Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Tool for Beginners!, July 27, 2006
This review is from: Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Audiopackage (Paperback)
I have wanted to learn Japanese for a while, and looked into the "Japanese for Busy People" series and other series that students of the Japanese language recommended. All of the other series seemed too complicated for an absolute beginner. I had no idea where to begin, as they were all different versions for different types of beginners. I am an absolute beginner who wants to learn on her own (I have been to Japan twice, and I want to start speaking it beyond "hello," "goodbye" and "thank you" while I am there).
You will not go wrong with "Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese" with the CD & booklet. It is completely accessible to a new learner, and it is fun. At first, I was a little confused as to how the CD and book worked together, but then you realize it's very simple (the book goes into more detail than the CD, which helps with pronunciation and word recognition, so you often must skip past the explanations to get to the next exercise).
I have had so much fun learning how to speak Japanese so far. I listen to it all of the time and practice when I can. I was never exceptional at learning languages, but this one is very easy once you start talking and practicing. I have built so much confidence with it, I feel I will soon be ready to take classes and learn some script!
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Valuable introductory package!, February 20, 2006
This review is from: Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Audiopackage (Paperback)
If you've never attempted Japanese before, this book is a wonderful introduction to learning the basics and getting you started with your studies. The CDs that go along with it are a tremendous help and as long as you don't go too fast - as Helen Gilhooly advises herself that you not do - you can both pick things up and remember them efficiently. You are given lots of useful vocabulary words at an appropriate pace, are able to listen to Japanese conversations that increase in difficulty as you progress through the book, and practice + test yourself at the end of each chapter on what you've learned. The only downfall is that you're not introduced to writing in both the kana scripts, which is essential if you plan to do more than speak Japanese. A small intro to katakana is the topic of chapter 13, but that's about it. If you don't need to write in Japanese, however, chapters 14-20 are all about your visit to Japan: how to shop, converse with business men/women, order food, how to act as a guest in another person's home, etc. I simply used an online website to learn my kana, one that was in fact recommended from this very book!
I say buy this audiopackage and get started immediately!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
British pronunciation is major problem, November 5, 2007
This review is from: Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Audiopackage (Paperback)
This is a good series for getting started speaking Japanese if you have the CD and ignore the pronunciation guides that give vowel sounds based on british speech. An example is "o is pronounced like the o in hot", when it is actually a long "o" as in hole. At the very least, they should have a disclaimer at the beginning of the book stating that american speakers need to look elsewhere for pronuncition. All of the Japanese dialog is spoken correctly as far as I can tell, but the English speakers didn't bother to learn how to say the Japanese words and names that they say in their introductions. It makes it very difficult to know which things in the series are correct & worth learning, and which are bad habits. I gave it three stars because it is a mixed bag. Definitely don't bother getting this book unless you get the CD with it.
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