Japanese in Mangaland: Learning The Basics

Japanese in Mangaland: Learning The Basics
by Marc Bernabe

Japanese in Mangaland: Learning The Basics
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Book Summary Information

Author: Marc Bernabe
Edition: Turtleback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-12
ISBN: 4889961151
Number of pages: 269
Publisher: Japan Publications Trading

Book Reviews of Japanese in Mangaland: Learning The Basics

Book Review: Wow, I'm finally learning some Japanese!
Summary: 5 Stars

I've never had much luck with Foreign Languages. I'm an intuitive writer to begin with, and so generally build my writing structure by "ear". What sounds like it could be spoken naturally is the way I construct a sentence. Because of this, I virtually wasted three years in High School French. The net result of which gave me very little knowledge of the language, save a few remembered words.

Now I've spent the last six years collecting anime (in both dubbed and subbed versions), and a little translated manga. An appreciation of the Japanese culture derived from watching and reading, inspired me to want to learn some of the language. Still, it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks without some sort of gimmick that makes it seem easy. I tried the special tapes and courses that were supposed to be so great, but for the most part, they were boring. I listened, heck, I even tried sleep-learning with the audio CD's, still when the track ended, and I hardly learned a thing.

Then I saw a book coming out on "TheRightStuf" anime site, so I thought I'd check it out on Amazon. It hadn't been released yet, so I found this one instead. Pretty good reviews, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, after the first few lessons, I'm beginning to recall not only the spoken word, but the hiragana characters that write it in Japanese!

What's typical of most "gimmick" type books are that they focus only on the "gimmick", and beyond that are not very good. They are often not written by very knowledgeable people on the subject, just someone with a unique point of view. Often after a good start, they degrade into a boring reference. Those of you who've read those "...Dummies" books know what I mean. The real dummy is someone who thinks a reading a thousand-page book, is learning something the "easy" way! This book is not like that. While still a basic book on Japanese, it covers the subject very well. It manages to maintain interest with not only the manga "hook or gimmick", but with well-written, well-supported examples.

In addition, it gives the history of the Japanese language, how it's taught in Japan, and displays each phrase covered in five or more different equivalents. One of the most important but often missed in other texts is the literal English translation and the suggested proper translation. Too often, I've seen the suggested translation, and could not relate it back to the written Japanese characters, because the translated words are now out of order! Just that little detail helped me to start learning some written Japanese characters.

For a relatively small book, they go the extra mile. A guide for how to construct the written characters is included within the lessons. Each new lesson has interesting information on the Japanese culture as it relates to the language, and illustrated examples using manga. While I know you won't get a very comprehensive view of this complex language, I believe the foundation; will enable you to build on what you have. This will enable you to do well with more intermediate and advanced texts.

On the book itself, an exceptional bargain is to be had. The book is soft covered, but bound like hardbound books. The paper is smooth, likely acid free to last a long time without yellowing, much like the pages in an expensive college text. The graphics and print are easy to read with appropriate breaks and use of bolding, italics, and different fonts and sizes to accentuate the learning experience. I rarely see this quality of book in print these days. It was printed in Spain, they must have some very good print shops there.

Summary of Japanese in Mangaland: Learning The Basics

This book is designed to help one master the basics of the Japanese language using the popular "manga" (Japanese comics) as a didactic tool. Its clear explanations and vivid examples help one naturally to get the "feel" for the basic patterns of Japanese grammar and at the same time to remember vocabulary associated with concrete situations. Besides that, learning with manga is more fun than simply reading page after page of dry prose. The 30 lessons that make up the book include drills, and a small glossary of 160 basic "kanji" is appended as an added bonus.

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