Customer Reviews

Sura-Sura: A Text for Intermediate Japanese (Far Eastern Publications Series)

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I am disappointed with this book. First, I was expecting that the book would use authentic readings and readings that are more intellectual in content. But the readings are made up by the author(s) for the book and the readings are the same type of boring and intellectually vapid text that you typically find in junior high and high school foreign language text books. For example, the second reading is a letter written from a Japanese college student to his parents. The letter is completely boring. It also contains stereotypes of "gaijin" that I get sick of and especially don't want to come across in a textbook that I paid for. In the story, the Japanese student tells his parents that the Americans he met at a bath house said they were initially embarrassed to be naked in front of strangers. And then these pretend Americans were astonished to find out that Tokyo is so populous that it has more residents than New York City. Well, gosh, golly, who'd a thunk it? Next you will tell me that Hong Kong is bigger than New York. No way.

Because the description said that the book included topics like economics, politics, and international cooking, I expected that the content of the book was more varied and intellectual. Also, I expected the readings to be longer. The font is enormous so although each of the 12 readings are three pages long, this is really only equivalent to one page readings. So basically, this book only has 12 total pages of made up Japanese text. And the book so far does not begin to introduce academic content vocabulary like I thought it would.

I am also very, very disappointed that the exercises for each chapter are not accompanied by an answer key. That limits the utility of this book for me. Because of this, the book would be better used in a classroom rather than by self-studiers. So I paid about $30 for about 12 pages of typical made for second language learners fake and boring readings and some accompanying grammar notes with exercises that have no answer key. Not worth it for me. For free, you can go to the Coscom website and use their free intermediate readings that come with everything this book does plus you can listen to a Japanese person read the text if you want and there are a few exercises with answers so you can check yourself. I bought this book because I thought it would have more to it such as more academic/college level vocabulary and answers to the exercises. And I thought the readings would be longer and more advanced. If I would have seen it ahead of time, then I would have just gone to the coscom website for free instead.

A TRUE high beginner or low intermediate should easily use this book. The book should not take 9 to 12 months to get through as written by someone else. I disagree completely with that. Only someone who is not yet anywhere near being a low intermediate would take that long. Each chapter could easily be studied by a true low intermediate in less than 5 hours. It took me about 2 hours to finish a chapter. I began and finished the first chapter easily in one evening in between cooking, doing dishes, keeping the fire stocked with wood, watching tv, and being on the internet. Even if you were very busy and could not study much, it should be quite easy to do a chapter a week if only using it for about half hour a day. This book should be easily finished in 1 month to 3 months at most of not very dedicated studying. Update: I finished the first 5 chapters in less than a week of having the book. Definitely should not take too long to finish if you are using it everyday.

Learners who are not yet low intermediates will be working at the frustration level. It would be possible for a high beginner to use it (past jlpt n5 and studying for n4) but it would be hard work. If you can understand the majority of what you hear in Japanese movies and dramas (not anime--I mean adult dramas not cartoons for juvenile "adults") and if you know most/all the readings for first, second and third grade kanji, then this book should be good for you. If your jlpt level is that you are past the n4 and studying for the n3, then this book is at the right level for you. If you are at or past the jlpt n3 level or if you can listen to Japanese news and understand most of it or if you can read a Japanese newspaper without frustration then this book will be far too easy for you.

So far I am finding this quite a challenge, and I am only on the first chapter, but I like it; it would probably be more useful with an audiotape or CD, however.