Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook [Paperback]

AJALT (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 4770019076 | ISBN-13: 978-4770019073 | Publication Date: January 15, 1995 | Edition: Revised

Japanese for Busy People is, as the title suggests, a concise course for "busy" students who want to learn natural, spoken Japanese as effectively as possible in a limited amount of time. Three main texts-Japanese for Busy People I, Japanese for Busy People II, and Japanese for Busy People III-with related workbooks, cassette tapes, CDs, teacher's manuals, and videos make up this fully integrated three-level series. At each level, enough vocabulary and grammar have been provided to enable the learner to communicate in uncomplicated adult language without having to memorize excessive amounts of vocabulary and language patterns that are not immediately useful. All components of the Japanese for Busy People series have been prepared under the guidance of a working group of experienced Japanese language instructors who reviewed and tested the material in an authentic classroom environment.

Japanese for Busy People I: The Workbook is the ideal resource for any student wishing to improve oral fluency and speak Japanese at normal conversational speed. This collection of oral drills has been developed to provide practice for sentence patterns presented in both the Revised Edition and Kana Version of Japanese for Busy People I. The Workbook can be used both in the classroom as a supplement for introducing or reviewing lessons, and outside the classroom for homework and review. When coordinated with the exercises and quizzes in the main textbook, it should enable learners to improve their command of basic Japanese in a relatively short time.

This fully illustrated Workbook Includes:
o "Sentence Pattern Drills" for better, quicker, and more natural Japanese sentences.
o "Situation Drills" for more accurate and relevant usage of sentences and expressions.
o "Vocabulary Drills" for speedy and long-lasting vocabulary retention.

Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook Tapes (available separately) has been specially designed to support this workbook.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

THE ASSOCIATION FOR JAPANESE-LANGUATE TEACHING (AJALT) has been recognized as a nonprofit organization by the Ministry of Education since 1997. It was established to meet the practical needs of people who are not necessarily specialists on Japan but who wish to communicate effectively in Japanese. In 1992 the Association was awarded the Japan Foundation Special Prize.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA; Revised edition (January 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770019076
• ISBN-13: 978-4770019073
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,501,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good start, a good foundation, October 3, 2001

By 

"max_w" (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Text (Paperback)

I first used this book as part of my Japanese language course at university. I found the chapter dialogues very useful, and the grammar points are explained in a very concised way. I came to Japan after studying the first book, which gave me the very basic foundation to continue with more advanced studies. This book should be used in conjunction with other books like 'Shin Nihon go no Kiso I' to get a more thorough range of Japanese vocabulary, (although my Japanese teacher said the vocabularies used in 'Nihon go no kiso' are quite specialised in some cases, e.g. phrases like 'welding pipes' is found in the text, which is not really needed for everyday situations!). For beginners, I highly recommend this book as a starter for self-study.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning Japanese, April 17, 2002

By 

"metuamate" (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Text (Paperback)

As a self taught student that started out with absolutely no Japanese whatsoever, it has been a great help to me. Living in Japan, it has helped me somewhat to communicate with japanese people on everyday excursions. The book gives survival japanese ready for immediate use and broken into different situations that you may find yourself in. For a foreigner as myself, living in Japan, it is a must. Definitely needs the tapes though for pronounciation, which you will find that without, is a big hinderance.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but seriously flawed, November 11, 2005

By 

Joe Green "Raidy" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Text (Paperback)

I'm enrolled in a Japanese college class and this is the book we use. While its lessons are effective, it has a lot of organization problems. Vocabulary is just strewn across the book and it's introduced at an inconsistent pace. Some sections include a lot of vocabulary that take a substantial amount of time to memorize, and others include very little vocabulary.

It also has a few annoying quirks, such as the way it writes numbers. It'll write "5-ji" to say "5 o'clock," and while this is the way 5 o'clock would be written in Japanese, I would have prefered for it to say "go-ji" instead. That would have further helped me grasp the numbering system. Although numbers 1-10 are extremely easy to memorize, making their use of "5-ji" not too bothersome, it continues doing it with the higher numbers, like "1999-nen" to say the year 1999.

Finally, the tests are far too short. There are some painfully easy particle placement questions, and about 4 sentences to translate on each test, and that's all. I seldom do the chapter exams because they hardly help.

Now that I'm done badmouthing the book, I'll polish it up a bit and make it reach the 3-star rating I gave it.

One positive thing is it doesn't make huge difficulty jumps between lessons. Unlike certain text books I've experienced that introduce completely new and hard-to-accept concepts out of the blue, this one teaches at a steady pace, which makes it easier to grasp the material.

Second, it focuses on the right stuff. I can see myself using everything this textbook has taught me.

I would recommend this book to people who have fully-packed schedules and can only learn a little at a time (who woulda thought by the name of the title). I do often think it drags a bit, but I'm a dedicated Japanese student aiming for fluency. If you asked me which book you should use to study Japanese for the purpose of a business trip or vacation to Japan, I would tell you to look no further than this one. However, if you asked me the same question, but told me you wanted to spend the rest of your life in Japan, I'd tell you to find something else.