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Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1) [Paperback]

Association For Japanese-Language Teaching (Ajalt) (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)


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Paperback, December 1, 2006 --  

Book Description

4770030096 978-4770030092 December 1, 2006 3rd
Japanese for Busy People is the most popular Japanese language textbook series in the world. With over 20 components including texts, workbooks, CDs, videos and teacher's manuals, it is also one of the most comprehensive. Now, a decade after its first revision, the entire series is being redesigned, updated and consolidated to meet the needs of 21st-century students and businesspeople who want to learn natural, spoken Japanese as effectively as possible in a limited amount of time.

The book features not only a sleek, new design but also a unit structure that groups thematically linked lessons together, making it easier than ever to learn Japanese.

Moreover, it now comes with a CD containing audio for the dialogues and listening exercises from the text. The exercises in the book have also been thoroughly revised to incorporate more comprehension and production tasks. Many of these exercises are illustrated, making for a stimulating learning experience, and the purpose of each one is clearly stated.

This first of three volumes introduces "survival Japanese"-the absolute minimum amount of Japanese needed to live in Japan. Thus, the vocabulary and grammatical items it introduces are limited to about a third of what is typically introduced in a first-year course. In addition, the book features notes on Japanese culture intended to expand the learner's understanding of Japan, its customs and people.

Japanese for Busy People I is available in two formats: romanized and kana.
The Romanized Version uses romanized Japanese throughout, with kana in the Opening Dialogues of each lesson.
The Kana Version-exposing students to hiragana and katakana from the very beginning-uses only kana.The content of the two books is otherwise exactly the same.

The companion volume, Japanese for Busy People 1: The Workbook for the Revised 3rd Edition contains a variety of illustrated exercises for mastering the basic sentence patterns presented in the main text.


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: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Kodansha International; 3rd edition (December 1, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 4770030096
  • ISBN-13: 978-4770030092
  • Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

30 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book to start off your Nihongo studies!, September 26, 2007
This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1) (Paperback)
How to learn Japanese: First, get a book and master the Hiragana and Katakana syllabary. This is a must and it shouldn't take you more than a month to do that. Japanese for Busy People has a Kana workbook and that works very well with this first volume since it includes vocabulary from chapters 1 through 10. That way, by the time you immerse yourself with this book, you can start focusing more on sentence patterns. Once you've familiarized yourself with the Kana syllabary, work through the activities in this book. It will give you a solid foundation on two things - mastery of the kana (since everything is written in kana), and basic sentence patterns. If you still have the time, get a kanji book and start working on the first few hundred kanji. I highly recommend Basic Kanji Book. This way, you can correlate the kana spellings of the new vocabulary words with the actual kanji. However, your focus should be more on the correct kana spelling. I always get confused with the long vowel sounds.

About this book: real excellent introduction to Japanese vocabulary, culture, and grammar. The exercises can be repetitive and are mostly substitution exercises. However, this is a great way to master the sentence patterns. My suggestion is to do the exercises and then to create one or two other sentences of your own based on what you just did. This way, you can further apply what you have just learned.

Once you're done with this book, skip volumes II & III. Move on to either the Genki series or Minna no Nihongo series, although I'm somewhat partial to the Minna no Nihongo series because it's more comprehensive albeit more expensive. It covers reading, writing, listening, and composition. At the same time, keep chipping away at the 1945 Joyo Kanji. In time, you will have mastered enough Nihongo to either pass the JLPT or order your favorite sushi.

Follow Up: It's been about a year since I worked through this book. I take back what I said about skipping volumes II & III. I think it's complements well with either Genki or Minna no Nihongo in terms of supplementing your vocabulary with more current terms.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A bit repetitive, but a great book!, May 6, 2007
This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1) (Paperback)
I've heard so many good reviews about this book, that I finally bought it. I've learned more with this book about making sentences, than I have with all my other books. My other books start off with "This is a pen. That over there is a pen." Yeah ok, how useful is that really?

This book tells about Mr. Smith, the lawyer from ABC Foods, and his adventures in Japan. A couple of useful items are Mr. Smith's schedule, and giving directions to a driver. Both of which are great lessons I wish I had known when talking to Japanese friends months ago!! Other relevant subjects are shopping, going out to dinner or a movie. Ordering food, tickets or getting your size clothing is not mentioned. Hopefully that will be covered in future books.

This book is well thought out, and gives the definitions of words when they first occur. English translations are only at the beginning of the next lesson. After that, they expect you to remember the words and be able to read Japanese. My only complaints about the book, is I wish they would start introducing kanji in each chapter, and give you more room to write.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Kana version is the way to go, April 5, 2007
This review is from: Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1) (Paperback)
This series has been around for 10 years, and I'm glad to see a new version. I've been through the first kana edition, and own the Level II book as well (but stay away from that one). I've already leafed through this new edition at Borders but didn't want to pay the full comver price. It's a totally new format, and the CD is a nice bonus. Same for the workbook. I'm going to purchse this even though I already went through the old version Level I just for the additional practice. Genki is the other book you should have if interested in learning on your own or with a tutor.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sentence with the appropriate particle, fictitious restaurant name, answer whether someone, aff neg, fictitious company name, underlined parts, same grammatical forms, conjugating verbs, underlined words
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Nozomi Department Store, Hong Kong, Sakura Art Museum, Restaurant Tokyo, Shinjuku Station, Tokyo Station
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Japanese for Busy People I by AJALT -Assoc. Japanese Language Teaching
Japanese for Busy People I by Association For Japanese-Language Teaching (Ajalt)
 

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