Japanese from Zero!

I love Japanese From Zero! JFZ is a good place to start learning, especially if you have no prior knowledge of Japanese and you cannot read or write any of the language (this includes anyone who is currently using romaji). This first book walks you through learning hiragana. By the time you get done with this book, you will know your hiragana front, back and sideways. You may even dream in hiragana. That's how good it is at reinforcing hiragana for you. The information is NOT presented in an overwhelming manner as it can be in a lot of other text books. The lessons are short, which makes it ideal for learning on your own, and being able to pace yourself. You can learn 1 lesson per week or 1 lesson per day. It's totally up to you. The book presents lessons with usable examples. By the time you complete lesson 5, you will know how to say hello, tell someone things that you like or don't like, be able to count, ask who someone is, what things are, ask someone what something is in English, and tell someone what one you want or don't want. You'll learn colors, some animals, etc. So you can say "I have an orange cat named Garfield." "I like to go shopping" "Japanese food is delicious" "That doesn't taste good" "My car is a purple and white Honda" "Sachiko and Toshiyo are my friends" etc lol And that's not even 1/4 the way into the book!!! They present information in a way that allows you to be able to insert whatever you want, instead of using very rigid sentences that can't be altered much. You begin thinking of all the things that you CAN say, which I think is pretty neat. You, of course, learn more as you progress through the series. It's more of a "what you need to know, when you need to know it" kind of book... They don't go into dipthongs and verb conjugation and all that other stuff that you don't really care about. They just say "this is how you say _______." Why people have a problem with that is beyond me. If you really wanted to study dipthongs and that kind of stuff, Japanese From Zero probably isn't for you. If you have a "I can do it" attitude and want a fun, simple way to learn Japanese, (learn how to read/write AND speak) and you don't really care what a dipthong is, then this is the series for you! As you progress through the book, the vocabulary list gets more & more useful, so you can ask people things and have a basic conversation. Enough to maybe start looking for a penpal and discussing things that you enjoy. I like how the book is set up, in that you get your writing practice, you get lots of vocabulary, and you get to learn how to write words that use the kana that you have just learned that are not in your vocabulary list. You get lots & lots of writing practice. There's even "blank" practice pages that you can copy & get more writing practice. The grammar is presented so that it's not overwhelming and make you think "oh my god I can't do this".. the lessons are short & not bogged down with stuff that you don't r

I went through the same lessons in this book on YesJapan.com a couple of years ago. I also used Pimsleur for speaking practice and Unforgettable Languages for vocab practice. By far, the YesJapan lessons tied everything together and prepared me best for my month long visit to Japan. I recently purchased the books because they are a great portable way of reviewing the lessons. If you are serious about learning Japanese, the progressive method of learning the written language is the way to go. That's partly what makes the lessons in this book so valuable. Trust me, I tried to use Romaji at first but found that being able to read Hiragana and Katakana made pronunciation easier and more authentic (not to mention more fun...really). The YesJapan website offers (for a fee) the lessons in an interactive format which includes pronunciations for all the words, sentences, and conversations. Plus they have tons of extra help such as games, flashcards, chats, forums, etc... If possible I would recommend using the book and website together, at least to get started. Try to do a little bit everyday. I disagree with the reviewers who are hung up on the book not being grammatical enough or the fact that the author is a translator. Learning by grammar rules and boring memorization is the reason most people can take four years of high school foreign language and graduate not knowing how to have a basic conversation. Besides, the book offers the grammar that is truly needed. And I give big props to anyone who can fluently translate a language, especially in a corporate business meeting. If you watch any of the videos on YesJapan you'll find George to be a little crazy at times, but there is no doubt that he knows his stuff and is passionate about teaching Japanese. As in most things in life, what you get out of the lessons has most to do with your own determination.

I, personally, am very fond of the Japanese language. I took two years of the language at two community colleges and tried new approaches(as well as new books) to improve my Japanese. I purchased the series of books (Japanese from Zero! 1,2,3) and was satisfied with the purchase. I discovered that these books covers the same information that I had learned in my community college classes. It updates on the Japanese culture, and the books also give answers to the questions that are answered in each chapter.If you want to learn Japanese the right way, whether you are age 12 or 32, buy the Japanese from Zero! Series and you won't be disappointed.

I've bought all three books from the series " Japanese from Zero " and all i can say is that if you're serious about learning japanese, that's a really friendly and motivating approach to the language basics. None of the boring vocabulary that may be found in some manuals like Minna no Nihongo where you learn how to say " I want to send this package to australia with 2 stamps, how much will the taxes be ? " before even knowing how to express your opinion... In "japanese from zero", all of the grammatical points and vocabulary are nicely selected and ordered, plus the activities don't make you run away everytime you open the book... they're quite entertaining and can be quite challenging at times. Also as opposed to Minna no nihongo, when you learn a new verb, they tell you HOW TO USE IT... i was clueless at times how and when i was supposed to use a verb over the other ( Kaeru VS Modoru in mind...)in these books, everything is clearly explained without using all these hellish grammatical terms you can find in other manuals... All in all, what you have here is a wonderful tool for complete beginners... the road to fluency is a long one, consider this book as the meaningful first step. ( PS : Thanks to all of the YesJapan team members for all their work and their positive attitude. )

I've always wanted to learn Japanese, and now this dream has finally been realized by this wonderful book! The book starts from the very basic of Japanese grammar and starts building on it without making me feel overwhelmed. And that's saying something as usually I suck at grammar. It also teaches hiragana bit by bit, reviewing the ones learned before in later chapters. As bad as my memory was, I was still able to remember the old stuff while learning the new. I personally find it easier if you skimmed over the next chapter a day before you actually do it, kind of like how you preview the material before going to class. One thing about this though is there's no cd to learn proper enunciation. So instead, I try to learn by watching Japanese drama and catching vocabularies and phrases I learned in their dialogs. Overall, excellent book!!