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It's impossible to LEARN Japanese without Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, just like it's impossible to LEARN Russian without the Cyrillic alphabet.Go for a specialized coursebook if you want to seriously learn a language such as Japanese. This book, along with other Foreign Language for Dummies books (especially Russian For Dummies). romanizes all of the language you are trying to study, with doesn't provide "the basics" of a language at all. I'm a person that takes learning foreign langauges VERY seriously, and all I see on the market are products that encourage you to learn one "the fun or easy way" or "quick and easy". Make sure it's not romanized, and some even come with audio companions to help you with pronounciation. A good Japanese language book for beginners would HAVE to include heavy use of Hiragana/Katakana and at least introduce Kanji. There's is NO quick/easy way to learn a language, although I do consider verb conjugation and kanji fun (literally). Learning a language is a long process, and unfortunately, it's not always fun.
You may feel a bit goofy while speaking out loud with the CD but hey its part of the fun. Although I haven't actually finished the book yet, I can say it is very good. I'd recommend this to anyone who is planning on traveling to japan, it'll make you feel more confident speaking to the locals. The japanese to english dictionary is exactly as they say, mini, but you shouldn't really be expecting anything much bigger since this is just a starters book so its all good. You do get a basic understanding of the japanese language as long as you stick with it and practice often. It is very clear and well organized.
I know some basic Japanese with just casual readings of the book. The CD is great and the book is easy to follow. I bought this book just to learn the basics of the Japanese language. I own a travel package that I use to travel the world and my next trip is going to be Japan.
I was a bit bummed about that, but what the book had in it really helped me learn the difficult Japanese language. The only downside is that there are no writing lessons to help learn Katakana. Reccomended for beginners. but I also learned a lot about the Japanese Culture in this book. It starts off with the basics and steadily progresses to more chananging lessons.
If you just wat to leard to count to 10 and say hello and good bye then this is what you want.Anything more indepth look elsewhere. The same dry style of teaching a launguage that has been around since before the 8 track.You listen to a word in English and then repeat it in Japanese.
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