Learning Japanese: A Methodology Described

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Are you serious?

How to write in Japanese

Japanese grammar

So, how do I do it?

Roadmap for the casual speaker

Roadmap for the serious student

Book reviews

Introduction

What is Japanese? Experts lump it into a category called the Altaic languages, which

includes Mongolian, Turkic, and Korean among others. The category of Altaic itself is a

presumed one and not all linguists agree as to its existence, actual or historical. Without going

into too much detail, it is neither unique as a spoken language(it shares much vocabulary

borrowed from Chinese), grammatically (sentence structure, particles, honorifics are all similar

to Korean in more basic or complicated fashion) or written (many Chinese characters are used,

and the kana are simplified/abbreviated Chinese characters). Those who wish to go further into

the history and origins of the language can stop here.1 Those who wish to begin learning should

soldier on.

My personal connection with Japanese began in the summer of 2001. I accepted a

position on the JET Program,2 taking up a position as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in a

town called Nishibiwajima-cho (西枇杷島町) on the outskirts of Nagoya (名古屋), Japan. I had

no particular desire to go to Japan, and it is hard to remember exactly what I knew about Japan

before going there. Aside from a few random facts and names of Japanese companies, and

having read James Clavell’s Shogun, I knew very little compared to my fellow travelers.3 Some

of them had been in Japan before and were full of fascinating tidbits about traditions and

customs. Some already spoke a bit of Japanese and eagerly dumped what they knew on me.

And a scarce few could write some of the characters we call the Japanese kana. The embassy

gave us free Japanese lessons before going, for two months prior we would go once a week to

chant mysterious sounds, faithfully repeating after our teacher. I quit after the third week.

The lessons bored me, and as someone with a fair amount of experience in language

learning, it wasn’t difficult to see why. Rote repetition (other than pronunciation) is perhaps the

least effective way of learning anything at all. As most readers will know, there are many roads

to learning, whether visual, oral or other, and this one certainly wasn’t working with me. I

despaired a bit, because it seemed to me that I would definitely need to learn some Japanese

before going. I was wrong.

In Japan, there is no need to learn any Japanese at all. Everyday life can easily be

negotiated through gestures and pidgin English. All major signs have latin characters, and much

official information of interest to the casual traveller can be obtained in English. All tourist

locations are staffed with English speakers, English guides can often be hired for the price of a

lunch, and there is always one person at a party who can be dragged out, blushing furiously all

the while, with a passing familiarity with the language.

Further, many Japanese people believe that is impossible for non-natives to learn their

language, and their expectations of visitors are very low indeed. Nothing at all is expected of the

1 Those who wish to continue on journeys historical and comparative can crack open Wm. C. Hanna’s

Asia’s Orthographic Dilemma. 2 Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme (http://www.jetprogramme.org/)

3 James Clavell’s Shogun is based on a real-life individual named William Adams. I actually met some of

his descendants while in Japan, bearing the family name of Anjin(meaning “pilot”). Ask around about Anjin-sama, or read Giles Milton’s excellent Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan. If you are a Japan-o-phile with fantasies of becoming a white samurai and making it with the ladies in Japan, look no further than here.

newly arrived foreigner. Many JETs had their first native Japanese encounter with a supervisor,

someone at their office designated to take care of all your troubles for you.

However, those treasuring their independence(myself among them) quickly found this

reliance on others grating, and discovered that this dependence was even encouraged.4 After the

end of the school year in March and with the beginning of the new in April, I was frustrated at

my inability to do things by myself. Maybe learning Japanese wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The author, second from right, at a coming of age ceremony in the Nagoya area, Japan.

This brought me to sit down, a cool glass of Pocari Sweat in hand, and lay me head down

to think. The languages I had learned so far (English, French, German and Russian) all had

immediately identifiable words and sounds. In learning those languages there were only a few

sounds unique (the throat produced French “r” is a good example) to the pronunciations in

question, and give or take an umlaut or accent, not so different. Russian, it is true, had the

Cyrillic characters, but after an hour or two studying words were easily identifiable.5

Japanese was a show-stopper at first blush, as indeed are most Asian languages. Lines,

squiggles, strange shapes. And to make it worse, I met foreigner after foreigner who confirmed

the stereotype. If I had a dollar for every expatriate I met in Japan who only spoke a few basic

sentences after years of living in the country, I would have had more than a few free trips back to

4 For a good start on group-oriented behaviour and dependence as it relates to Japanese society, you

can read Takeo Doi’s The Anatomy of Dependence. 5 The case-based grammar system, on the other hand, was a beast.

visit.6 I had one friend, Dave, who seemed (remember, I had no way to judge) to speak excellent

Japanese, but then he had studied it for four years in university and grew up hearing Japanese as

a result of his mother. There were, it seemed, few role models for what I was about to attempt.

How does all of this affect you? You need to decide your reasons for learning, which

will in turn guide what you want to learn. What are you seeking to achieve? Have you come into

contact with a Japanese expat karate instructor who speaks English poorly and want to return this

shoddy treatment in his/her own language? Are you curious about what all those words you’ve

been pronouncing so badly mean? Is your company sending you on a business trip?

Vacationing in Japan? Trying to impress the other geeks at your university anime club?

Let’s not mince words. If your intention is to master a business-level of Japanese, you

have your work cut out for you. Learning languages properly is hard work, but also immensely

satisfying. Learning as an adult should not hold you back either, there is considerable evidence

to indicate that the brain can be retrained to regain the so-called neural plasticity of our youth.7

By the way, not all language theorists agree that this plasticity even exists. Two things are in

your favour as an adult: we learn faster (before you disagree, think about the time factor. A

university level textbook covers in six months what a child takes years to pick up, and children

spend much more time learning in school) and can focus more readily.

I’ll lay my personal and unvarnished opinion on you. Experience as a language teacher

and learner has taught me that children do not learn faster than adults. If adults are taught

properly, their progress is nothing short of unbelievable compared to much slower learning

children. The bottom line is, we are still in the infancy of how to teach adults languages in the

most effective manner.8 Even scientists who believe that kids learn faster are unable to explain

the ability(not uncommon!) of some adults to learn languages late in life, and concede that adults

possess many advantages.9 If you ask your typical polyglot (and I include myself among them)

they will generally tell you that self-study is the key to learning a language, because they found

themselves frustrated by the teaching techniques used in language classes.10

The bottom line is

that adults can accomplish what children cannot do: express complex ideas using compound

sentences. Consider that if you disagree with this, it might be your lack of belief that is holding

you back. We are all very good at creating excuses for our inability, no matter what our pursuits.

