learning new grammar in the next chapter. Also, textbooks are designed to build on each previous lesson. A word you had difficulty with before will be represented later, maybe not the next chapter, but it will re-surface again. When it does, your brain will find learning the word much easier once you see it in a new context. In other words, you can spend an hour stressing over a word now, or wait a few weeks until it comes up again and learn it in maybe 5 minutes or instantly which seems to be more often the case for me.

=====Don't insist on understanding everything=====

One of the greatest advantages of having a brain is it is designed to learn. Sure there are some things that you have to force-feed it, but if you present information to it in the right way, your mind will gobble it up like dessert. Some study methods even focus exclusively on utilizing this native function of the brain, but there is no need to concentrate on this ability to the exclusion of others. All we have to do is activate it and keep it engaged.

This is actually two functions of the brain we want to use. The first is active curiosity and the second is pattern recognition. We activate both of these by deliberately exposing ourselves to Japanese on a constant basis.
======Active Curiosity======
======Pattern Recognition======

====Don't be afraid of mistakes====

====Ten is better than a hundred====

:The gist of this rule is this: It is better to study something once a day, for 10 days, than 100 times in one day.

One reason is that we have little control over what we absorb from short term memory, so it's more efficient to fill it up with more words, than it is to fill it with a few words, over and over again, for a slightly increased chance of remembering. The time factor alone is significant, it takes 10 times longer to study something 100 times than 10 times. Also, only a very small percentage of stuff learned in one day translates to long term memory. It is the repetition over several days that triggers the brain's reflex to store something in long term memory. By training once a day over several days, you work with the brains natural abilities instead of attempting to force it to do something it wasn't designed to do well. Probably best of all, doing reducing your workload by a factor of 10 should go a long way to reducing your chances of burning out.

====Protect your privacy====
This is an extra advice we learned from Infidel-san.

Even though we use anonymous user names, there are still some risks on the Internet. ＾＾;

==Save some money==

Another mistake many new students make is to go on a spending spree and buy every type of reference book available except a textbook. Not only is this counterproductive by dividing your limited study between many different reference works and increasing your chances of burning out from overwork, it really is a waste of money.

In the beginning, [http://thejapanesepage.com/w/index.php?title=Selecting_a_Japanese_Textbook all you need is a textbook.]

Your textbook will be a grammar guide, a dictionary, a particle guide and just about every other kind of guide you need for a while. Eventually, these other books might come in handy, but they will be of little help, and a bit of a hindrance in the very beginning. This is a somewhat arbitrary number, but consider waiting at least until you reach lesson 10-15 in a college level course or lesson 25-30 in a high school level course before spending money on secondary references. Although a beginners Kanji dictionary like Kodansha's is great because it gives stroke order diagrams.

When we tell a new student to get a textbook, they often complain that they already spent all their money on references, so they ask for a cheap textbook. While, expense is not necessarily an indication of value, some of the better courses are a bit more than $40, and once all the components are bought they are worth well over $100. It can be better to buy a textbook one month, the work book the next month, and the sound files the last month, than buy a bunch of references and then settle for an all-in-one course that is within budget.

The most important book in your library is your textbook. For now, consider everything else a condiment. Nice to have, but you can do without it. A bunch of reference books without a textbook is like setting a table with salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco sauce, but forgetting the meat and vegetables.

Infidel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:17:06 GMT

Infidel:

[http://www.age.ne.jp/x/oswcjlrc/jlrc/txtlib-e.htm]

big list.

Talk:TJP Shibboleths

Infidel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:11:11 GMT

Infidel:

How about adding Akiru's "I was born and raised in Japan"?

Something on Tony as パパ would do nicely too. [[User:Gundaetiapo|Gundaetiapo]] 18:45, 5 July 2007 (EDT)

:Believe it or not, I did originally consider putting パパ on the list. However, to be a shibboleth, a word or phrase has to reach a certain standard of common use, right now only SS-san and Coco-san call Tony パパ that I have seen, which makes the word more of a personal quirk shared between the two of them. Same with "I was born and raised..." I don't recall seeing other posters use it.

