Nihongo Notes 5: Studying Japanese in Context

The whole Nihongo Notes series 1-10 are a great resource for anyone who is studying Japanese outside of the classroom. I can't count the number of times that something I had read in Nihongo Notes was put to use while I was in Japan. Whether it was a phrase that let me get my point across more naturally, or perhaps understanding someone using a word or phrase in a way that would be impossible to gather from its notation in a dictionary. Each "lesson" is straightforward and to the point. Long enough to not leave you hanging, but not so long that you get bored or frustrated. 70 examples of important usage, situational speech patterns, etc. are provided, as well as a useful index.I personally don't care for the method of using the double "oo" to indicate a lengthened vowel (I use macrons myself) Though this can be excused in this case because the authors don't neglect the use of kana and kanji. Romaji is fine, but kanji and kana are vital to fluency. Romaji should be a stepping stone, not a crutch.It looks like several volumes of this book may be out of print, but I don't think you would regret the extra effort it would take to track them all down. Hopefully the folks at the Japan Times will see fit to publish the entire series as a one-volume hardback reference book. I'd buy it in a second.