Instant Japanese (Instant Phrasebook Series) (Paperback)

by Boye Lafayette De Mente (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Instant Japanese allows you to quickly and easily meet people, go shopping, ride the subway, ask for directions, order food and drinks, and much more! This thoroughly revised second edition of Boye Lafayette De Mente's classic, bestselling phrase book shows students and travelers how to maximize their communication skills. The idea is simple-learn 100 words and say 1,000 things. The trick is knowing which words to learn. This book presents a basic vocabulary that will be used over and over again. All of the phrases are given in both standard Roman and Japanese scripts. A brief guide to pronunciation helps you say the phrases correctly. And an easy-to-use, 250 word vocabulary list allows you to translate from Japanese to English and vice-versa. Grammatical and cultural notes are presented in clear, accessible language. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
Boye Lafayette De Mente has written over 20 books on living in Japan and learning Japanese. This new edition of Instant Japanese has been revised by Henk de Groot and Yasuko Tsuji of the Department of Asian Studies, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Yenbooks (June 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4900737070
• ISBN-13: 978-4900737075
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,997,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice, March 30, 2005

By	Kurai13 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Instant Japanese (Instant Phrasebook Series) (Paperback)

nice little book.
Most phrases and words here are common and used everyday.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, July 10, 2000

By	David Matuszek "Dr. Dave" (Malvern, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just got back from a two-week vacation in Japan, where I used several books in an attempt to improve my miniscule knowledge of Japanese. This book was the best of a good lot; the word selection is excellent, and the book teaches sufficient grammar almost effortlessly; most important, it's small enough to finish fairly quickly. Of course, it's only a start--for a second book, I recommend "Japanese Made Easy" by Tazuko Ajiro Monane.

Even if you thoroughly learn the content of this book, though, you still want to carry around a phrase book for those (frequent) times when 100 words just isn't enough. De Mente's book will teach you enough Japanese so that you can make simple sentences without looking up every word, but you will still need words not in this book.

[Minor complaints: he spells the word "o" (pronounced "o") with the old spelling "wo" throughout the book, for no apparent reason. Also, an index would have been nice.]

In short, the book is superb for its one intended purpose, which is teaching a very basic, careful selection of Japanese--an "instant" introduction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful little book!, May 10, 2003

By	Tamara H (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

I found this book to be extremely helpful in properly pronouncing japanese words and phrases. I've purchased several books on learning to speak Japanese and find myself constantly referring to "Instant Japanese" by Boye De Mente when I'm unsure of the correct pronounciation. In addition, the size is perfect to carry around in your purse or pocket!

Highly recommended!