Languages are no different than physical training: it takes time in the gym and on the karate dojo

floor to become accomplished, and maintenance training to ensure that level is maintained. Are

you so foolish as to believe that languages are any different? Many people also believe that a

photographic memory is responsible for linguistic success. It certainly helps, but as to

comprehension, understanding, and insight, it does not help.

6 An American I met in Okazaki (岡崎) was typical. Ten years in the country, Japanese wife, kids, and still

was only able to order beer and speak a few phrases. Hanging out at foreigner bars, teaching English, and basically living in what many have called the *gaijin-bubble.* 7 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050615060545.htm

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/ir-mal050506.php 8 http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/11/28/adults-learn-languages-faster-than-children-hands-

down/ 9 http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue5/aaron_newman.html

10 This guy thinks the way I do, and has the same success that I do learning languages. His accents are

also very good, near native level, without the supposed advantage of being a young learner. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/09/22/why-language-classes-dont-work-how-to-cut-classes-and-double-your-learning-rate-plus-madrid-update/

As a final note on the subject, I go back to Japan an average of twice a year, and in that

time I have found that many friends living there have stagnated at a certain level and have not

progressed, while my Japanese has improved in certain aspects. I continue to study a few hours

a week, they do not. Coincidence? Or motivation?

Before I go any further, a lot of links are given to sites, mostly either www.amazon.com

or www.amazon.co.jp These are not the only places to get books, but they certainly are the sites

whose links don’t break. If you want to buy the books, there are plenty of other places to get

them. A lot of them, however, are very difficult to find outside Japan unless they have been

adopted by a university or institute as their textbook of choice. When you are looking for a

book, get the ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 number, plug it into a search engine of choice, and you’ll be

able to find more stores and places to buy them (try something like www.bookfinder.com).

Make sure to use a variety of sources, there are a lot of unscrupulous sellers who will charge

absolutely outrageous sums for Japanese books and reference materials and get away with it just

because many people are too chicken to order from a Japanese website. Just to prove my point,

try searching for ISBN number 9784767420165 on www.bookfinder.com The cheapest price you

will find will something like $480 US for a book which brand new costs $220 US. Now go and

plug that number into www.amazon.co.jp It comes out as 22,000 yen, or about $273 dollars.

Now add the $20 shipping and some taxes, and you are still less than $340 US. $140 US

cheaper, and we haven’t taxed or added shipping yet to the $480 US price. Point taken?

Back to our main subject of learning Japanese. Remember that your learning

environment will affect your strategy. It’s a given that if you live in Japan, your quality of life

will improve immensely if you can communicate with the locals. You won’t need the ever-

present Japanese nanny that so many expats have, or call your friend Takuya every time your

washing machine settings change on you. Even as a tourist, it feels good to be able to say

“Thank you” and the other daily pleasantries. Don’t forget that there is nothing about learning

Japanese which is unique – all concepts/ideas in this article can equally be applied to any

language. Quoth President Thomas Jefferson: “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder

I work the more I have of it.” Quoth Hardie on a slightly more personal note: “A Japanese friend

once told me that kanji are too difficult for foreigners. And then he watched as I corrected two

kanji in a sentence he had just written.”

This article is intended to do two things: introduce you to what you’re getting into by

starting to learn Japanese, and give you a roadmap to a reasonable level of Japanese. Questions

and comments are always welcome, and you can send them to darkisthenightforall @

gmail.com. And now gentle reader, to work.

Are you serious?

There are not many casual students of Japanese. Casual to me would mean having the

intention of just learning a few phrases, enough to be able to say the following:

Hello.

Goodbye.

Please.

Thank you.

I want this/that.

How much?

Please write it down.

Help me!

Anything beyond that is pretty much bonus material. What this brings you to is your first

serious decision on the road to learning Japanese. Should I use romaji or not? For a serious

student of Japanese, romaji = bad. That’s all you need to know, and you may skip ahead to the

next section. For the well-intentioned amateur or tourist, we need to explain the tourist first.

Romaji is a way of expressing Japanese using Latin characters, the same we use to write English

with. The most common system of transliteration into English is known as the Hepburn system,

which is used in many romaji dictionaries. Examples of common words you already know in

romaji are samurai, ninja, katana, sushi, wasabi, and karate (all of which, incidentally, you

probably also horribly mispronounce. Give your head a shake, and then continue reading this

article.)While this might initially seem like a good thing, it’s not. It is a crutch, and once you

start leaning on it, you will find it very difficult to let it go without having a serious fight on your

hands.

For the casual traveller, it’s a useful way of being able to pronounce Japanese words in

semi-intelligible manner. If your intention is to be able to do a little reading and writing at some

point, you must learn the First Commandment of learning Japanese: do not use romaji.

On every page of a text book, even if there are Japanese characters on it, your eyes will

be drawn to the Latin text, in the form of romaji. That’s what you know already, and are

comfortable with. In order for you to become acclimated as quickly as possible, you must dive

straight in the deep end. Learn hiragana and katakana before you do anything else. More to

follow on this, but first we need to learn a little more about Japanese before we get to the

studying bits.

In English, reading and writing are two skills which are easily learned together, since we

only have a small alphabet. If you know how to write your ABC’s and pronounce the

combinations of those letters, then you’re on the road to Shakespeare, Playboy, or whatever else

takes your fancy. At that point it becomes a matter of grammar and vocabulary. Japanese, on

the other hand, has an alphabet of about 2,136 ABC’s known as the jōyō kanji.11

Whoops. Our

analogy ends here, beaten to death by drunken salarymen. So our second lesson is that Japanese

writing is a separate skill from reading. What exactly will you write, and how will you do it?

11

There are actually more, depending on how much Japanese (and how far back your reading goes in time). These are the official characters taught as part of the Japanese educational curriculum ending at the secondary school level, as updated by the Japanese Ministry of Education in 2010.

How to write in Japanese

At this point we return to the previously mentioned hiragana and katakana, collectively

known as kana. Your first task will be to learn these words and how they are pronounced. This

task will not difficult, and is one of the pleasant things about Japanese, it unlocks a surprising

amount of possibilities. In fact, it is entirely possible to communicate in hiragana and katakana,

without ever resorting to kanji.

