Japanese Demystified: A Self-Teaching Guide [ペーパーバック]

Finding this book was a wonderful thing.

With so many books on learning Japanese out there, it's hard to find a couple of good ones that provide you with the means to learn the easiest way. That "easy" way is different for all people. I have always thought that fundamentals, basic building blocks, are essential in order to understand the way something works, so that learning more difficult or involved concepts later is easier. For example, in my life, this applies to math, playing an instrument, or learning a language.

My requirements for teaching myself Japanese without the availability of local, affordable classes are as follows: First: it must be affordable. A $20 book is more my speed than an $60 or $80 one, for instance. Second: like most people, I want the most bang for my buck. I don't want to be lugging around 6 books if I can get the same information out of 2 or 3. Third: I would like it to contain Japanese writing so I can learn to read and write what I am saying. Fourth: I prefer some sort of self-test included so I know if/what I am retaining.

This book delivers all that. 445 pages of information, delivered in Japanese characters, romaji and English at the same time. Chapters 1-3 are pretty basic. I have the entire set of Pimsleur's Japanese lessons, which I love, and aside from some new vocabulary, it's about the same. Pronunciation, writing, names, titles, pronouns, particles and questions. The CDs teach you to speak, but explain nothing of the fundamentals of grammar or how the Japanese language works, nor do they explain the many verbs and their forms. I feel strongly that to learn Japanese well and thoroughly, these things are important in order to facilitate fluency as learning progresses.

I am really looking forward to using this book to augment my Pimsleur lessons. It gives me hope that I will someday be able to engage in conversation in this language with confidence. I get vocabulary, grammar, verbs and forms, and self-tests all in one book! I love that it is all arranged according to English grammar structure. This is familiar and helps me to understand the information.

For the really curious, there are 20 chapters arranged in four parts with a "final exam":

Part One is Identifying People and Things.
Including pronunciation, everyday phrases, questions, describing people and things, and expressing existence and location.

Part Two is Talking About Actions
Including coming and going, what you do (verbs), talking about the past, the Te- form, and asking permission.

Part Three is Stating Facts
Including your opinion, adverbs and adverbial clauses, comparing people and things, complex phrases and clauses, and indicating change.

Part Four is Expressing Implication, Attitude, and Perspective
Including implication, attitude, considering and planning your actions, changing perspective, and using honorifics.

At the end is a 100 question "final exam", followed by two Appendices (sentence predicates and verb forms {as a table}), two glossaries (J to E and E to J), an answer key for all the test and practices, and finally an index.

This is not the only book I plan to buy, or already own (my other favorite now is Japanese Step by Step). I highly recommend learning about Japanese culture while studying the language because so much of how Japanese express themselves is ingrained in their society and how they interpret things. It is a point of view that can be radically different from anywhere else. It is not enough to learn Japanese, you need to learn about the people as well in order to effectively express yourself in their language. Japanese Beyond Words is a wonderful book to start with.

In short, buy this book. I don't think you will be disappointed. Beginners, dive right in, it will help! Advanced students, this will probably serve more as a great reference book, or it may clear up something you've been struggling with.

Heck, for this price, you definitely get what you pay for, and then some. ^_^

After facing the horror of "Minna no Nihongo" (sorry fans of the book, but it proved not to be my cup of tea), I discovered that "Japanese demystified" made far more sense to me; it's friendly, you learn at your own pace, and it's not intimidating at all so buy it already! However, I strongly suggest that before you dive into it, (or any other Japanese learning books, by the way) you invest a few weeks into learning your hiragana, katakana, and a few hundred kanji as well, now that you are into it. It sounds like too much work but believe me, it will make your learning experience a more enjoyable one. Books from James W. Heisig (Remembering the kana, Remembering the kanji) can be of vast help to achieve this. Also, and to help "Japanize" your mind, Boye Lafayette De Mente`s "The Japanese have a word for it" can provide a rich cultural background, with dozens of words and terms that simply don't have a direct translation into western languages, and will help you "feel" the language from a native's perspective. I'm not going to lie to you; it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be fast, but... what the heck, it makes your brain a better one.

This was a great book, as a workbook to accompany my Japanese course.
I would say though, you can NOT use it alone to learn Japanese.
It has very clear explanations and is an excellent workbook for beginner students.

After using this book, you may want to check out "Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication: A Self-Study Course and Reference", which covers everything in this book and a more as a nice compact review.

Unfortunately, non of these books help with speaking or listening, its not something that is expected from these books but just keep it in mind.