Customer Reviews

Interactive Japanese 1: An Introductory Course (Pt.1)

5 star:		(1)
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I highly recommend this for those wishing to learn Japanese in a short period of time. It teaches practical Japanese in an easy, readable way. Although it is for use in the classroom, I have found that it also works great for self-study. It teaches you the Hiragana, one of the three forms of Japanese writing, from the start and some of the common Kanji. But I highly recommend that you obtain both the book and the tapes as it is difficult to learn correct pronunciation without hearing it being spoken.

I used this method (book and tape) to teach myself Japanese, not that I speak it fluently (I would need to move to Japan for a while for this) but it worked beautifully well.

First the approach is pleasant and fun. After having tried several other teaching methods, this is the one that clicked for me. Mostly because it does not give you a choice: you learn to spell a word in Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji and next time you come across the word it is no longer spelled out in Latin alphabet. This way you HAVE to assimilate alphabet, spelling and meaning before you can move forward.

Highly recommended.

I''ve tried a number of systems to learn Japanse from the Pimsleur tapes (good if all you need to do is speak & understand) to Japanese for Busy People and some online systems. I really like the Interactive Japanese approach of mixing in the kana (Japanese characters) from the start. Not only does it help as you pursue the language further, it gives visual learners one more handle to grab onto. Great coverage of the culture and geography, as well. I really wish this series could have been continued.