Hiragana and katakana are a series of symbols used to express Japanese sounds. It all

begins with you chanting “ah, ee, oo, ay, oh…. ka, ki, koo, kay, ko” and so on. The sounds of

Japanese are quite simple. All words are spelt as they sound. No tricks, no eccentric spellings or

bizarre consonant groupings. With practice, you can quickly master these sounds and learn to

write them. Learning hiragana and katakana should not take you more than a few hours of

serious study. There are loads of highly unnecessary books which give you more information

than you need on how to memorize them. A simple and remarkably effective book is James

Heisig’s Remembering the Kana, but it’s certainly not the only one.

Hiragana characters are used to write Japanese words. These characters are smooth,

flowing and rounded. For example, the sounds “ah, ee, oo, ay, oh” are rendered as

“あ、い、う、え、お.”

Katakana characters are used to write foreign loan words. There are many of these

loanwords. For example, the Japanese use the Dutch word for bread (“pan”) in katakana (パン).

Katakana characters are blocky, linear and out of place among hiragana and kanji. To use our

“ah, ee, oo, ay, oh” example again, “ア、イ、ウ、エ、オ”

Katakana is the same crutch for Japanese that romaji is for people learning Japanese, and

the main reason why so many Japanese people cannot pronounce foreign languages properly.

Instead of saying “Hello, my name is Kenji” you get “Herro, my-ah name-uh iz-uh Kenji.” Here

are the symbols used for the language:

Hiragana Katakana Numbers

あいうえお アイウエオ １一 １０００千

かきくけこ カキクケコ ２二 １００００万

さしすせそ サシスセソ ３三

たちつてと タチツテト ４四

なにぬねの ナニヌネノ ５五

はひふへほ ハヒフヘホ ６六

まみむめも マミムメモ ７七

や ゆ よ ヤ ユ ヨ ８八

らりるれろ ラリルレロ ９九

わゐ ゑを ワヰ ヱヲ １０十ん

ン １００百

If you wish to follow the method I used, write them all out numerous times using a book

to make sure you follow the correct stroke order (left to right, top to bottom). For those who

insist on having some exact references, any of the following will do:

Books

James W. Heisig Remembering the Kana

Kenneth G. Henshall Learning Hiragana and Katakana

Online (I prefer books, as they don’t go out of date or contain broken links, but these sites are

free)

http://www.realkana.com/

http://www.yosida.com/en/learning.html

https://www.msu.edu/~lakejess/kanjigame.html

There are also hundreds of different applications for your iPhone, applications on

Facebook, and computer software.

So, you’ve learned katakana and hiragana, but you still can’t understand your Asahi

Shinbun(朝日新聞). All those squiggles don’t look the same as the squiggles you’ve already

learned. What gives? Well, you can replace much of your katakana and hiragana doodling with

kanji. It will save you space, clear up any inconsistencies, and allow for an elegant and concise

means of communication.

Enter the kanji

Japan has been given regular cultural boosts by the Chinese (incidentally, many Chinese I

have met are disgusted with the Japanese claiming credit for many Chinese cultural innovations.

My experiences with Chinese claiming to have invented such things as ping-pong are equally

numerous, so as always it’s best to rely on your own judgment and not the only Asian person you

know). Probably the greatest single gift from their neighbours was kanji. But, it is a gift with

thorns. Kanji are considered by some linguistic historians to be a heavy-handed attempt to create

an unchallengeable cultural and academic elite in an ivory tower. How many Chinese villagers

had time to memorize the 3,000 or more characters necessary to read, and up to the 10,000

necessary to be considered educated? Even after the reformation of the Chinese writing system

many Chinese were still functionally illiterate. A subject for scrutiny in other texts, but still an

interesting conundrum.12

Kanji have been described by some as pictograms. For example(inside the brackets are

the hiragana pronunciations):

Fire – 火 (か) – see the flickering flames?

Cow – 牛（うし） – see the legs and head?

A student attempting to learn kanji in this fashion will memorize 40 or so of the simplest

characters and then give up. To use an extreme example, anyone who tells me that

Rose - 薔薇 (バラ)

actually looks like a rose is out to lunch. So, they’re not pictograms. What are they?

Initially, novice students of Japanese are in awe of these mysterious squiggles. What

manner of superior brain, they think, is required in order to make sense of all of this? The

12

Try John DeFrancis’s rather excellent The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Any delusions you have of Chinese characters ever becoming a lingua franca will be quickly trounced, as well as any cultural superiority which might result from the use of the system.

answer is none at all. You don’t have to change your diet, take up higher mathematics, or begin

intensive Zen studies. Trust me, I’ve been teaching Japanese students of English for a while

now, and they’re just as varied on the spectrum of human intelligence as the rest of us. In fact,

many of them have difficulty reading, writing and remembering kanji. How do they get

through life? The answer to that is twofold: the fact that there is actually a logical system behind

kanji, and furigana.

If I told you that the 五 meant five, and that 口 meant mouth or opening, you could

probably handle that. So what happens when you combine them together? Well, let’s see:

五 ＋ 口 ＝ 吾

So what’s that mean? Well, let’s see five openings. Let’s count: on the human body there are

two nostrils, two ears, and a mouth. That makes for five. So, we’re talking about you! Once

you learn this kind of peculiar logic you can readily make the logical jumps used to construct

more complex kanji.

OK, your next question might be the entirely logical one: how do we read kanji? (out

loud, that is) By learning this system you might understand the concept of each kanji and thus

understand their basic meanings. But you can’t actually “read” them, ie. out loud, and you won’t

understand more than one meaning.

In Japanese, kanji for the most part have two or more readings. At least one Chinese

reading(onyomi) and at least one Japanese one(kunyomi). How will you know what the readings

are? The short, simplistic answer: by learning the roots of the kanji. You’ve already learned that

kanji are simple characters built into ever more complex ones. Certain of those pictures are

“root” kanji and determine pronunciation. So, by looking at a kanji you will be able to

distinguish which part determines the pronuciation. The more complex answer is that often you

can’t. You will only retain common meanings that you use regularly. While many kanji are

easily divided into groups by roots, lots of others aren’t. Both you and your friend Kenji still

need some more help.

