Customer Reviews

Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker

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

 

 

I stumbled across this book at the bookstore, and it looked interesting so I bought it. I was pleased to read a book that was both educational and entertaining, and covers a topic that is unfortunately so-often neglected: practical, modern Japanese culture. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in either living in Japan or working with Japanese either at home or in Japan. This book should also be required reading for students of Japanese as well, regardless of language level. Even for people with experience in Japan (for whom most of the information is hopefully second nature by now) this book serves as a helpful reminder and warning to common cultural pitfalls that even experts can fall into.

There were only a few aspects of this book that disappointed me and kept me from giving it 5 stars. These points include:

-The title: whoever came up with title should be fired. Not only is it generic and uninspiring but it could give the reader the mistaken impression that it is a language textbook. By and large, it is NOT. This is a book on Japanese culture with a few language tidbits thrown in.

-The infatuation with Eleanor Jorden's works. Some people love them, others hate them ... count me in the latter category. From the perspective of pure linguistics, Jorden's might be superior books but from the perspective of language acquisition I cannot recommend them: particularly if you are studying on your own. Horvat partially redeemed himself in my eyes by praising Nagara Susumu's "Japanese for Everyone" which I think is an outstanding textbook.

-Anti-Hepburn attitude. I'm sorry, but romaji should be there for the aid of people who are NOT proficient in Japanese (those that ARE proficient really don't need romaji!) ... you'll never convince me that a person unfamiliar with Japanese will pronounce "Huzi" or "Mitubisi" close to how they should be pronounced!

-Length: as other reviewers have mentioned, this could have been two or three times as long. $15 for a book under 200 pages seems a bit steep.

But these are relatively minor points and should not keep you from buying this book. Horvat's work contains the type of hidden gems that can spell the difference between business and/or personal success ... and failure!

Having worked for two Japanese companies in Tokyo and Osaka I disagree with some of the authors remarks. Meishi (and a hanko) are generally supplied to you and are not something you need to get for yourself. Slurping your soup is NOT a good habit and is generally far more prevalent with old people. And as a gaijin, you are not expected to make a big bow to your employer. In fact if you do, you probably made your first mistake. Also it's not how long you work but HOW LATE YOU LEAVE. More useful would be pointing out that Japanese are really unfriendly with directions (the huge exception to this being the excellent Japanese cops), asking a girl for a date is much bigger stuff there..., etc. Aside: the Jordan Noda Japanese the Spoken Language books are really speech accurate.

This book is a confused hodge-podge of different cultural aspects of Japanese. While only useful to the rank beginner, it addresses topics that in order for one to understand and appreciate must already have a degree of Japanese competence. While one *could* buy this book, most of the material in it is available online at the author's website(Total Quality Japanese). If you actually want to purchase something, there has to be a better source.

I spent two years in Japan. At times I wondered what was going on. Other times I felt absolutely lost. This book helped me to understand those things that had confused me.

I think that Mr. Horvat was wise in writing this book. This book is very helpful to anyone who plans on going to Japan or has been there for an extended period of time.

I recommend this book highly!

Here's a book that's relevant and practical for anyone studying Japanese. I remember when I started out we students were not expected to ever speak to real Japanese people but to study only in libraries, and should we actually need to find our way to a bus stop or toilet use only the most formal and elegant language, as if we were addressing the emperor on high issues of state. Horvat's book assumes you will be in the streets and offices, dealing with real situations and real people. And it's organized in a way for easy browsing. This is not a book about HOW to learn Japanese, but it's what YOU NEED TO KNOW to speak it. The author's knowledge of his subject and his cosmopolitan understanding of humans and their incessant need to chatter in a meaningful way are what make this book really superb. Absolutely recommended for students (and teachers!).

