Customer Reviews

Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region (Tuttle Language Library)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Colloquial Kansai Japanese" is an updated and expanded edition of Palter and Slotsve's classic "Kinki Japanese*". This book was the key that unlocked the mysteries taking place in everyday conversations during a homestay in Kyoto. It enabled me to answer a very polite cabdriver in Osaka about what I had done while in Osaka. Just the other day, I became friends with a Kyoto native who was really happy to hear my "Kyoto accent", although I spoke not a word of Kansai-ben!

I highly recommend this book to:

* anyone who will spend more than two weeks in the Kansai area, especially homestay students and company workers that will need to converse with homestay family members, colleagues, local merchants, and others.
* anime otaku who watch subs rather than dubs.
* Japanese students interested in dialects.

Since I can't seem to locate my battered copy of "Kinki Japanese" after moving, I'm going to pick up a copy of "Colloquial Kansai Japanese". It's that good.

*Don't laugh, "Kinki" has nothing to do with love hotels or hostess bars. "Kinki" refers to the time when the Kansai area was the political center of Japan, and "kinki" means "the neighborhood of the capital". For many years, Kyoto was the capital of Japan. I suggest you read The Tale of Genji or Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book to capture the flavor of that era's history.

Why the title change? At one time, Tuttle published two books on this subject, the other being Peter Tse's "Kansai Japanese". Tse's book is no longer in print.

This book does a great job of looking at the Kansai area forms of Japanese. As a dialectology fan, I found this book entertaining. Explanations and examples are extremely detailed, and a large amount of different subject material is highlighted.

In addition to people who intend to interact with Kansai area speakers, I suggest this book to those who are interested in the dialects of Japan in general. Language is an ever-changing organism, and much of the original flavor of local dialects is forever being lost in many areas. This book goes beyond being practical in that sense, because even if Kansai-ben has been greatly eroded by Tokyo Japanese in the future, this book will be a surviving record of what used to be.

A good find.

I'm a college student about to study abroad in the Kansai area and I was looking for a book that would help me to better understand the local dialect. This book is very well laid out and clearly explains the differences between standard Japanese and Kansai dialect and how to use them. There are plenty of examples that help the reader along the way.

When I received the book I ordered I couldn't have been any happier. It arrived in exact condition described and it shipped quickly (within 3 days). I ordered 3 other books the same day by other sellers and I am still waiting on them. It has been around a week. I suggest this seller to anybody.

One of the simplest (and only) books on the Kansai dialect. I would highly recommend it for anyone who has even a passing interest in learning it - you'll see it on television in Japan, hear it all over, and it's something you'll need to know if you plan on living in any of the areas where it's spoken. It's very well done!

Maybe I expected too much from a book that was only ~$10 but it wasn't very clear on several very important topics in the book and too often resorted straight to simple conversations. Although this was a downfall, overall the book was a very enjoyable read, and was fairly informative. I hate the fact that it uses romanization, but since it always had the hiragana/kanji right below it, I will not complain too much :) overall a good book for intermediate Japanese students that want a very basic guide to speaking (and understanding) one of the more colorful dialects of Japan.

This book is not a bad buy if you've money to spend. It has a nice sense of humor and does a good job with the basics. However, the (arguably) most important aspect of Kansai-ben, intonation, can't be learned here. Students who are serious about learning a new dialect should use what I call "the Skype Method." Seek out Osakans on the internet and chat with them. They'll be more than glad to help you out.