Furigana are hiragana (and sometimes katakana) placed on top of kanji in order to tell

the reader the correct meaning where there are multiple possible pronunciations, where the

meaning is unclear, or where the kanji/compound is an irregular one or not part of the regular

syllabus. If you read a newspaper you will see small hiragana placed on top of (or next to,

remember the Japanese often read top to bottom, right to left. Most business documents these

days are written left to right, many restaurants still use the old scheme, along with important

notices). You might also see them in subtitles in movies, or along with the text at a karaoke bar

to help the singer along. Children’s comics are loaded with them, so that they can read more

complex kanji than the ones they have learned at their current grade level(as opposed to reading

the words they do know in hiragana/katakana). Some examples of furigana in use:

A commonly asked question at this point is “how many kanji do I need to know?”

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is the most common proficiency test for the Japanese

Language.13

There are others (JETRO, for example, which is arguably more practical and

13

http://www.jlpt.jp/e/faq/index.html

useful) but they aren’t as widely recognized. The bottom line is, to pass the top test (N1) you

need to have a working knowledge of the 2,136 characters recognized by the Japanese Ministry

of Education, but for the bottom level (N5) you need to know 103.

Kanji do not exist in isolation and are often formed into compounds of two, three, or even

four kanji. (fire extinguisher - 消火器(extinguish fire device). The best way to remember these

is by regular use and practice. Using flashcards helps immensely. There are good systems

available which can ease the task, make use of them. I present

my own road to Japanese language superstardom later on. It is not

the only method, but it is a method. You should remember that some kanji

also have different meanings in Japanese than Chinese, so talking to your Chinese buddy doesn’t

always work. Some kanji were also created by Japanese and thus have no meaning to Chinese

speakers.

OK. We know a little about the writing system, but now that we now how to write, what

should we write? Time for some grammar.

Grammar

The biggest single obstacle to the student of Japanese grammar is particles. Ask any

university student of the Japanese language which subject they hated, and particles will come out

on top. Japanese people often consult each other as to which particles they should use. The

substitution of one for another changes the entire meaning of a sentence. A solid grasp of

particles is necessary and cannot be avoided. Conjugate your verbs like a champ, have a great

vocabulary, but don’t understand particles? Then you won’t understand anything that you read.

Particles are indicators which mean nothing by themselves. My dictionary gives a good

definition, so I’ll use it:

“1) A particle (助詞 joshi) in the Japanese language follows a word to:

A) show its relationship to other words in a sentence, and/or

B) give that word a particular meaning or nuance.”14

A simple example:

Kore wa nan desu ka? (What’s this?)

これは何ですか。

The ha (は) which is pronounced “wa” indicates the subject. The ka(か) indicates that a

question is being asked.

A slightly more advanced example:

Ano hito ni setsumei shite mita tokoro de, wakatte wa kurenai darou. (Even if you try

explaining it to him, he’s not going to understand you.)

あの人に説明してみたところで、わかってはくれないだろう。

Ni (に) indicates the target of the explanation, tokoro de(ところで) indicates a condition

which even if met, the results of which will not be favourable. Finally, the subject marker ha(は)

indicates the main subject (the understanding of the subject).

There are more than 100 different particles. This is the hardest part of Japanese

grammar, bar none (except for Koreans! Have you been paying attention?). Anyone who tells

you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Particles also have different meanings

depending on context. In certain situations it is possible to claim you meant something different

from what you said by twisting the usage of the particle. My favourite Japanese teacher always

used to tell me “during exams, in times of uncertainly(こまったな時), use ni(に)”, since it had

the widest possible application. When using particles, remember that they define the

grammatical function of the word in the context of the sentence. Very simple sentences can be

made with them, but understanding the sentence is impossible without the context of the topic of

conversation. As an example:

ジムは？(As for Jim?)

14

Sue A. Kawashima. A Dictionary of Japanese particles(Tokyo: Kodansha, 1999), p. i

If you had heard the earlier statement アイスクリームが好きです (I like ice cream) in

answer to the question 一番好きな食べ物は何ですか(Which food do you like the best?), you’d

have figured out that the speaker was now asking Jim as to his preference. So the whole

conversation would have looked something like:

Jim: 一番好きな食べ物は何でか。(What food do you like best?)

Kenji: アイスクリームが好きです。ジムは？ (I like ice cream. How about you, Jim?)

Jim: 僕？苺です。(Me? Strawberries.)

There is some good news. Particles are sometimes omitted from spoken language where

meanings are obvious. The bad part of this is that occasionally you’re left holding the bag,

wondering which particles the speaker meant. The good part is that sometimes you can throw a

sentence into the air, insert random particles and more often than not the listener will understand

what you meant. Of course, the consequences of misunderstanding can sometimes be hilarious.

Honorifics

Usually Japanese express themselves in one of three fashions – casual(“Yo dude,

wassup?”), polite(“How are you?”), or honorific(“Pray tell me honoured sir, how is it with thee

on this morn?”) style. You will only learn the polite style to begin with. Learning the casual and

honorific styles requires serious effort on the part of the student, since the vast majority of texts

teach only the polite (desu/masu) forms.15

Worry about this when you reach a reasonable level

of Japanese. Then you will understand why you don’t have any friends because you’re always

polite and never casual, even with people you’ve known for a while. Some Japanese often have

the cheek to teach foreigners only the polite style and then complain that “they’re always so stiff

and formal, I can never get close to them.” Some words often change completely, particularly

verbs, when using keigo (honorific style). It is not impossible, but it does require to evaluate

your relationship with the person to whom you are speaking. People from egalitarian countries

like Canada will find this particularly difficult, since we learn from birth that we are all equal (of

course, it goes without saying that some are more equal than others...). You need to evaluate 1)

the person’s social rank and 2) your level of familiarity with the individual. Textbook Japanese

is broken down into 尊敬語(sonkeigo), 丁寧語(teineigo) and 謙譲語(kenjougo). These translate

to polite, honorific, and humble language. Speaking in polite Japanese will never get you in

trouble. A sound grasp of honorific and humble language will transform you from a casual user

of the Jspeak into someone the locals will definitely remember as “that foreign dude who made

me feel ashamed of my feeble grasp of my own language.”

