Colloquial Japanese: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)

✍ Scribed by H.D.B. Clarke, Motoko Hamamura

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 395
• Series: Colloquial Series
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The aim of this book is to get you speaking practical Japanese in the shortest amount of time possible without neglecting the script. It focuses on teaching you to communicate well, will teach you to read katakana and hiragana, and will explain around 250 Kanji characters.

If you need to learn practical Japanese very quickly, say for a business visit or holiday, this is an ideal book to use.

Good reasons to use this book, in my opinion:

the book is very easy to work with
the grammar is clearly explained
the kanji characters are explained and practiced in the chapters
the exercises are many and varied
at least two reading passages per chapter ( in script )
it gets you learning hiragana and katakana gradually
large vocabulary build-up: the glossary lists around 2800 words
practical vocabulary for everyday use and conversation
can be completed in 3 month's time

I think this book is especially practical for business-people, because:

it includes alot of business terminology
it avoids "college"-topics such as 'what is your major?'

My complaints about this book are:

there are typo's here and there in the romanized script
some parts of the grammar and some topics (like telling the time) was not explained adequately
it can be argued that it places too much emphasis on business-terminology

Overall, this book does a very good job of teaching practical Japanese in a short amount of time and in a user-friendly manner.

✦ Table of Contents

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Introduction to the Japanese language......Page 10
1 Meishi no kookan......Page 20
2 Jiko-Shookai......Page 37
3 Kazoku no hanashi......Page 50
4 Kaimono......Page 67
5 Getsuyoobi ni aimashoo.......Page 84
6 Suzuki san no kaisha e doo yatte ikimasu ka.......Page 99
7 Donna kanji no hito desu ka.......Page 120
8 Shinai-kankoo ni ikimashoo......Page 139
9 Hoteru de......Page 154
10 Keiba o mí ni ikimasen ka.......Page 169
11 Nihon ni iku nara, dono kisetsu ga ii deshoo ka.......Page 187
12 Doomo kaze o hiita yoo desu.......Page 202
13 Kuruma ni butsukerareta.......Page 220
14 Moshimoshi, Akimoto sensei irasshaimasu deshoo ka.......Page 238
15 Jootatsu no hiketsu wa kore desu.......Page 257
Key to the Exercises......Page 267
Grammar summary......Page 298
Appendix......Page 315
Japanese–English glossary......Page 321
Index of grammar and language functions......Page 392

✦ Subjects

Языки и языкознание;Японский язык;