Japanese Language Proficiency Test JLPT N3 Grammar (Nihongo Noryokushiken taisaku Nihongo so matome Paperback – March 1, 2010

This is a condensed study guide to the grammar points converted in JLPT N3. It introduces a grammar point, gives a few examples, and then provides a short review section to test your knowledge.This is meant for review. It’s not comprehensive enough to learn the grammar from. The English explanations are sparse at best. It’s to make sure you covered all the key points, to expose weaknesses, and to help guide you to what you should learn more about elsewhere.Given that is its intended purpose, it is excellent. I’d count this is an intermediate Japanese student’s must have book.

This is the correct version

I thought I could learn Japanese grammar with this book (since many people praise it so much); however, each grammar point (except a small handful) do not have explanations as to what it’s used for. The example sentences in Soumatome don’t say much about either. In fact, I had to use another book to learn N3 grammar, which is why I returned Soumatome for a refund.I learned more about N3 grammar with Speed Master than with Soumatome. Speed Master provides explanations in English, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean as to what the grammar implies and a quick guide on how to use it. It even provides about 2-4 example sentences each with translations of those example sentences (translations of the example sentences are at the back of the Speed Master books) and it comes with 3 Mock Exams near the end of the book.However, I still think Soumatome N3 grammar is a great choice to review before the JLPT exam. This book contains lots and lots of drills to practice. The drills in each page are easy to read and get straight to the point (that is, if you understand the grammar on that page). After a set of lessons, there is an overall review questions of the set of lessons. So you get many opportunities to test yourself and find which grammar you need to go over again. If you look up the word “総まとめ” (soumatome) in a Japanese dictionary (check out Nihongo Dictionary), it means “review” or “overall review”. Therefore I can conclude that Soumatome books were made to prepare you weeks before the exam and not to learn Japanese on your own.In conclusion, Soumatome books offer lots of practice questions, but if you really want to learn Japanese grammar, I highly recommend “ Speed Master” (日本語能力試験スピードマスター, copy and paste this Japanese text for your convenience if the search result don’t appear correctly on Amazon), as well as “Try JLPT” and “Shin Kanzen Master” books for N3.Note: Shin Kanzen Master N3 doesn’t have translations for the example sentences but it does explain in English and Mandarin Chinese (there are other versions like Vietnamese edition) as to what each grammar is used for. Despite this, the example sentences are easy to read and understand and they translate well in Google Translate. “Try JLPT” covers 3 areas: Listening, Reading, and Grammar, which I think is a great option if you want an alternative to regular textbooks. Definitely check out the sample pages online or see if you can get free returns if you change your mind.

This was extremely useful for practice, it provides several examples of every single grammar point and translates it into English, Korean and (I think) Mandarin Chinese. 5 Stars!

I love it.

The content is precise. However, you might need to use other resources to fully understand the grammar point.I think the price is too high (~$ 20 ) for what you can learn from this book.

This book goes through a great selection of intermediate-level Japanese grammar. The explanations are very sparse and the English translations are not great at catching the complex "feeling" behind Japanese (some things just don't translate directly in English - you need to "feel" them or have someone explain the feeling behind them - you have to be beyond Western thinking at this level, and trying to compare things to English), so please do not think of this book as a self-study! You really need to be meeting up with a native speaker and going over the lessons to get the full benefit. Also, I would only recommend this book to those who are extremely dedicated to learning the language, because if you are the type of individual that gets frustrated easily or has a hard time with languages, this book may not be for you. In addition, I would not believe the suggestion that you can finish this book in 6 weeks. Perhaps I am just lazy, but sometimes I have spent as much as a week on a day's lesson, while at other times I have sped through 3 lessons in one day. I think it really just depends on the difficulty of that day's particular lesson, so don't give up if you don't understand a concept immediately, and don't think that any one book will be a "teach-all". I regularly support my study with additional texts (such as A Guide to Japanese Grammar by Tae Kim, among many others), as well as weekly, almost daily study w/ native speakers. In conclusion, I like this book, but I have also wanted to throw it out the window in frustration a few times. However, it has definitely been doing the job of teaching me N3 grammar, to the point where I can start using it in sentences, better recalling vocabulary, and in short, has helped me accomplish my goal of learning the language. I recommend it, on the condition that you understand what you are getting yourself into, and are prepared to work hard.

The same thing as flashcards. You could just have random words on cards and study those and it's the same thing. Memory and nothing more.