Is this a bad time to mention that regional dialects in Japan can be so different to each

other that often Kansai dialect speakers misunderstand Tokyo standard speakers? Or maybe that

the villager from Oita doesn’t have a clue what the salaryman from Nagoya is trying to say? It’s

not as bad as all that, but there certainly are regional variations, some of which have taken on a

life of their own. In fact, if you believe that Japanese is the only language spoken on this small

island, you are dead wrong.16

15

P.G O’Neill’s Japanese Respect Language: When, Why, and How to Use it Successfully is a good place to start. 16

There are, in fact, three indigenous languages to Japan: Japanese, Ainu, and Ryukuan. Ryukuan is considered to be a dialect of Japanese by most scholars. If you want to go deeper into the morphology

Easy bits

Learners of French and Russian will be happy to know that verbs are easily conjugated in

Japanese, there are very few cases compared to more advanced verbal languages such as French,

which have a plethora of ways to conjugate verbs. Check it out, it’s not hard at all. Naoko

Chino’s excellent Japanese Verbs at a Glance (http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Glance-

Kodanshas-Childrens-

Classics/dp/4770027656/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310146317&sr=1-5) will tell

you everything you need to know.

Vocabulary words are just as easy to learn: memorization, same as any other language.

German language specialists(the best and most thorough!) tell us that the everyday vocabulary of

any language consists of less than a thousand words, so learn those thousand words and you can

participate in most conversations. Naturally specialist vocabulary (business, political, medical,

etc.) must be learned as you encounter it.

So, how do I do it?

More than students of any other language, students of Japanese are collectors of

textbooks. Drifting in the muddled waters of Japanese grammar, frustrated by kanji, beating

their heads against particles, they are constantly in search of newer, better learning materials and

methods.

The particular problem is the teacher of Japanese. I have seen more students confused by

bad teachers of Japanese than any other language I’ve come into contact with. Naturally, a good

teacher is worth his/her weight in gold. Many people learn “bedroom” Japanese from a partner.

I have come across the occasional Japanese speaker who learned their Japanese from a girlfriend.

It’s pretty funny to hear a big guy using feminine speech, since pretty much everyone will

assume that he is gay. The fundamental problem with teachers is the difference between those

who attempt to teach you as though you were a Japanese child (bad) and those who understand

that you are an adult and capable of understanding and chaining together complex thoughts

relatively quickly (good). And, worst of all, I have met teachers who honestly don’t even believe

that foreigners can learn to speak Japanese. Would you want that particular individual as your

teacher?

What teaching aids are available to the student of Japanese?

Language tapes/CDs

Dictionaries – yes. The bigger the better. A good particle dictionary is a must. Going without a

kanji dictionary is unthinkable.

Electronic dictionaries – These are great if you buy a good model. Unfortunately there are

plenty of crap ones, too. Get one with all the giant Kodansha dictionaries crammed into it, and

you’ll be laughing.

Phrasebooks – Get a small one. Keep it on you. Make notes. Ask your friends about particular

phrases. Understand the phrases rather than attempting to memorize them.

Internet sites – There are many, many, useful internet sites which can provide help with flash

cards, translation, kanji, furigana, and many other handy innovations.

and grammar differences between them, there is no better book than Shibatani Masayoshi’s The Languages of Japan.

A friend - a friend learning at the same time as you is a partner in frustration, success, and

someone to practice with. However, avoid kanji memorization contests and the like. Some

people are incredibly competitive about their Japanese skills.

Right then, your journey begins.17

17

And as any serious language student knows, there is no end to this particular journey.

Roadmap to casual Japanese

1) Learn the correct pronunciations of syllables as best you can using romaji.

2) Buy a simple travel phrasebook. Lonely Planet ones are great, they really do fit in your

pocket. (http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Lonely-Planet-Phrasebooks-

Yoshi/dp/1741042313/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310146443&sr=1-2)

3) Go to Japan, have a good time.

4) Bask in the praise of Japanese people as they wildly applaud your incredibly poorly

pronounced Japanese with such fulsome compliments as

「えええぇ？外人さんの日本語はすごいですね！」“Eeeeeeehhhh!! Gaijin-san no

Nihongo wa sugoii desu ne!” (“Mr. Foreigner’s Japanese is great, isn’t it!”)

5) Secretly smile to yourself when you realize how much time you avoided wasting and that

you really didn’t want to learn Japanese anyway.

Roadmap to Advanced Japanese

You just don’t know where to quit, do you? Before you start, learn hiragana and

katakana using Heisig’s Remembering the Kana or another resource. If you are not the artsy

type who can easily make good looking and durable flash cards, buy these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kana-Flashcards-Japanese-English-

Hodges/dp/0974869430/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Having completed this first task, you are now ready to learn Japanese. If you decide not

to buy the books I recommend or can’t get them, buy only those textbooks and materials which

use kana. This is easier than it sounds. Some excellent textbooks unfortunately include romaji

right next to the hiragana and katakana readings. This is extremely annoying. I erase it by

means of a black pen, not so heavy a pen as to stain the next page. Be prepared to approach

reading, writing, speaking, and the alphabet as four separate skills. Practice each one separate to

the others, and begin combining them as you gain skill. Japanese can be beat, and this is how

you are going to do it.

OK, are you ready? Remember that this is not the only way to learn, but it is a well

described and laid out path which you can follow until you hit level N2 of the JLPT. The afore

mentioned Japanese Language Proficiency Test consists of five levels, N1-N5. To read about

each level and what they mean, go here: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.html Come

back when you’re finished.

Right. Now that you know what each level means, you are going to skip level N5

because it is not really worthwhile and go straight to level N4. Your goal is to hit level N2, and

at that point you will decide whether you want to give it your all and hit the heights of N1 and

beyond. With this method, you will both be able to pass N2 and do more than just pass a test.

You will possess enough Japanese skills to survive just about any everyday situation, and

possess the grammatical chops to tackle newspapers and magazines with a dictionary for the

occasional missing vocabulary word.

