Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Hiragana) (English and Japanese Edition)

This book is for children. If you are just learning Japanese where do you think your skill level is at? Its at the level of a Japanese child learning Hiragana. A lot of Japanese children's books are written in Hiragana so this is where you start. This book is off the hook as being totally Japanese in illustration. If you know how to pronounce your Japanese vowels then this is book to use to begin learning to read and write. Remember this, with any natural process of language learning you first learn to speak and then to read. So, if you don't have any experience in speaking Japanese don't start with this book but I do recommend that you go ahead and buy it because you will want it in your "tool kit" eventually.

After hearing inumerable Japanese phrases and other assorted Asian utterances--most likely from the hours my 9-year old niece spends watching Samurai Jack and Avatar--I bought her two books in the Jimi's Book of Japanese series (this being the second) in an attempt to at least encourage her to further her foreign language efforts in a meaningful way. These books are great. After a brief period of time she's mastered both basic syllable sets of modern Japanese. I am happy to say I would recommend both books to anyone who is looking to motivate their kids/relatives to expand their intellectual horizons. JIMI'S BOOK OF JAPANESE: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) by Peter X. Takahashi, illus. by Yumie Toka, (Takahashi & Black, ISBN 0972324720 16.95, 76pp.)

Gotta say, I bought it for the monkey! The book is fun, and easy to learn from. From other reviews, I was under the impression that I would learn to "speak" Japanese better...not so much - but that's not the book's fault! I love the applications at the bottoms of every page, and at the end of the book. The numbers detailing how to write are impressive. It's a fun and simple way to start learning Japanese. Get it!

Grade 3-6? This book's age range should be from 2 to 100. I am not kidding. This book is made for a kid but intelligent enough for an adult. "Jimi's Book of Japanese" is simply unbelievable. I wouldn't normally take the time to write a glowing review about a book I purchased on a whim, however, this book is far more than I ever expected. In fact, this book's unique "Triple Bubble Learning System" is intuitive in its approach and creative in its execution--simply brilliant. This is the only book I've found that includes reading, writing, and pronunciation in a uniform manner--completely intuitive approach that works effectively. This system allowed me as an adult to grasp Japanese kana much more quickly than I normally would. Just the other day, I showed this book to my Japanese Sensei and even she remarked how "motivating" the books content is. Yes, in this case the marketing spin is really true: "Jimi's Book of Japanese" IS a "Motivating Method to Learn Japanese"

Grade 3-6? This book's age range should be from 2 to 100. I am not kidding. This book is made for a kid but intelligent enough for an adult. "Jimi's Book of Japanese" is simply unbelievable. I wouldn't normally take the time to write a glowing review about a book I purchased on a whim, however, this book is far more than I ever expected. In fact, this book's unique "Triple Bubble Learning System" is intuitive in its approach and creative in its execution--simply brilliant. This is the only book I've found that includes reading, writing, and pronunciation in a uniformed manner. This allowed me as an adult to grasp Japanese kana much more quickly than I normally would. Just the other day, I showed this book to my Japanese Sensei and even she remarked how "motivating" the books content is. Yes, in this case the marketing spin is really true: "Jimi's Book of Japanese" IS a "Motivating Method to Learn Japanese"