Japanese for Busy People Kana Workbook: Revised 3rd Edition Incl. 1 CD Paperback – Box set, 9 Mar. 2007

I started to learn Japanese on a part-time evening course, which used the Kana version of "Japanese for Busy People" as a set text. The tutor therefore had us begin by learning the Hiragana and Katakana.Because of that prior learning I was sceptical about this book, imagining it would be a pile of blank practice grids with a cover around it, which frankly I could have made myself. But I was wrong.The Kana Workbook is actually very well planned out. It starts with a comprehensive explanation of the sound system behind the kana, and includes a lot of information which I did not learn even with the benefit of a tutor who was herself Japanese. It goes on to build up information on different kinds of syllables, vowels, consonants, sound combinations, and so on. Well thought out exercises and CD recordings back up the text and reinforce learning throughout.I recommend this book for anyone who is just starting out with Japanese, because it is widely considered to be faster and more effective to cut out the romaji middle man and learn to read kana right from the start.I would also recommend this book for anyone who has had an elementary introduction to the language, and wishes to ensure that they have a firm grip on the basics before moving on to Kanji and more complex grammar.

This kana workbook demonstrates the general shape that each kana should be within its box as well as the stroke order and so on. The use of a range of simple words to practice reading and writing kana keeps things interesting and broadens one's general vocabulary, and the accompanying CD is a great aid to this (I find that listening to the pronunciation of various words and kana aids my familiarity with them, as each character is representative of one sound).Further writing practice is, of course, required if greater writing facility is desired, as practice makes perfect - but for familiarity of reading and ability to write legible, well-formed kana this is an excellent workbook.

got this to help with a business funded Japanese language course, nice and simple approach to teaching you to read and write without overly worrying about what any of the words actually mean - but the few phrases are ones that will be useful. Several quiz pages with a cartoonish drawing and kana to decode - only flaw is a lot of the "mini quiz" pages have the answers at the bottom of the page, would be better to have them over the page and out of sight. minor problem though.Nice introduction to hirigana and katakana, with hirigana covered first, get this, get a pencil and get a pad of paper and practice the characters in sets of five until they sink in, repetitive but seems to work.This won't teach anything other than the characters, but it doesn't set out to do anything else, follows the approach of do one thing and do it well

Been going through lessons with this book, it helps so much to catch up with all the symbols that you need to learn!In the space of 10 weeks as a busy person that can put in an hour a day for half of the week I've made amazing progress learning all the symbols and reading them! Definately should be paired up with the lesson book for further productivity!

Bought this for my Japanese course. Really good layout, easy to use and follow. Free CD included.

Only just started using it but it seems to be a very comprehensive slow book that builds up your knowledge of kana piece by piece

Very very helpful I’m actually using it a lot

This helped me a lot learning hiragana and katakana. Use this first and then proceed with the exercise/grammar book.Good overview of all symbols and writing practice as well as reading. CD helpes to get the pronunciation right.

mi mujer se quedo muy contenta

Die AJALT Bücher sind die Besten die man kaufen kann. Dieses Buch ist nicht unbedingt Pflicht aber es hilft beim Einstieg.

Economico, compatto, chiaro.Per utilizzare questo manualetto sulle scritture Hiragana e Katakana, occorre conoscere un po' d'inglese, ma questo vale per tutti i testi per l'apprendimento del giapponese, che siano validi o meno.A differenza di Let's Learn Hiragana: First Book of Basic Japanese Writing non spiega i tre modi diversi in cui la penna può tracciare i kana (tome, hane e harai) e questo è un difetto. In compenso, diversamente da quello, suddivide il quadrato di scrittura in sezioni geometriche, dando così un'idea esatta delle proporzioni che deve avere il carattere.Ci sono diversi esercizi di lettura, ma è ovvio che nessuno potrà mai imparare veramente i kana senza scrivere e riscrivere ogni carattere con attenzione dozzine di volte (online si trovano fogli appositi per la scrittura giapponese).Il testo si sofferma anche sulla pronuncia, facendo ovviamente riferimento ai suoni dell'anglo-americano; più che cercare di capire le spiegazioni scritte è meglio servirsi dell'utile CD allegato che è ben strutturato e molto facile da usare.Questo volume è utilizzabile in maniera del tutto indipendente dagli altri volumi del corso di cui fa parte. Let's Learn Hiragana: First Book of Basic Japanese Writing

Japanese for Busy People is an ever famous book series for learners of Japanese language. It's a must have for new learners of Japanese language.

First, I thought that this is the workbook to accompany the book  Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1) . I was mistaken, as this workbook does not accompany the lessons of that book but prepares the student for that book by teaching the Kana. Unfortunately, there is no Kana variant to the first volume, you need to use the same one that was prepared to the romanized version ( Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook; includes CD (Bk. 1) ). That was the bad news. The good news is that the few pages of picture dictionary that gives the words of some Japanese food and a Japanese room are a treasure because all the picture dictionaries I have come across so far are not Japan-specific but have images and therefore the words of western culture only, which may be useful for a Japanese tourist or a Japanese immigrant to the US or Europe but not to the student who wants to get familiar with Japanese culture as well as the language.As I bought this book after I had learnt reading and writing the Kana, I cannot tell if it gives an effective way of learning them. What I can say for sure, however, is that it gives a good reference when I grow uncertain how to draw a hiragana or katakana nicely. Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version includes CD (Bk. 1)Japanese for Busy People I: Workbook; includes CD (Bk. 1)