If you read the title and expected the book to deliver on making you into a native Japanese, well, you'll be disappointed. Any claim like that should be taken with a grain of salt. I thought the book was great. The only thing it lacked was more content. This book could have been twice it's size. It may have also been better in an encyclopedic format for more ease of reading. It's written by a guy who knows what he's talking about, given his education, years and years of living and working in Japan, and his involvement in foreign language enducation politics.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Japan, especially for the business traveler, student, or armchair cultural anthropologist.

In short, it's "everything you ever wanted to know about Japan that your Japanese teacher never taught you." The book is filled to the brim with detailed anecdotes and helpful tips about Japanese social cues and etiquette. The tone is witty and accessible, and it's an enjoyable read.

Anyone who's traveled to Japan knows that all the important things there are left unsaid. Horvat really gives you the inside scoop on those unspoken cultural norms and demystifies them. A great book! Read it before you go and bring it in your suitcase...

Just when you thought you knew Japanese, "Japanese Beyond Words" steps in to explain just what you really don't know -- and what you need to know if you expect to make it socially in Japan. The advice in this book, presented to the reader through a series of mini-essays, is valuable in ways that I can't explain here. Only after reading the last letter of the text are you able to truly appreciate just what Mr. Horvat has revealed to you. You'll learn about body language, behavior, linguistic oddities, and the things which you shouldn't say and do while in Japan. Advice is given on dozens of topics... advice that I think no one should dare ignore before entering Japan. I most enjoyed the section on selecting a school in which to learn Japanese.

The book will undoubtedly be most helpful to those who have been through formal instruction of Japanese and are looking for a well-written compilation of "the extras" -- the things which aren't taught in school but really come in handy while you're actually out there dealing with the language and culture first-hand. But people with even a mild interest in Japan and its people (not necessarily the language) will appreciate the cultural insight the book provides. It's truly a book for anyone with any level of interest in Japan.

Read "Japanese Beyond Words" and you'll invariably come to one conclusion: there's more to Japan than you could ever hope to learn in a classroom.

..buy and read this one. The problem with too many of the language books out there is that they treat the target language as if it were coded English. The results are often baffled looks by the locals, or worse.

Japanese Beyond Words offers useful insight into the culture of Japan and how it influences communication. For example, Japanese rarely say "no" or make a demand out of respect and courtesy, preferring to use a roundabout way of conveying these messages. Native Japanese will instantly recognize a "no" or a request when they hear one. Westerners usually won't.

By the way, it is ok to slurp your soup, BUT eating while walking down the street is frowned upon (no hot dog carts in Tokyo!). And while service and good manners are legendary in Japan, don't expect very many "excuse me's" or "sorrys" when you inevitiably get jostled time and again in the subway or on busy sidewalks. Horvat explains why.

The book also contains a section on the structure and pronunciation of Japanese sentences and words, which is immensely useful for limiting your inevitable accent. But one of the most surprisingly useful sections of the book describes what sounds the Japanese have difficulty pronouncing. This may not sound like a big deal until you have to interact with a Japanese person with a heavy accent (which is the norm). Once you know what sounds they have difficulty with, it's much easier deciphering their heavily accented English.

Strongly recommended for business travelers, students and tourists, but take note : this is not a book on how to learn the Japanese language. Still, read it first, or suffer the lot of the clueless westerner with an atrocious accent!

I have to say I was skeptical that about learning anything useful from this book, but I am not even halfway through and it has already helped me understand so much that I missed while living in Japan. I do agree with Charles Stevens' review though and believe that the title is misleading---it certainly looks like a title for a language book, but the book assumes the reader has a basic conversational knowledge of Japanese and speaks more on culture and study behind the language. I also agree that there should have been some Japanese script in here. It is honestly annoying as someone who has studied Japanese for over 7 years to read only romanji in a book that assumes the reader does know some Japanese. Beyond those minor complaints, this book has taught me some useful tidbits I was surprised I didn't already know, as well as worked to improve on my cultural understanding of certain situations in Japanese, and explained the linguistics in an easy to understand manner. A highly recommended read for anyone who intends to live/work/study in Japan.