Customer Reviews

Guide to Learning Hiragana & Katakana (Tuttle Language Library)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is a very useful guide in learning the Kana signs. Pronounciation and stroke order are included for each sign, while in the end of any 'set' of characters is followed by a mini review session with basic words and space for writing practice. The vocabulary may not be vast, but has exellent cultural reference and is definitely useful in both the long and short term. What is most important, it certainly helps the student to familiarize himself/herself with the scripts. Additional aspects of writting, such as consonant and vowel doubling and origins of the kana signs (how they developed out of the chinese characters) are also there.

The material is divided in sets of characters (8-10), at the end of each the mini review follows. A good way to study (my suggestion) is to practice writing the characters (preferably in a blank piece fo paper, one sheet per character), do the mini review, make 'flash cards' with the words and the next day do a review of previously studied material and advance to the following set of characters. In that pace I was able to finish the book in about two weeks (I borrowed it from the campus library), but my ability to read and write was very good by the end (a couple of Japanese classmates where quite impressed).

The book definitly does what it claims to do, that is to teach reading and writing the Hiragana and the Katakana. It does not claim to be a grammar, syntax, vocabulary or phrase book and does not deal in any way with such aspects of the language. It has nothing to do at all with the Kanji; nevertheless, it is rather futile attempting to read anything in Japanese without prior solid knowledge of the syallabaries (they are used to show pronounciation of the Kanji at many texts and the common script is always a mixture of Kanji and Kana signs).

If you want a place to start your trip through the actual Japanese language, going beyond romanized scripts and phrase books, this is an exellent place to start.

I can't stand doing boring work. I have very little patience and I lose interest in studies easily. This is the ONLY Japanese book I've ever finished. Why? It kicks ass from beginning to end.

Seriously, if you want to learn Kana, this is the book for you. It starts with a good explanation of the why/how/what of these two syllabaries. Then it goes right into hiragana but doesn't overwhelm you. After you've been introduced to enough material, you get a review. (There are tons of reviews and they all cover word examples that are practical to know for cultural or historic events.) Once you've completed hiragana, the book moves on to katakana. The system builds upon itself and the two syllabaries make sense the way they're presented in this book.

I started this book back in XMAS 2003. Three months later, I know both kana syllabaries like the back of my hand.

Best Japanese purchase EVER.

I had this book recommended to me by a Japanese speaking friend, and I fell in love with it almost immediately. The structure is simple enough to be picked up quickly, and I've actually managed to retain the information that I've learned. I am rapidly becoming able to read the language.

As a note, this is not a one-stop for everything Japanese. Grammar is not touched on in this book, and the words learned here are limited. This book also doesn't take on Kanji at all. But, for a beginner looking for a starting point or an learning student looking for a companion, this book is absolutely worth the money. I do recommend either getting or making a set of flash cards as a study aid, and I also recommend practicing at least a little every day.

As a nice bonus, the introduction explains a bit about the language and how it's evolving in modern society. It also explains the difference between Hiragana and Katakana, and when to use each. Very useful.

I bought and used this book to learn basic Japanese writing before going to Japan. Good explanations of the stroke order and way to write each character, big practice boxes that you can photocopy if you need extra sheets.

Nothing more to say. It does its job well by presenting common compounds and sample words. Easy to learn with and a good guide for beginners.

There's nothing wrong with this book. However, I was looking for a book that I could learn from, without taking a course. This book isn't that comprehensive - it assumes that you are in a class and have a teacher supplementing the text. It's pretty dry.

The book starts out with too much information. It could've been a lot more succint as to describing grammatical structures and etc... Good thing is, this book offers very good pictures of the kanas. The have charts that you can refer to, and make photos of to practice writing on. There are plenty of drill pages that you can photo copy to practice on. Great vocabulary lists. Good insight.

I've had this book for a while, and it teaches you alot in the way of reading kana, and also teaches quite a few words that pertain to the group you've learned and review those previous.