Customer Reviews

Handy Katakana Workbook

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The author (Dr. Shimazu) is as fluent in English as he is in Japanese. His book creates a "read between the lines" ideal that I found useful in understanding the Japanese culture, which is the gateway to learning this language. I have compared it to other workbooks of this type, and find that it has a much higher level of communication for a beginning student. Shimazu is a masterful teacher, and his book thoughtfully and artistically conveys his creativeness in a manner which is very useful to the student.

This book clearly and coherently takes you through the steps of learning both hiragana and katakana. The side-by-side format allows you to learn both alphabets at the same time. The book also provides useful hints for language learning.

Anyone who wishes to begin the long journey of learning the Japanese language can start here. This handbook provides the basics of the two main writing "alphabets" of the Japanese language which can often be the stopper for people just starting out. If you're someone who is currently taking a beginning language class and you want some extra practice then this book is for you.

I used this book when attending classes at Soko Gakuen in San Francisco. The book is devised to be progressive and has a perfect amount of introductory material to introduce the characters followed by sample usage. As you progress through the lessons you will build on knowledge from previous lessons.

A good amount of sample words is used so that the information is reinforced without getting to be laborious.

It's not fancy like some other texts out there but don't be fooled, it is highly effective (and that's what is important right?)

Altogether a great tool for learning the reading and writing of the kana!