Step 1: Go out and buy the following texts. I recommend you buy them either from

www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.jp, usually even with shipping the Japanese Amazon site

is cheaper. You are going to buy the following items:

Minna no Nihongo, Book 1 http://www.amazon.com/Minna-Nihongo-Book-Bk-

Japanese/dp/4883191028

Minna no Nihongo Honyaku http://www.amazon.com/Minna-Nihongo-Honyaku-Translation-

Grammatical/dp/4883191079/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Minna no Nihongo, Book 2 http://www.amazon.com/Minna-No-Nihongo-Bk-

2/dp/4883191036/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Minna no Nihongo II, Translation and Grammatical Notes http://www.amazon.com/Minna-No-

Nihongo-Translation-Grammatical/dp/4883191087/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Basic Kanji Book vol. 1 http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Kanji-Book-Vol-

1/dp/4893580914/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310089917&sr=1-1

Complete everything on this list. Complete. Everything. You can, if you wish, buy the

additional Minna no Nihongo grammar, kanji and writing floppy texts, but only do so if you have

a teacher or native speaker to correct everything written that you produce. Having completed all

these texts, you are now ready to take the N4 test. If you are a good student and have faithfully

done all the exercises and listened to the CDs, you will pass this test with mild-moderate

difficulty, and should achieve a combined score of approximately 80%. Keep in mind that these

texts are not geared towards specifically completing the JLPT and do not therefore cover every

possible point on the tests. Remember that your goal is to become skilled in Japanese, and not be

a test conquering machine. Your success at the JLPT will be a happy accident as a result of your

studies. If you do want to focus on that test, there are bags of materials available in the form of

previous tests and books geared towards each level.

If you have a teacher at this stage, it is critical that your teacher be a native speaker for

purposes of pronunciation. Having a non-native speaker will cramp your style and load you with

bad habits which will be difficult to shake.

Step 2

You are now going to hit the hardcore level of Japanese study, where you will no longer

enjoy the heady days of massive, quick improvement. This is where most students give up. You

are going to overprepare for level N3 and almost be ready for stage N2 at this level. At this

point, you will need some reference materials since unless you have a skilled native speaker

available 24/7 you will have questions which require more than “that’s just the way it is.”

The best teachers at this stage are native speakers of English with a high level of skill in

Japanese, who are able to explain any grammar point into English. You should avoid student

workgroups at this point, since you don’t want to absorb other learner’s errors. In addition to the

usual buying of texts, you are going to need some additional resources to keep on the bookshelf,

These resources are the following:

The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary http://www.amazon.com/Kodansha-Kanji-Learners-

Dictionary/dp/4770028555/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310090265&sr=1-5

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles http://www.amazon.com/Kodansha-Kanji-Learners-

Dictionary/dp/4770028555/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310090265&sr=1-5

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-

Grammar/dp/4789004546/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310091117&sr=1-1

Now, in terms of your continued learning, you are going to buy the following:

Shin Nihongo no Chukyu Honsatsu http://www.amazon.com/Nihongo-Chukyu-Honsatsu-

Intermediate-

Japanese/dp/B002QPQEDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310091195&sr=1-1-spell

Shin Nihongo no Chukyu Bunpo Kaisetsusho (Intermediate Japanese Grammatical Notes in

English) http://www.amazon.com/Nihongo-Kaisetsusho-Intermediate-Japanese-

Grammatical/dp/B002QPIXKG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310091249&sr=1-3-spell

Basic Kanji Book vol. 2 http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Kanji-Book-Volume-

2/dp/B000IDHNU4/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310091349&sr=1-2

Finish. Everything. On. This. List. You are now ready to tackle level N3, and should

find it again to be of mild-moderate level difficult. You are once again ready to achieve a good

80-90% overall score, and should even be entertaining the pretension of tackling level N2. But,

you are not ready yet.

If you are too lazy to make your own cards, buy these:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kanji-Flashcards-

Vol/dp/0984334904/ref=sr_1_cc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310141788&sr=1-2-catcorr

Step 3

This is the light and poppy stage of Japanese, where you are going to enjoy what you

have learned. You should grab a comic book, watch a drama, or start keeping a blog in

Japanese. There should be no serious study at this time, just an enjoyment of Japanese and all

the things particular to the language. Take a few months off and just soak up whatever Japanese

comes your way. Read a book, plow through a news article about sumo, and realize that your

non-Japanese karate instructor really has no idea what he’s saying and that his pronunciation is

atrocious. You are also going to learn how to write the complete list of 2,135 kanji necessary,

without worrying about pronunciation or what they actually mean. This is the time to watch

movies with no subtitles and start talking to yourself in Japanese, and making full use of a

Japanese-English exchange partnership, whether via email or in person. Your brain needs this

time away from study to develop new pathways and assimilate the mass of info you have

dumped on it. I did this by living in Korea for a year, and somehow Japanese things kept finding

me anyway, and then I went back to Japan for another job and realized that somehow, without

practicing, I was actually better than when I had left.

During this time you will buy and complete, at a pace which is appropriate to you:

Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and

Writing of Japanese Characters http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-Complete-

Characters/dp/0824831659/ref=pd_sim_b_5

Practice either using the obscenely expensive box of cards made for it (I coughed up and bought

it, just don’t lose any!) http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Study-Cards-James-

Heisig/dp/0870408852

Or, use the free website at http://kanji.koohii.com/ You can also buy an application for your

iPhone if you have one http://itunes.apple.com/app/remembering-the-kanji/id424471278?mt=8

Or, you can be like me and carry a stack of cards around with you in your pocket.

And, carry on studying vocabulary with some more nice flashcards while you are at it:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kanji-Flashcards-Max-

Hodges/dp/0984334912/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Heisig, by the way, is not without his detractors. I can only shrug and say, it works.

Now take a deep breath and get ready for N2 level action.

Step 4

Guess what? At this stage you can start considering yourself as being really serious

about your Japanese. You should be able to understand explanations of complex Japanese

grammar points in Japanese, and should be ready to start throwing away English explanations,

since as should be obvious, a grammar point in a given language is best understood in its own

context. Since you are going to begin to cover some relatively obscure grammar points which

are not necessarily in common usage, it’s time to hit the test specific books and make sure

you’ve got the chops to crack level N2. You will, unfortunately, be studying some test-specific

materials. But first, you are going to need a few more reference materials:

A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-

Intermediate-Japanese-Grammar-Seiichi/dp/B000PXM5LY/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Nihongo Sou Matome Grammar JLPT N2 http://www.amazon.com/Nihongo-Grammar-

Japanese-Language-

Proficiency/dp/B003N87WH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310091972&sr=1-1

Japanese Language Proficiency Test N2 Kanji Summary http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-

Language-Proficiency-KANJI-

Summary/dp/4872177274/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310092084&sr=1-1

Nihongo Sou Matome Grammar JLPT N2

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=%83J%83%5E%83J%83i&url=search

-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=9784872177282&x=0&y=0

Ready, steady, go. Once you have pounded these three N2 level books back, you are

pretty much ready to conquer the written portions of the N2. You must now find yourself a

native instructor, who speaks no English during class-time and is an iron-fisted tyrant on

pronunciation correction. No other students are to be permitted in your class, even if they are as

hard-core as yourself. Your Japanese must not be contaminated by others mistakes, and your

ears must hear only native Japanese. At this time, if you listen to music, it must be in Japanese (I

apologize in advance for this, but hopefully you’ll find something you like). If you watch a

movie, it’s in Japanese. If you go to a cultural event... you get the idea. Surround your

apartment with posters, and have kanji all around. When you sit on the toilet, there had better be

a giant poster full of kanji in a place where you have to look at it. (Try here

http://www.kanjiposter.com/posters.html if you can’t find anything). Only by constantly

listening to Japanese will you be able to crack the listening portion. The listening section is very

easy for those who live in Japan, since they automatically hear it all the time and their brains

begin attempting to decipher it without even trying. Others outside of Japan do not have this

advantage and must attempt to replicate this environment. If you’re not dreaming in Japanese,

you will be now.

