Japanese Vocabulary [Paperback]

Carol Akiyama (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0812047435 | ISBN-13: 978-0812047431

This pocket-size volume translates over 6000 words and expressions, categorized by subject for quick reference.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
Nearly 8,000 words and expressions with Japanese translations are presented in this expanded new edition. Words are divided into several different categories, which include greetings, numbers, measurements, moods and emotions, driving situations, travel situations, sports, foods, shopping, phoning, and many others. New in this edition are more words relating to computers and electronics, medical terminology, and finance. Additional features include guidance in pronunciation and an alphabetical Wordfinder section that provides quick reference to words you are looking for, as well as the Japanese characters for each word. Here is a useful handbook for language students and travelers to Japan. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (August 5, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812047435
• ISBN-13: 978-0812047431
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 3.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,380,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars English Orientated, January 9, 2003

By 

Juan Ramon "johnnylikestocomment" (East Cost, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japanese Vocabulary (Paperback)

This book is good but it has two flaws. One the vocabulary is extremely English orientated. Basically they took a English vocabulary book and wrote 'near' Japanese equivalents for the words. For nouns this leaves out a ton of important Japan only cultural words. For adjectives and phrases there are forced translations like 'Thank goodness! - Arigatai.'

As mentioned before, there is no kanji except for in the index. Why this book was orientated towards travelers and why travelers might need to use words like "nuclear proliferation," and "unemployment compensation," is beyond me however.

There is another book called Japanese Vocabulary for Speakers & Readers ISBN 4-590-00706-1, I don't think it is printed in the US. In terms of volume, it is inferior to this title, but it is very Japan orientated and contains the actual kanji for each entry.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful, but Missing Two Key Elements, March 11, 2007

By 

Brandon Wells (FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japanese Vocabulary (Paperback)

This handy little vocabulary covers so much it is incredible. However, I have two little complaints. While there are characters for all the words, they are in the summary glossary in the back instead of on the main pages. So, everytime I read a word I have to flip to the back to see the Japanese spelling. That gets annoying when I'm trying to cover a lot in my limited time. I also have noticed that, like almost all the books on Japanese in America, this one follows the trend on omiting any details on the Japanese pitch accent system. The book does indicate long vowels with an accent mark, but that isn't the same thing. I'm talking about the method by which one indicates the difference between words with meanings keyed to the pitch, like hashi (bridge) versus hashi (chopsticks). Lots of students know this phenomenon exists, but most books don't tell which sounds within these words should be louder. It would be nice to see a vocabulary that does address this. The only published work I have found that explains it is the Oxford Pocket Kenkyusha Dictionary. All its entries have marks indicating appropriate pitch.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't beat it for the price, January 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese Vocabulary (Paperback)

This book is superb. It has vocabulary for various diverse categories(e.g. "Animals", "Characteristics and social traits", "The hotel room", "Hardware", "The changing world", "Computers", and dozens and dozens more) and a brief but very useful English-Japanese dictionary at the end. Most importantly for a beginner like me, the pronunciation of every Japanese word in the book is given and the dictionary presents the Japanese translation of English in romanized letters and Japanese characters. Therefore, if you're going for the gold like me and trying to learn the spoken and written word, you have an excellent ... book to start with. It will take you awfully far for just a few bucks. *****Highly recommended.