Japanese Phrases For Dummies [Paperback]

I think the "Dummies" books are a great place to start learning Japanese. It gives you a general understanding of the language and now I'm incorporating other more "workbook" style books into my learning. If you're trying to teach yourself Japanese (like me) I would start here, then look elsewhere for more detailed and comprehensive books. Also, it always helps to make a Japanese friend that can tell you when you're pronouncing stuff wrong!

I bought this book while dating a woman from Japan. I was mildly interested in communicating with her in her native language and thought that learning a handful of basic phrases would garner me some admiration. I'd flip through the book, land on some common phrase, and regurgitate it to her during an evening out. "Konbanwan," I'd say. "Uchi...uh...uchi ni kimasen wa? Wait, is it wa? No, ka! Uchi ni kimasen ka." She'd smile politely and remind me that since we were living together, I no longer needed to ask her to come home with me.

It dawned on me early on that trying to impress a tri-lingual woman with novelty sentences pulled from a Dummies book was not one of my best moves. My goal was to be cute and spontaneous, but I instead came across at as partially endearing, but mostly simple. An American, basically. So, I abandoned the book, and instead vowed to wow her with my anime knowledge. (She's not a fan, so that was easy.)

Fast forward a year. We're now married and I'm suddenly in a position where I have to start learning the language. I flew to Japan to meet her family a few months ago and dragged this book with me but neglected to actually read it. I wish I would have. They were polite, kind people, who tried their best to communicate with me using broken English while I squinted and cocked my head. I was on their turf and they were trying to speak in my language. They did a fine job in doing so, but I boarded the plane to come home feeling embarassed and ashamed. I needed to get busy.

And here I am. I obviously have the advantage of living with a wonderful reference for the language but I've initiated the learning completely on my own using this book. It breaks down basic sentence structures, and that's all I really need for right now. I typically memorize about ten words a day using my Japanese-English dictionary and then insert them into said learned sentences randomly when speaking with her, albeit seemingly as a massive toddler. Ex: when I say that I'm walking to our grass with a knife she assumes that I'm off to mow the lawn. We improvise.

I think the book does an adequate job of teaching introductory Japanese in other areas as well. The scan of the product doesn't show the Table of Contents, so I'll outline the Chapters for you.

Chapter 1: Say it How? Speaking Japanese.
Chapter 2: Grammar on a Diet: Just the Basics
Chapter 3: Numerical Gumbo: Counting of All Kinds
Chapter 4: Making New Friends and Enjoying Small Talk
Chapter 5: Enjoying a Drink and a Snack (or Meal)
Chapter 6: Shop til' You Drop
Chapter 7: Making leisure a Top Priority
Chapter 8: When you Gotta Work
Chapter 9: I Get Around: Transportation
Chapter 10: Find a Place to Lay Your Weary Head
Chapter 11: Dealing with Emergencies
Chapter 12: Ten Favorite Japanese Expressions
Chapter 13: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Like a Local

Each chapter spans about ten pages and includes enough information to get you started in each area. Again, this isn't an in-depth book detailing all you need to know about the language, but rather a groovy little starting point to get your feet wet. (Keep in mind that there's not much in the way of written language, here. It's designed exclusively for spoken Japanese word.)

I do recommend this book to anyone traveling to Japan with zero education. For most of you, the flight over should provide ample enough time to at least memorize some pleasantries and necessary words/phrases offered here.

I also recommend this book to anyone considering seriously taking up Japanese as another language, especially if you're in a situation where you're not able to take a college course. It's simplified an entry-level chunk of the process allowing you an opportunity to decide if this really is a task you're willing to undertake.

I've scattered little seeds from this book all over my brain and completely satisfied with the results thus far. It's a beginner's book, for sure, and I knew that when I opened it, so I'm not disappointed. I'll be moving up to something a bit more complicated in the near future.

Sayonara!

My daughter and I use this little, useful book for school and travel. Fits nicely into a purse or briefcase and gives us the fundamentals of Japanese right up front, and lets you find the right words quickly and efficently. I recommend it for students and travelers. Ohayo and aisatsu. Domo arigato gozaimasu...