Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2 (Yale Language Series) (Pt. 2) [Paperback]

Professor Eleanor Harz Jorden (Author), Associate Professor Mari Noda (Contributor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 371 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (May 25, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300041888
• ISBN-13: 978-0300041880
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Japanese
  • #55 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Japanese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dull, effective; good supplementary reading., August 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2 (Yale Language Series) (Pt. 2) (Paperback)

This book is painfully dull. It really is painful in places. You can go chapters without seeing a single sentence you think you're ever likely to use. Indeed many of my Japanese friends have glanced at the book and repeatedly pointed at bits and said "tsukawan" (don't use). The language contained within does not in anyway resemble the spoken language as you will hear it in Japan. Also its completely in romaji of which the merits/demerits could be argued at length. Why then bother with this book? It concentrates on some of the more grammmatical aspects of Japanese, and these explanations are really first rate although very involved. They are as good as anything I have seen. By the way if you think you know a bit of Japanese and want to jump into book 2, I suggest you think again as this really isn't for beginners. The best Japanese textbook is, as far as I know not available via the big companies on the internet. These are Shin nihongo no kiso and Minna no nihongo they are published by 3A in Japan. You'll have to track them down yourselves but they are worth it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Teachers Vs Students, March 28, 2009

By 

Nihonlover "Student of Japanese" (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2 (Yale Language Series) (Pt. 2) (Paperback)

I am a college student approaching my 4th year of Japanese study and from my experience, the people who like this book are the people who don't have to learn from it. Teachers love the ideas that E. Jorden (RIP) tried to get across when writing this book. The reality is, learning from this mess is unnecessarily difficult and other textbooks do a better job. There are numerous typo's that could easily be fixed but are not, often native Japanese people say the grammar/vocabulary used in this text is weird or not used "unless talking to an emperor in the 19th century", the romanization is good in theory but hard to grasp, easy to make mistakes with (even teachers) which therefore makes it counterproductive, the vocabulary is severely out of date (including the English), and lastly the binding of the book sucks too it falls apart after a while because this book is cheap. On the good side though, your speaking ability will improve, even though you will talk like a secretary from the 70's.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful, November 16, 2009

By 

Lindsey Carrah Beus - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2 (Yale Language Series) (Pt. 2) (Paperback)

I have had to learn from several textbooks as I hop from college to college but this is by far the worst. Never have i spent more time hearing my teacher correct the book than I have actually learned from the book. The companion writing book is no better. The words and phrases are outdated. Our native Japanese teacher's assistant has had to tell us "that... doesn't mean that" or "no one says this anymore... if you do, no one in Japan will understand you."
Frankly, the book is good at one thing and that is how to not offend anyone in Japan by being too informal. Otherwise, it isn't worth the paper it is printed on. Teachers love it though and I am still not sure why.