Eri Banno

Again, one cannot claim to have ever 'finished' a language primer, but I find this about the best for a thorough introduction to Japanese. I love the clear typeface, the abundant aids to understanding and study such as the clear sub-titles, multiple contents lists and indexes, the explanatory notes, the copious examples in usage, and the glossaries and declension tables at the back. There's also a generous section on kanji (Chinese-based hieroglyphs) that takes you to 294 kanjis (together with the 145 in Volume I), and I especially like that the characters are portrayed in really large font, as it is often difficult to make out the strokes in smaller sizes. I don't see any better introductory textbook around needed to supplement this pair. This was the first edition, and later editions have an added CD for even more support. The next stage is, I suppose, to assiduously increase the kanji count to say 1000 (in the long run); and in the meanwhile to practice writing paragraphs, reading, and listening on the internet. To the south Indian learner, a word of encouragement: the word order is intuitively similar, and the verb forms are uncannily like a combination of Tamil, Kannada, and some Sanskrit!… (meer)

One can never say that a language learning book has ever been 'finished', but for what it's worth, I have worked through this volume, and found it more than adequate as a first introduction to Japanese. My volume came with its colored stickers and its own CD, from amazon.co.jp, but with the abundant resources on YouTube, don't think I ever felt the need to use the CD. On the whole, I just love the layout, the clear print, the copious exercise, and the tables of 139 kanji (Chinese-based hieroglyphics) and the glossaries and verb conjugations at the back. I don't see that any other textbook is actually called for, after this one (and its Volume II, which also I have worked through). The next stage, as far as I can see, is to get going with the kanji (aiming at some 1000), composing paragraphs, practicing listening and speaking, and increasing one's vocabulary.… (meer)