- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Teach Yourself; New Ed edition (30 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340860243
- ISBN-13: 978-0340860243
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
294,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Books > Languages > By Language > Japanese > Phrase Books
- #15 in Books > Languages > By Language > Japanese > Writing
- #16 in Books > Languages > By Language > Japanese > Level > Introduction
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The Japanese writing system was introduced into Japan by the Chinese around the middle of the 6th century AD. The Chinese language is very different to Japanese in structure and so the writing system was gradually adapted to fit the structure of the Japanese language. There are now three scripts which make up the Japanese writing system (four if you include roman script): kanji, hiragana and katakana. The latter two are known collectively as kana.
This book will make the reading and writing of Japanese accessible to you through a step-by-step approach which will help you to gradually build up your knowledge of Japanese script. It will show you that written Japanese can be interesting, challenging and also fun to learn. Units 1-4 introduce mainly kanji which developed from pictures of nature. Units 4 & 6-8 will teach you how to decipher more complex kanji giving you the tools to take your study further on completion of the book. Units 8 & 10 give you the chance to put your learning into practice through real-life examples of signs, notices and warnings, and also a number of reading passages. Unit 5 is devoted to hiragana and Unit 9 to katakana. There are lots of practice activities and ideas to help you learn and remember these two scripts. By the end of the book, you'll be able to read and write simple Japanese with confidence.
The leader in self-learning with more than 300 titles, covering all subjects.
Be where you want to be with Teach Yourself
This book will make the reading and writing of Japanese accessible to you through a step-by-step approach which will help you to gradually build up your knowledge of Japanese script. It will show you that written Japanese can be interesting, challenging and also fun to learn. Units 1-4 introduce mainly kanji which developed from pictures of nature. Units 4 & 6-8 will teach you how to decipher more complex kanji giving you the tools to take your study further on completion of the book. Units 8 & 10 give you the chance to put your learning into practice through real-life examples of signs, notices and warnings, and also a number of reading passages. Unit 5 is devoted to hiragana and Unit 9 to katakana. There are lots of practice activities and ideas to help you learn and remember these two scripts. By the end of the book, you'll be able to read and write simple Japanese with confidence.
The leader in self-learning with more than 300 titles, covering all subjects.
Be where you want to be with Teach Yourself
About the Author
Helen Gilhooly has lived and worked in Japan and has extensive experience of teaching Japanese and writing materials for learners of all ages. She has an MA and PGCE in Japanese and is currently the Language College Director of Aldercar Community Language College in Derbyshire. She is also a teacher trainer of Japanese at Nottingham University.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If like me you have always been interested in learning japanese but did not have a clue how to start, get this book!!
I was really suprised at how quickly I rememberd the kanji. this book really is fascinating, and I could not put it down! I feel much more confident in my approach to learning kanji now as this book explains the idea behind the kanji which i have found other books dont.
all i can say really is BUY THIS BOOK!! its so interesting and suprisingly easy!!! to understand and learn and actually remember!!
I was really suprised at how quickly I rememberd the kanji. this book really is fascinating, and I could not put it down! I feel much more confident in my approach to learning kanji now as this book explains the idea behind the kanji which i have found other books dont.
all i can say really is BUY THIS BOOK!! its so interesting and suprisingly easy!!! to understand and learn and actually remember!!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First the good points. For learning kana (the phonetic scripts of hiragana and katakana) this book has good sections and exercises. It also has the best system for learning Kanji I've seen, not that i've seen them all. It builds up with simple nature derived Kanji and gruadually builds up. You won't find this an any textbook.
However, you will not learn the readings for Kanji which is a very important point. You will also not have very good ability at identifying the parts within kanji, vital to understand more complex ones.
Another point of note is that this book does not, nor pretend to, teach any Japanese. By using this book, even by the end you will not be able to produce even a simple sentence.
While I do reccommend this book, it is not by itself but as part of a wide range of books to use.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a novice speaker and writer of Japanese, I thought that learning the script would be either very difficult, very time consuming, or both. This is not the case! With limited but regular study and a notebook to write down all new kanji and kana, I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself remembering how to read and write a variety of kanji. The hiragana and katakana sections were also very useful, as many tips are given to help remember similar looking characters. Obviously the book cannot go into great depth because of the huge number of kanji that exist, but the basics are covered and the introduction of the use of radicals in later lessons paves the way for further study. There are also helpful suggestions throughout to aid learning, and many exercises to improve kanji recogniion. Overall, a worthwhile purchase!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Recommended to you all.
This book has been well thought out. The units contain many exercises that drive the information deep into your memory. The book is also importantly fun to study. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Andrew C. Moss
easy to learn
This book is so much fun to read and learn, which makes it seem easy to learn all the japanese script than other books can offer. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jane Smith
arrived on time
quick delivery. in good shape.
The book is quite easy.. I have only gotten to unit 5, but I can easily remember at least 50 kanji caracters already! It's an excellent book!
The book is quite easy.. I have only gotten to unit 5, but I can easily remember at least 50 kanji caracters already! It's an excellent book!
Published on 9 Jan 2010 by S. Mathur
great book
after struggling with a teach yourself japanese book by another author i got this book for christmas and its great :) The pace of learning is slow enough to keep up with and there... Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2009 by C. Moore
Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Script
I am half way through this book and I am really proud to have finally mastered Hiragana and figured out a fair bit of Kanji. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2009 by Ms. Ls Butterfield
A brilliant resource
Ok, I've had this book for quite some time now and finally decided to review it. This book is a fantastic little resource for those who want to learn to read Japanese script. Read more
Published on 21 May 2006 by Ms. C. E. Caie
Excellent !
From a total beginner to Japanese script, this book was great. It takes you through the very basic kanji first, giving great mnemonics to help you remeber them. Read more
Published on 7 July 2005
Great introduction to Japanese reading and writing
This book introduces the beautiful and complex Japanese written language in a simple and basic manner. It won't take you too far but there are other books out there to do that. Read more
Published on 12 July 2004 by "winchesterphil"
Wow! If your new to Japanese writing, buy this!
Having bought this book as a complete novice, it has taken my step-by-step through both Kanji and Kana. MUST BUY!
Published on 30 July 2003
great introduction to writing Japanese
Beginners Japanese Script, makes the learning of writing Japanese very accessible and entertaining. It uses an entertaining system of pictures to help the reader memorise the Kanji... Read more
Published on 23 July 2003
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