Nakama 2: Japanese Communication, Culture, Context

I recently finished the intensive intermediate course at Harvard--another summer of boot camp--and this was the text for the first 2/3 of the course. I think that it is a very good text, and along with the lab manual and CDs, the Nakama system is extremely effective. There is also a great website, "Friends of Nakama," which should be very helpful to anyone using these texts. There you'll find lots of good quizzes for vocabulary and kanji. Unfortunately, my instructors seemed to dislike kanji immensely--kanji were never discussed as a topic in their own right, in spite of their evident interest to gringos like me who have been drawn to a study of Japanese BECAUSE of kanji (among other things). One Chinese student in the class hypothesized that the Japanese hate kanji because they are kanji, i.e., Chinese characters. But, I digress. The important point here is that Nakama DOES discuss kanji in historical and linguistic context, and that, in my opinion, is a very good thing.

Nakama is a great tool for students who are begining their Japanese Languages study. Nakama 2 is the continuation of Nakama 1, and continues the emphasis on situational Japanese. The grammar targets are useful and informative. Learning "nakereba naranai" (have to) form IS a different concept from "-ba" (if) form. Thankfully, the text presents a practical approach to structure and not an overly "rules" based approach.