English Grammar for Students of Japanese: The Study Guide for Those Learning Japanese

People studying Japanese as native English speakers need good resources and this book is a useful guide for those wanting to brush up on English grammar before starting to study Japanese in more detail. It has clear and easy to understand examples of English grammar. Native speakers often learn a language without formal grammar study but need it when the learn a second language and that's where this book comes in handy. Pro's The book is split into four main sections. An introduction, Grammar points - 45 key topics dissected, an answer section for the end of chapter revision exercises and an index. From a learning perspective the book is split into two sections. Section one is a review of key grammar points for native English speakers in technical grammar terms and section two is a comparison of English grammar to similar Japanese grammar structures. Con's It should be noted that the books emphasis is on English grammar and not Japanese grammar. The book shines on its review of English grammar. The Japanese grammar section as it relates to similar English structures is a bit disappointing in that Japanese grammar structures are not as fully explained as the English grammar. If they were this book would be worthy of five stars. I found the following Japanese sections to be very helpful. Starting with, "To the student" a how to guide for studying Japanese by the author, Section 11, What is an Adverb ( was clearly set out, and had good examples), and Section 15, What are Prefixes and Suffixes (stood out to me as the most practical section of the book ) Summary Even though the Japanese section is lacking I still feel that this is a good guide for native English speakers in that it shares known English grammar structures and posits them against similar Japanese grammar structures. This book would be of most benefit to those about to embarking on a detailed study of Japanese in either a full time course or a study abroad program.

This book deepens the understanding of both Japanese and English. I am an instructor of Japanese in the U.S. Now many university students from Japan, who are studying English, will be visiting my classes. I will use this book so that both American and Japanese students will learn more about their languages. The author discusses fundamental grammar points very clearly. This book is a must read for instructors of Japanese who teach in English speaking environments.

First of all, do not expect to improve your vocabulary if you buy this book. It doesn't try to be that kind of book. It is a book for helping you with Japanese grammar by comparing it to English grammar; and this is the best book to teach you all-things-grammar for Japanese. Every thing you will ever need to know about Japanese grammar, you can learn from this book. It is laid out very well. If you read this book thoroughly from front to back a few times through, you should have a very good idea of Japanese grammar. Don't be discouraged when you hear people say, "I am an intermediate student of Japanese, and I have been studying for 3 years." They probably are talking about learning at school or college. I am studying on my own, and I believe that if I study hard and study almost everyday, I will be speaking Japanese very well in 1 and a half years. If you are good at memorization, buy the right books & audio materials, and are determined to learn Japanese as I am, then you should be able to learn that quickly as well. Anyway, great book!

I think that it was Voltaire who said "To know another language is to know your own". Unfortunately I found that I knew my own (English) far less than I thought. In understanding how Japanese is structured I was often adrift because I did not really understand the components of English grammar. This book solves that problem. For example the structural position of relative clauses in Japanese and English is fundamentally different. Why I treasure my copy of Hudson's book is that it explains those fundamentals, with the result that you will be able to rapidly transpose between the two languages in a manner and with a speed that reflects your new understanding. Others in your class will stumble and have difficulty because they do not have such a ready reference to English grammar. What speaks most for this book is that I have, on several occasions, been able to explain concepts to fellow students to help them with basic concepts, that I have taken directly from Hudson's explanations. It has small concise sections, it is easily read at any place in the total text - start where you have the most interest - and can be left by for your bed for a quick snatch of grammar to help you edge towards succcess in your ambition to master Japanese. I thoroughly recommend it and I use it often.