Customer Reviews

Japanese in Action: An Unorthodox Approach to the Spoken Language and the People Who Speak It

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This was the first book on the Japanese language that I enjoyed thoroughly. Mr. Seward discusses the difficulties that the student will encounter, and divides them into Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced. This gives the aspiring linguist an informative and often hilarious view of what can be expected in the course of serious study of Japanese. Drinking, romance, fractured English, Seward's Sham...it's all here. I hear H.M. the Emperor gave Mr. Seward the Order of the Chysanthemum 3rd Class(a rare honor for a non-Japanese). After reading this book, I felt they should have made it 1st Class.

I first came accross this book while struggling with the Japanese language in Japan. It was great to read a such a fresh view of how both Americans and Japanese treat the language. The book is getting old, and Seward admits there are more fluent foreign speakers running around the island, but the humor and insights are still dead on in 2000.

Anyone who plans to visit or live in Japan would benefit from reading the anecdotes, but this book is especially for those who are really thinking about devoting time to the country and especially the language. I have read many books of this genre, and this is toward the top.

Be sure to check out Jay Rubin's helpful and hilarious "What the textbooks don't teach you" as well.

I first came accross this book while struggling with the Japanese language in Japan. It was great to read a such a fresh view of how both Americans and Japanese treat the language. The book is getting old, and Seward admits there are more fluent foreign speakers running around the island, but the humor and insights are still dead on in 2000.

Anyone who plans to visit or live in Japan would benefit from reading the anecdotes, but this book is especially for those who are really thinking about devoting time to the country and especially the language. I have read many books of this genre, and this is toward the top.

Be sure to check out Jay Rubin's helpful and hilarious "What the textbooks don't teach you" as well.

You don't even have to be interested in learning the Japanese language . . . the writer is astute, insightful, and entertaining, and this is the sort of book you can read and re-read many times without getting bored.

As a ship's chief engineer I spent a number of years travelling regularly to Japan so I invested in an Audio Forum course and learned enough Japanese to achieve independence while in the country. In addition to a couple of dictionaries and a kanji reference I bought this book. It's a must-have for any learner: it won't teach you the language but it provides an insight into why this difficult to learn language is the way it is. It's full of wise observations and fascinating anecdotes and gives a feeling for the culture and the people as well as Nihongo itself. It will help to keep you from putting your foot in it while in Japan.

A must have for every student and for non-Japanese-speaking travellers in Japan.