It is crucial that you understand all the grammar points, and your Heisig skills should let

you guess at the meaning of a lot of vocabulary that you don’t actually understand. You possess

the same advantage as Chinese native speakers, so you don’t get to use the “but Asian people can

learn Japanese faster because of Chinese characters” excuse. You will, however, learn to hate

Koreans as their grammar system is similar to Japanese. But then, you have the massive

advantage of not needing to memorize katakana words as vocabulary, since most of them come

from English. You lucky English-speaker, you.

When you’ve got N2 level grammar down, you’ve cracked the worst part of your

Japanese studies. N1 level is down to nuance and advanced concepts, whereas N2 is down to a

mastery of the intermediate mechanics of Japanese grammar. Many people quit their Japanese

studies here, having more than enough to satisfy themselves in their day-to-day lives.

If you find you are not retaining vocabulary well, then tackle Heisig vol. 2, A Systematic

Guide to Reading Japanese Characters http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-

Systematic-Characters/dp/0824831667/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Step 5

At this point, it’s time for you to re-evaluate your goals. You need to pick a specific goal

and focus on it. While passing the N1 level is a laudable thing, it doesn’t really get you anything

other than a shiny (literally) piece of paper congratulating you. It is the minimum level

necessary for you to be employed in Japan as a foreigner, almost all jobs will require it as a

minimum requirement. I am currently on the N1 path myself. I want to read Japanese literature

in the original classical Japanese, and translate things for fun. This “fun” takes a lot of time, but

for me it’s worth it. I want the N1 certificate as a byproduct (ie. proof positive) of my skill in

Japanese. It’s certainly worth more than a black belt, since you actually have to pass a test with

the same criteria for everyone, but the only person it will really be of value to is yourself.

One thing you will notice is that as your Japanese skill increases, you will start seeing

less and less obvious foreigners in whatever classes and exams you take. When I took the JLPT

2 (roughly equivalent to somewhere between the new JLPT N2-N3) I was one of three white

people in the class. The rest were Thai or Filipino hostesses, Chinese exchange students, or

second-generation Koreans. A nice side effect of this is you will expand your friendship

horizons and meet people from other backgrounds, suffering through the same hardship as you

are, all in Japanese.

Supplementary materials for the hard-core Jstudent

The Kanji Dictionary http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Dictionary-English-

Japanese/dp/0804820589/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310142062&sr=1-1

Kanji in context Reference Book http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-in-Context-Reference-

Book/dp/4789007537/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310143144&sr=1-1

Kanji in context Workbook, vol. 1 http://www.amazon.com/Context-Workbook-Intermediate-

Advanced-Learners/dp/B000YDR8AS/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Kanji in context Workbook, vol. 2 http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Context-Workbook-vol-

Bk/dp/4789007561/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310143204&sr=1-3

A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Advanced-

Japanese-Grammar/dp/4789012956/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310144931&sr=1-6

Supplementary materials for the N1 student and would-be translator

A work of truly staggering scholarship, and unfortunately increasingly difficult to find a copy of

is Samuel E. Martin’s A Reference Grammar of Japanese http://www.amazon.com/Reference-

Grammar-Japanese-Samuel-

Martin/dp/0824828186/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310142971&sr=1-1 It’s one

horrible minus is that it is in romaji. But this book has no equal, nothing comes even remotely

close.

A much needed resource produced in 2007, this two-set dictionary/grammar is a must for anyone

tackling classical Japanese.

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Japanese-Reader-Essential-

Dictionary/dp/023113990X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310144498&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Japanese-Grammar-Exercise-

Answers/dp/0231135300/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Last but not least, and perhaps first among all serious reference materials, is the “Green

Goddess” beloved of translators everywhere, the mighty Kodansha dictionary of Japanese-

English.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=%83J%83%5E%83J%83i&url=search

-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=9784767420165&x=0&y=0

It’s expensive, but order it from Japan or it’s even more expensive anywhere else.

Book Reviews

Warning – some of these books are obscenely expensive for what you get. Japanese

prices are usually half (yes, that’s right, half) of the US or Canadian prices, particularly for the

exercise and floppy texts. But there isn’t much you can do about it, since if you buy it in a US or

Canadian bookstore you’ll end up paying even more. The texts which are used as textbooks in

university situations or reference manuals are usually cheaper. Specialized materials are

unfortunately on the expensive side due to any number of factors. My most damning criticism is

the some publishers still use romaji in the belief that either people won’t buy books without it, or

that Japanese is too difficult to learn without that crutch. Romaji is completely unnecessary even

for beginners and should burn in a hell reserved for the vilest filth ever invented by humanity.

Books about Japan

“Charisma Man – 1998-2002: The Complete Collection” Neil Garscadden, ed. (Tokyo: AKNG

Press, 2002) ISBN 4-9901469-0-5

Basically a book for white men who have lived in Japan, gaijin women need not apply although

they may get a giggle out of it too. You will never fully understand the amazingly funny

material inside this collection of cartoons unless you are a Caucasian male who has lived the

charisma man lifestyle in a major city in Japan. The quality of the jokes declines as the book

moves along, and the different drawing styles (the first writer/artist was the best in my opinion)

will appeal to different types. But, the heart of the matter is the same; overall this book is very

funny indeed. Anyone who can’t laugh at this book is probably a real charisma man… all of us

who live in Japan have seen you and you know who you are!

“Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan”, Bruce Feiler (Boston: Mariner Books, 1992)

ISBN-13: 978-0395647264

This book describes the experiences of a participant in the JET program (a program initiated by

MEXT (formerly Monkagobusho) to “internationalize” Japan). The usual fluff follows;

foreigner makes comic error with chopsticks, foreigner cannot speak Japanese properly,

foreigner does not understand Japanese ways etc. etc. The unintentional comedic value of a lot

of this stuff unfortunately cannot be understood without a reasonable amount of experience of

living in Japan. If you have a fairly simple sense of humour, you will probably find a lot of this

book genuinely amusing in the sense of “Look, the Japanese bow to each other a lot! Isn’t that

funny?” (OK, it’s not quite that low… but the chopstick and shoes shticks just have to die) If you

need a bit more, ah, complexity in your humour, you may want to look elsewhere. Still, it is a

well-intentioned book and definitely will appeal to people considering teaching in Japan and of

course the target market of JET participants and educators. There is some analysis of character

and gender roles learned by students in the Japanese educational system, but as always,

everyone’s experience is different in Japan. I did find myself nodding in agreement at some of

the author’s insights, but generally speaking I found it the weakest of the books I read before

actually going Japan.

Study materials

“How to tell the difference between Japanese Particles” Naoko Chino (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2005)

I consider this book essential to my own studies, it really cleared up the intricacies of particles.

All particles which have similar meanings are grouped together, and loads of examples given.

You are then tested at the end of each chapter. The subtleties of each particle are carefully

explained, along with other words to watch for which may help in determining the precise

meaning of what is being said or written.

“Remembering the Kanji, vol. I, 5th

ed.”, James W. Heisig (Tokyo: Japan Publications Trading

Co., Ltd., 2007) ISBN-13: 978-082483165

This book is the subject of some controversy among students of Japanese. The reason for this is

simple. Most people criticize it without actually having read it. I have often asked critics “Have

you actually tried it?” The silence which follows is answer enough.

This book works. It will teach you to remember every kanji on the Joyo kanji list, and a few that

aren’t. That’s 2042 kanji, for the record (recently updated to include the 2,135 kanji now on the

list. If you study according to Heisig’s method and practice regularly, you will be able to

remember all of them.

How does it work? A mnemonic (key word) is assigned to each kanji. Starting with simple

elements, and by slowly adding more to them, you will be able to build each kanji from scratch.

By building a story out of the elements, you will remember which elements are present, and thus

be able to write them. At present, I can still remember and write them all. At one point I was

cramming back 25 kanji a day until I had to slow down due to job related responsibilities. If you

do 10 kanji a day for 20 minutes, review regularly with the aid of flashcards, you could learn all

of the kanji in about 7 months. Heisig says if you studied full time, about 8 hours a day, you

could do it in 4-6 weeks depending on your ability. I am dubious of your average student’s

ability to focus for that length of time, but I believe it could be done.

What this book will not do is teach you the meanings and pronunciations of the kanji. Let me

repeat that again, since many of you don’t actually pay attention when you are reading something

or are just skimming: what this book will not do is teach you the meanings and pronunciations of

the kanji. That is the subject of volume 2.

Many people who study by rote memorization are able to memorize at best a few hundred kanji.

I guarantee they can’t write them. Heisig’s method of breaking the kanji up into smaller pieces

works.

There are pros and cons to the system. The pro is that you can remember and write everything.

The con is that you will not learn kanji in the order they are taught in Japanese schools. Thus

you will learn the kanji for “gall bladder” long before you learn the kanji for “drink.” You

actually have to make or buy, and then use flashcards. Too many people think they can do

everything by just reading the book. Think again.

“Minna no Nihongo” (Tokyo: 3A Corporation, 1998) ISBN-13: 978-4883191024

This is a series aimed at taking you from the very beginning level right to the lower Intermediate

level. Before you do anything else, you are expected to learn hiragana and katakana. You will

never see any romaji. These texts are well supported, you can buy additional CDs and videos as

you require them, or use only the text. The basic materials are buying the conversation book,

and the accompanying exercise book which can be used to write what you are learning. I used

these texts at the school I went to. They are great. If you learn from the beginning by this

method, you will never enter romaji hell. All kanji are in furigana format. Do not buy these

texts with the intent of being taught kanji, they are aimed at improving your speaking ability.

There is, however, an additional book aimed at kanji learners. I am using it now, in conjunction

with other methods, using the kanji books. I find that they introduce relatively complex kanji too

quickly, and other than rote memorization and writing don’t offer a particularly good method of

kanji study.

Overall, I was neither inspired nor bored by this series(other than the mildly amusing dates of the

stereotypically American charisma man Mr. Miller with the stereotypically demure and proper

Japanese lady Ms. Kimura), it’s definitely a functional series and will teach you what you need

to know. It is very well supported with materials and is probably the best text I know of to be

used in a classroom setting. I was taught using these textbooks, level I and II.

Advantages: It’s a complete system, if you buy everything. But if you buy everything, you’re

going to be paying a lot of money. Each level has full resources (main book, grammar and

translation in English book, exercise book, CD’s). Speaking is useful and task oriented. Buying

things, asking directions, typical Japanese social situations. Grammar notes are good. You get

as much information as you need but no more.

Disadvantages: Floppy textbooks. They fall apart quickly. Expensive if you need more than the

main text and supporting translation/grammar book. For one level, you can easily blow over

$100 US

“Kanzen Masuta 2-kyu Nihongo Noryoku Shiken Bunpo Mondai Taisaku” various (Tokyo: 3A

Corporation, 1997) ISBN4-88319-088-9

(Complete Master Series-The Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 Grammar Exercises)

Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. A blow by blow, point by point review of all grammar points

required for JLPT 2. Explanation sections followed by practice questions and relationships to

other expressions. This book is probably most useful to intermediate level students as I believe

those who have ended the beginner level might find it too intimidating. There is something

slightly masochistically satisfying about seeing 173 points of grammar laid out end to end and

knowing that at the end of a lot of work your understanding of Japanese grammar is going to be

turbo-charged.

There are a lot books aimed at JLPT 2 grammar points. The reason I chose this book was

because it had been recommended to me by a friend who had passed the JLPT 2 exam the

previous year. He mentioned that after having finished this book he had no difficulties with any

practice JLPT 2 grammar exam. (For the record, most people I have talked to consider the

reading section to be the most difficult part of the JLPT exam)

Update: this would now roughly be the equivalent of somewhere between level N2-N3.