:I do want to clarify that this page was not created to facilitate the artificial creation of new shibboleths, but to reveal ones created naturally from community experience. Exclusive communities create shibboleths to exclude new members from an "elite" inner-circle and keep them there. Since TJP is an inclusive community that seeks to teach and raise others up and not exclude from some inner-circle, I would be terribly disappointed if the creation of this page were used for that purpose.--[[User:Infidel|Infidel]] 00:11, 6 July 2007 (EDT)

== thanks rich ==

The original thread was with Keatanotron. It was the OP that thanked the person answering after keat. Kinda funny, I've been looking for an opportunity to do this again, but keat rarely chimes in first anymore. I wouldn't say the tradition is to thank Rich, rather it's to thank the second correct reply and ignore the first. It just works out to be Rich a lot. :D

Talk:TJP Shibboleths

Infidel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:09:22 GMT

Infidel: /* thanks rich */

Talk:TJP Shibboleths

Infidel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:07:23 GMT

Infidel: thanks rich

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:42:36 GMT

Infidel: /* Written Only */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem to emphasize speed. Better courses are listed above weaker courses, but to be listed at all in the "Best" list is a good sign. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. Usually a reason will be given why one title is listed over another. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match. Primers usually don't come with audio so this gets the highest recommendation.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong in pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook; workbooks 2 and 3 may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:42:06 GMT

Infidel: /* Written Only */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem to emphasize speed. Better courses are listed above weaker courses, but to be listed at all in the "Best" list is a good sign. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. Usually a reason will be given why one title is listed over another. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match. Primers usually don't come with audio so this gets the highest recommendation.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong in pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, workbooks 2 and 3 may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:39:01 GMT

Infidel: /* Spoken Only */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem to emphasize speed. Better courses are listed above weaker courses, but to be listed at all in the "Best" list is a good sign. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. Usually a reason will be given why one title is listed over another. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match. Primers usually don't come with audio so this gets the highest recommendation.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong in pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, the others may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:36:27 GMT

Infidel: /* Best Highlights */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem to emphasize speed. Better courses are listed above weaker courses, but to be listed at all in the "Best" list is a good sign. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. Usually a reason will be given why one title is listed over another. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match. Primers usually don't come with audio so this gets the highest recommendation.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, the others may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:34:08 GMT

Infidel: /* Primers */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem emphasize speed. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match. Primers usually don't come with audio so this gets the highest recommendation.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, the others may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:31:27 GMT

Infidel: /* Spoken Only */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem emphasize speed. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' is a technical course designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

:''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ is a technical course while FCC is a conversational course. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

:''Pimsleur's Japanese'' This conversational course comes in 3 volumes of 30 lessons each. The course is weak on vocabulary but strong pattern sentences and completely spoken (CD or Tape); there is no accompanying text. This can be a problem because the untrained ear often cannot distinguish some sounds, however there are PDFs of the lessons floating around the internet. The course is very expensive, but seems to be at many libraries for free and is worth checking out. If nothing else, the lessons are very memorable and can give some insights in how to structure one's study sessions for maximum retention.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, the others may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:19:14 GMT

Infidel: /* Spoken Only */

I'm going to heavily edit the old Textbook page. This page is my working page. I've been wanting to do this ever since I began to realize that some of my preconceptions I had when I wrote the other page were in error.

----

One of the first questions a potential Japanese student asks is, "What is the best Japanese textbook to get?" After much trial and error and also watching the experiences of others, the answer to this all-important question is: "all of them." Unfortunately, an average search will usually not reveal many of these good books, so the purpose of this guide is as much to bring some of these titles out into the light, as it is act as a reference.

Each textbook meets different goals in differing orders, but the final result for nearly all is a student that can speak--if not read--Japanese well. It is important to not waste time looking for a better textbook once you've already started. Persevere and study daily and you will be learn Japanese well.

==Know your goals first ==

Learning a new language is about goals before anything else. Why are you studying Japanese? If you know your goals, then you can select a book that caters more effectively toward those goals.

The first thing you have to decide is speed. The sooner you need to learn the greater the sacrifice you need to make somewhere else. So a diplomat may be happy with a spoken course, while someone that just wants to read manga will be happy with a written course. In terms of speed we can rate the courses from fastest to slowest.
# Travel Guide
# Primer
# Spoken only
# Written only
# Both spoken and written

For example, a spoken course does not need to worry about learning Kanji which adds a significant amount of time to learning Japanese. Likewise, a written course has no need for pronunciation or speed drills. The longest route is learning to be good at both. Still, there is some room for variety. A course emphasizing literacy might emphasize reading (passive recall) but not writing (active recall).

Primers are great for the tourist that wants get more out of their tour guide or a thrifty parent of a child that wants to learn Japanese. They give a smattering of everything but are weak on vocabulary and like travel guides often have no audio component. Because the primer is much cheaper than a full course, it can be used as a gauge of the child's discipline. If the child is able to complete the primer, then the parent might more seriously consider buying a full blown course.

