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Tobira (Japanese and English Edition) (Japanese) Paperback – July 15, 2009

by Mayumi Mayumi (Other Contributor)
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 403 pages
  • Publisher: Ingram; a edition (July 15, 2009)
  • Language: Japanese, English
  • ISBN-10: 4874244475
  • ISBN-13: 978-4874244470
  • Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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See all 14 customer reviews
This is a very nice and good book, and I already start to learn it by myself.
Liangbi Su
The Tobira website also has audio books of each article available for download as well as recordings of the dialogues.
Ton S
Tobira would be an excellent backbone textbook for a serious third-year college-level course in Japanese.
Peter A. Prahar

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
The Gateway to Advanced Japanese
By Peter A. Prahar on September 27, 2011
Format: Paperback
This is a review of Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning through Content and Multimedia by Mayumi Oka, Michio Tsutsui, Junko Kondo, Shoko Emori, Yoshiro Hanai, and Satoru Ishikawa (2009).

Tobira would be an excellent backbone textbook for a serious third-year college-level course in Japanese. The authors expect the students to have completed one of several widely-used introductory/intermediate series (Genki, Yookoso, or Nakama) in preparation for work at this level. I'd imagine that many instructors would want to introduce some material to bridge from these to Tobira. I'd estimate that students who master the Tobira material would test up to a "B2" on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale; have a shot at a S2+/R2+ on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale; and do very well on the N3 level of the new Japanese Language Proficiency Test. More importantly, they would have a solid foundation for further study using unedited materials.

The intermediate-to-advanced level is hard for everyone. Students, after several years of study, naturally want to begin using the language to pursue their individual interests. Unfortunately, students of Japanese, unlike students of commonly studied "Western" languages, are not quite at that point yet; frustration is not unusual. Teachers, on the other hand, are often faced with a classroom of students with widely different interests - ranging from manga to a job with the Bank of Japan - and with different introductory/intermediate experiences, including some who have lived in Japan. Realizing this, I think Tobira does a pretty good job of providing at least something for everyone while continuing to develop students' overall reading, speaking, and listening skills.Read more ›
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
A good point of departure
By Ton S on April 16, 2012
Format: Paperback
I used Tobira for a third-year (accelerated) Japanese course and found it to be extremely useful. Tobira introduces grammar and kanji via short expository articles (typically two pages in length) that focus on particular aspects of Japanese culture and society (i.e. religion, manga, robotics, and even the ubiquitous "combini"). Surprisingly, these were very interesting and informative articles. I would say that these articles are akin to brochure-type articles designed by travel agencies or culture centers looking to promote Japan to foreigners. In any case, I didn't find myself lulled to sleep.

Kanji:
- As far as kanji goes, Tobira users are "assumed to have learned the 290 kanji introduced in most major beginning level Japanese textbooks" (the Tobira website has these kanji listed). Prior to your course's start, I would recommend looking over this list to assure that these kanji are familiar because there tends to be little conformity in terms of introducing kanji among the popular beginner texts. In total, Tobira covers 503 new kanji (based on JLPT level 2 kanji) with 35 kanji introduced in each chapter, and this number is subdivided into kanji that a student must learn to read and write (RW Kanji) and those that one need only know how to read. In practice, though, a bunch of kanji that do not necessarily require your attention are interspersed so you can learn these at your own discretion (which you should). Beginners may find it jarring that the textbook makes no effort to formally teach kanji so know that you will have to develop your own kanji learning method (at this level a kanji dictionary should always be nearby).

Grammar:
- Grammar points are given brief explanations at the end of each chapter.Read more ›
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Good for Students of Intermediate Japanese
By A. Miller on February 26, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
When I first got this book and looked at it, I thought "No way can I work my way through this." Coming from books like Genki, Tobira is rather intimidating. However, it's actually just the right level for me! One gains a lot of confidence from realizing that those giant walls of text are understandable. The book is well organized and provides many activities to do as well, online and in the classroom. Highly recommended.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Great
By walker on June 27, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is a great text book for the intermediate level. It is hard to use at first because of all the kanji. If it is a kanji learned in the text or beginner texts like the genkii series, there will be no small furigana. So you really have to brush up on your kanji/reading skills before using and spend more time with them during use.
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Great book for advanced students
By Siren Helene on September 17, 2014
Format: Paperback
Can be a bit difficult for beginners of the Japanese language, so I would recommend this book for the ones who has some experience with the language. I would recommend others to finish the Genki 1 and 2 (or Minna no Nihongo) before they try out this book. Keep in mind that you should have some Kanji knowledge before you start using this.

Positive things about this book:
Each chapter is interesting and informative, it's hard to find books this interesting. They're usually a bit boring.
The book has a nice covering of vocabulary and Kanji.

All in all a very nice book, I am happy to use it.
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Great
By MightyRed on September 11, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I've learned so much from this book, a pretty big step up from Genki 1/2 but once you get used to it your'e golden.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Not the best
By mei3 on February 16, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
As the title states, this book tries to bridge the gap between the intermediate and advance Japanese, but I feel fails to do that.

While the author rightfully assumes the reader has studied Japanese before, this book is hardly a challenge.
I would say it is right at the end of beginner level, bridging the gap to intermediate.

Possibly good for class discussion, but studying alone the chapters are a drag. Never got me engaged.
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