Customer Reviews

Instant Japanese: How to express 1,000 different ideas with just 100 key words and phrases! (Instant Phrasebook Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just got back from a two-week vacation in Japan, where I used several books in an attempt to improve my miniscule knowledge of Japanese. This book was the best of a good lot; the word selection is excellent, and the book teaches sufficient grammar almost effortlessly; most important, it's small enough to finish fairly quickly. Of course, it's only a start--for a second book, I recommend "Japanese Made Easy" by Tazuko Ajiro Monane.

Even if you thoroughly learn the content of this book, though, you still want to carry around a phrase book for those (frequent) times when 100 words just isn't enough. De Mente's book will teach you enough Japanese so that you can make simple sentences without looking up every word, but you will still need words not in this book.

[Minor complaints: he spells the word "o" (pronounced "o") with the old spelling "wo" throughout the book, for no apparent reason. Also, an index would have been nice.]

In short, the book is superb for its one intended purpose, which is teaching a very basic, careful selection of Japanese--an "instant" introduction.

I found this book to be extremely helpful in properly pronouncing japanese words and phrases. I've purchased several books on learning to speak Japanese and find myself constantly referring to "Instant Japanese" by Boye De Mente when I'm unsure of the correct pronounciation. In addition, the size is perfect to carry around in your purse or pocket!

Highly recommended!

nice little book.
Most phrases and words here are common and used everyday.

This is one of the best beginning books on Japanese that I've seen. Mr. Demente's "learn 100 words" theory is fantastic. If you're going to Japan and don't intend to spend hours in serious study of Japanese but would like to communicate basic ideas, I'd recommend this book. Plus, like others noted, this book easily fits into your pocket.

I know Japanese, but my traveling companion does not. I've been looking for a quick guide that will empower my friend for our trip in four months. This book is perfect.

First, it's small and cheap. The choice of words is good. The phonetic pronunciations are accurate and highly readable for non-Japanese speakers. I'm confident now my friend will be able to shop, ask for a restroom, and communicate politely even if I'm off doing my own thing.

My only fault is that the order of words is different than I would choose, and as much guided for conversation as essential travel words.

If you want to learn 100 words in Japanese quickly, and have words you can use every day for travel and conversation, you can't do better than spend the $7 that this book costs.

I was suspicious of Boye De Mente books when I saw the number of his "guide" and "simple" books for Japanese AND several other languages. Quite a professional author, but what about his ability to explain the language and its context to students and travellers? Well despite its corny title this book would make a nifty part of a travellers short list of books to carry. I think you need to combine it with a simple romanji dictionary and a phrase book ordered by sequence or situation. But De Mente's approach is thoughtful, useful, practical and peppered with handy small tips. I liked the style, except his perpetuation of the translation of Japanese "hai" into "yes". He should know better, and almost certainly does, and a little more explanation of this general purpose acknowledgement (not necessarily agreement) would help his intended audience avoid potential misundertandings. From the plethora of such titles, you'll be well served by this one. And its small and light to carry.

We will be going to Japan soon and I was hoping for a quick study--which this little book is. It is easy to carry around and has enough phrases that will definitely be helpful when we get there. I wish there was a bit more explanation regarding grammar. For instance, when do you use wa and when do you use ga? I can also see that I will have to supplement with another more complete phrase book/ dictionary, but this book is a great for laying a foundation.

There are exactly 100 words in the book that are used in a variety of examples and ways. It's a great quick and dirty way to dive right into Japanese and walk out with some basic vocabulary. There are some small paragraphs on grammar usage, pronunciation, and other details to the language but for the most part it's just words and phrases.

This isn't the first time I've studied some Japanese and most of the basic words I've got a good handle on but I'm finding this book to be a great resource for solidifying the basics. I would say that this is a great pre-trip book, something you go through and memorize before a trip but leave home once you depart. For the trip itself I've purchased a proper phrasebook-Frommer's Japanese PhraseFinder & Dictionary (Frommer's Phrase Books) - and while being more textbook like then this one it does include a more comprehensive japanese/english phrase dictionary. I'll be traveling with that one but using this one to get some basic words and phrases under my belt.

If you are planning to go to Japan and don't know a word of the language and need to learn some quick then this book will help. If you are already studying the language then skip it will become useless quick.

I've been practicing Japanese lately with a tutor, and this book has been immensely helpful to me!