If you check out the Amazon best-selling books for learning Japanese, you will almost always see the Japanese from Zero books at the top of the list. I decided to finally get a copy of the first book so that I could see what it was all about. Today I’d like to share with you my Japanese from Zero review, and go over both the content of the book (what it teaches) and also the methods of the book (how it teaches). I’m going to break it down into several sections and explain what I like, or don’t like about them, keeping in mind that this first book is intended…
The Pros and Cons of Learning Japanese From Anime
I’ve talked before about the 5-step process of Learning Japanese from Anime (LjFA), and I’ve also done a case study showing you exactly how I do it. But what I haven’t talked about is “Should you use anime to learn the language?” Is it the really best way to improve your Japanese? Or is it actually a terrible way to study? I’ve identified four key aspects of anime as a source of language learning material, and I’m going to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each. If you haven’t read those other two articles yet, you can do so by clicking on the links below: The 5-Step Process to Learning Japanese…
All About Japanese Particles Review – The Only Book You’ll Ever Need
Have you ever struggled to understand Japanese particles? Do you find them a little confusing? Well the good news is that there is an amazing book that teaches them all in an easy to understand way. This is a review of All About Particles which is a relatively unknown, yet powerful book on this subset of Japanese grammar. I had heard good things about it in the past, but never pulled the trigger on getting it for myself until recently. Honestly, I wish I had it from the beginning! Let me tell you why. What Does All About Particles Teach You? This book, written by Naoko Chino, teaches you the…
How to Learn 2,000 Essential Japanese Kanji
Have you tried to learn Japanese Kanji before? Did you feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information you have to learn? Well luckily there’s a book that teaches you how to learn 2,000 essential Japanese Kanji in a step by step manner. The book is aptly named “Essential Kanji” and it’s an older book that was written by P.G. O’Neal while he was teaching Japanese at a London university. I first heard about it when a fellow learner of Japanese told me that it was the only thing he used to learn Kanji successfully. I picked up a copy for myself a while ago, and now I’ll…
Japanese Short Stories for Beginners – Book Review
One of the best ways to learn natural Japanese is to read lots of native content. There is a wonderful resource that you can use called: Japanese Short Stories for Beginners: 8 Thrilling and Captivating Japanese Stories to Expand Your Vocabulary and Learn Japanese While Having Fun. What a name, am I right?! That title basically tells you everything that this book is about, but it doesn’t give you a lot on information on the important details regarding the format of it. If I did not already own it, then the two main questions that I would want to know before getting it would be: Is it written in all…
First 1,000 Words in Japanese – Book Review
Back in the day, a company called Usborne Books came out with a series of books known as “First Thousand Words” for the most commonly used languages that people wanted to learn. I happened to get the First 1,000 Words in Japanese book back when I was a kid. It’s pretty cool and a neat way to learn a lot of Japanese vocabulary, along with how to read Japanese too. I’ll go over the basic format of the book and then share my thoughts on the best way to use it. What’s The Format Of The Book? The book assumes that you know absolutely no Japanese when you start reading.…
Review of the Japanese for Dummies Books
How many of you have ever used one of the “for Dummies” books that take a complicated topic and break it down into a way that is easy to understand? Well there’s one for Japanese too! I decided to do a review of the Japanese for Dummies books so you could see if they are worth using or not. There are two books that you can get, the full book (which I have) and the second book that is called “Japanese Phrases for Dummies.” It’s the exact same material in both, the difference is that the “phrases” book doesn’t contain the audio lessons and activities that are in the full…
A Review of Remembering The Kanji by James Heisig
Perhaps the most well-known book on learning Japanese kanji is Remembering the Kanji written by James Heisig. It is a book that teaches you the meaning of all “general-use” kanji (a little over 2,000 of them) by using what he calls “imaginative memory” in creating stories with the individual parts of the kanji (from here on referred to as “radicals”). You may have heard of this technique before, using mnemonics to create crazy, silly, and weird stories with the kanji’s radicals. It’s so effective that you quickly memorize the kanji, and then with a little reviewing here and there, remember them forever. How does it work exactly? What are the…
The Perfect Book to Practice Japanese Sentences With
When you are first starting out with Japanese, it’s fine to just learn new words individually. But once you’ve gotten a feel for the language, you really want to practice Japanese sentences as a whole so that you can learn new vocabulary and gain a working understanding of the grammar of the language. The problem that most people have is finding a good source of Japanese sentences to learn! You could use a textbook, but the example sentences are usually minimal. You could use a dictionary, but it tends to be a little stiff and boring. Luckily there are some fantastic resources out there, and I happened to stumble upon…
5 of the Best Books to Learn Kanji for 2018!
So you want to learn some Kanji, do ya? Well you’re in the right place! Whether you’re reading this at the end of 2017, or the new year has already begun, you’re probably looking to kanji up your brain. So I’ve created this list for 5 of the Best Books to Learn Kanji for 2018 based on my own collection of materials and what I think of each one. Each of the below sections will give a brief explanation of the book, followed by the things that I really like about them, and also some of the things that I think they could have done better. After that, I will…
