Japanese the Manga Way: An Illustrated Guide to Grammar and Structure

Since there weren't any actual reviews of this book, I thought I'd contribute one. First, I'm a long-time student of Japanese, having studied to some degree of seriousness, for 15 years. I have enough grammar,vocabulary and text books for any three people. Having said that, this book actually stands out in some ways from all the rest. At first it seems like many other solid grammar books, covering things like how to express: "If/when," "should/must do," etc etc. but what sets this apart from all those other books is it is focused on CONVERSATIONAL Japanese. If you are new to Japanese, let me save you a LOT of time and heartache by telling you that the Japanese you learn in books is rarely how it is actually spoken in casual conversation. Don't let the fact that this is a manga-type book fool you. The information here is very relevant and very accurate. Speaking the kind of Japanese in your textbooks is perfectly fine, and your Japanese friends will understand you. But if you want to understand THEM, you'll need this kind of information. You won't be disappointed. Highly recommended.

This is quite possibly the best language textbook I've encountered so far. Language textbooks use to have this little problem: they are quite boring. Mr. Smith at the airport; Mr. Smith at a restaurant; Mr. Smith shopping. Not this one: Japanese the Manga Way is fun to read. Who would've thought that language textbooks could be fun? Its format is quite unique: there aren't long grammatical explanations, and almost all the examples are taken from manga. A lesson begins with some explanation, then a panel from some manga, followed by its translation and notes explaining new or unusual grammatical constructs found in it. Other books use manga panels as examples, so what's new here? Two things: first, the author explains the context in the story for every panel, so that the reader can follow the chain of events and understand what the characters are saying; and second, the book is organized so that examples only rarely use language constructs that weren't explained yet. Furthermore, there are a lot more examples than in similar books, as the whole exposition is guided by them. This is all very good and dandy, especially if you want to learn to read manga, but it's important to be aware that the book is "an illustrated guide to grammar and structure" as it says on the title, so it's not a complete japanese course. It doesn't present any method to help learning the japanese writing system (kana or kanji), only kana charts at the beginning. Also, it obviously won't help with the spoken language. But within its own objectives, it's a very good book. A basic japanese course for self-study could be organized like this: first, learn kana & kanji; my recommendations are Heisig's books Remembering the Kana: The Hiragana / The Katakana and Remembering the Kanji: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters. Then read this book to get a general feeling for the language; you won't of course be able to memorize all the details given in the notes, but you should get an idea how the language works. You should get a good dictionary too. Then the real learning begins with practice: read lots of manga, watch anime and movies (or TV), listen to japanese music, immerse yourself in the language and culture. And keep Lammers' book nearby; as you read manga you'll encounter many constructs covered in the book, so you can get back there and re-read the notes. With practice, it all gets internalized in your language skills. And forget about other japanese books that teach through manga: I have the Japanese in Mangaland series, and while it's not that bad, it's not nearly as good as this one. I wish there were more language textbooks like this one, for other languages besides japanese.

I own a fair number of Japanese teaching books, but Japanese the Manga Way is easily the best of the bunch. It covers pretty much all of the grammar that you need to know in a format that doesn't get overly analytical. It does not, however, cover the kana and kanji except in passing, so you'll still need to pick up other books for that. Also, thanks to its well formatted index, I can easily use for a reference guide, unlike many books where you have to remember what chapter talked about such-and-such verb ending. And unlike the Japanese in Mangaland series (which uses its own manga), this book uses actual manga series from Japan, a nice touch. Don't expect these manga to be like the fantasy manga we get imported though; these tend to deal with normal, Japanese, daily life. Highly recommended for the beginner that's had about a month's worth of practice.

"Please, if possible, inform Wayne P. Lammers that his book "Japanese The Manga Way" is ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. With no exaggeration whatsoever, it's easily the best practical language book I've seen in my life (and I've seen a lot). I'd go on to say that it's even a model case for instructional books on ANY subject. He is extremely thorough, leaves NOTHING to confusion, no questions unanswered, and manages to convey the real meat of the subject concisely, rapidly, and very effectively. The entire presentation is virtually flawless (the only criticism I have is the cover/back cover design, which I think is pretty awful, but obviously not his fault; I know that authors rarely have control over cover design). This guy is a brilliant technical writer! Justin" (And the fact that someone as lazy as me BOTHERED to write to the published speaks volumes more... ;)

You've taken a class or two at school, you've learned kana and you've got a kanji dictionary so you're all set, right? Not so fast. If you've ever picked up a real Japanese comic (manga) you've probably realized that spoken Japanese is very different (and downright incomprehensible) from what you're learning in the textbook. Well, this book is what you need. Forget "Japanes in Mangaland" and all the other cutesy manga related Japanese titles. They're just basic Japanese texts gussied up with a few pretty pictures. This book uses real manga strips to illustrate key grammar points. The author also goes into detail with each panel so you get vocabulary and cultural references. And while the manga strips aren't the most current Shonen Jump, they are interesting. Bottom line: if you want to read manga, get this book. If you're doing Ok in Japanese but are still fuzzy on some of the casual, spoken constructions, get this book. I wish it had been around a few years ago when I first started learning Japanese and trying to decipher my manga.