Travel guides are written for the clueless tourist and can generally get someone by provided they spend a week or two learning the format of the book. They are often a source of aggravation for all parties. They also contain a lot of categorized vocabulary, so an intermediate student or upper beginner might find them useful as a study guide. In truth, they can be a godsend even for the advanced student that goes to Japan then suddenly discovers a hole in one's knowledge.

===Know the format before buying===

I highly recommend examining any course before buying it. Even though I try to recommend courses that are well layed out and are paced in a way that is easy to stay motivated, it might not work for you. It is a bad sign when the page layout incites a headache, so make sure you like the format and pace before buying.

Also, this list will now attempt to cover all media formats. Software, audio only, and web site courses as I see them will be added to the list. Textbooks will continue to be the preferred format, but other formats will be mentioned.

===Best Highlights===

To save some trouble this list is for those who want a quick answer. Most courses are rated on quality not speed. I do plan to make a note of any courses that seem emphasize speed. Please realize that these "Best" courses are rated extremely subjectively. If something is not on here, that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. Hopefully, after reading this page, will know enough to judge whether a given course fills your needs by yourself. If you don't see the book you want here, check out the complete [[Japanese Textbook List]]. If Clay is selling a recommended book, I'll point the link to his store in thanks for hosting the site.

====Travel Guides====

====Primers====
:''Colloquial Japanese''. This can be bought as the book alone or the book and audio can be bought together as a package. Great for someone going to Japan in the near future or that wants a good overview of the language before starting a more intensive course. This moves at a fast pace but does not overload the student with vocabulary. Also, the vocabulary builds on each previous chapter very well. Unfortunately, there are a relatively large number of typos throughout the book that the student will need to keep their eyes out for, however, they all seemed rather obvious because the parallel text will not match.

====Spoken Only====
:''Barron's Mastering Japanese'' Written by Eleanor Harz Jorden author of ''Japanese, the Spoken Language'' but designed for the self-study. Even though this textbook is old, it gets the highest recommendation because of the extensive drills in the book. The benefit of extensive drills is well worth any perceived negative factors associated with this course.

''Ultimate Japanese'' and ''Japanese Complete Course'' by Living Language are both spoken courses even though UJ does teach Japanese writing, it is segregated from the other material and can be easily ignored. UJ attempts to be equivalent to a college education while JCC is dedicated towards getting the student speaking sooner by teaching pattern sentences and avoiding complex grammar explanations. JCC therefore, better meets the above stated purpose of a spoken course. UJ acts as a sort of bridge between a spoken course and a written course teaching too slowly to really benefit from a spoken only approach but the segregated writing system removes the benefits of an integrated course. Both are mentioned because the marketing for both courses is confusing.

====Written Only====

:''An Introduction to Modern Japanese'' (Bowring & Laurie). This is an extremely detailed 52 Lesson course that has the stated goal of enabling the student to read--with only a dictionary for reference-- short stories by the half-way point and newspapers by the end. It comes with a workbook, essential for taking full advantage of this course, and emphasizes the subtleties of _written_ Japanese. Thus, making this course best for the student with the primary goal of Japanese literacy over spoken fluency. It covers more Kanji than any other known course and gives detailed explanations of each grammar point.

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16236&cat=70&page=1 Japanese in Mangaland]'' With the addition of workbooks this book series graduates from a gimmicky grammar book into a legitimate Japanese course more dedicated towards the student that wants to read manga. Has good explanations, mini exercises and more specifically targeted vocabulary. For example, onomatopoeia and sound effects are taught from the very beginning. Currently 3 textbooks and 1 workbook, the others may be in the works.

====Spoken and Written====

:''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16153&cat=270&page=1 Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese]''. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than ''Nakama'' that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.

:''Elementary Japanese''. Also a two book series, it has the advantage of an audio CD that does not need to be ordered separately and has lots of exercises although it does not have an accompanying workbook. ''[http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16729&cat=70&page=1 Japanese for Everyone]'' is equally good, maybe better, but I rank it lower because it teaches at a faster pace to make up for it's 1 book length and the audio must be purchased separately--and seems difficult to acquire. This faster pace can be too much for many people, although the pace did not seem to be extraordinarily fast. I'm sure many will find the pace perfect.

== Related Pages ==
*[[Reading Material]]
[[Category:Practice]]

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:31:36 GMT

Infidel: /* Spoken and Written */

New Selecting a Japanese Textbook

Infidel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:31:23 GMT

Infidel: /* Spoken and Written */