Japanese from Zero!

Es más grande de lo que imaginaba, y vino en perfecto estado

Studio giapponese da autodidatta da un paio di anni ormai, ho provato diversi libri (italiani e non) e stavo quasi per mollare perché non riuscivo ad apprendere bene i concetti, trovavo le spiegazioni molto complicate e incomplete e mi stavo scoraggiando, quando un giorno per caso ho trovato il primo volume di questo libro. Ho deciso di acquistarlo e dargli una possibilità e devo dire che sono felice di averlo fatto perché questo libro è assolutamente il migliore su cui io abbia mai studiato. Se non lo avessi acquistato probabilmente ora avrei mollato questa passione per la lingua giapponese. Nonostante sia in inglese è comprensibilissimo e le spiegazioni sono fatte molto bene, a differenza di molti altri libri di testo che spiegano le cose in modo un po' approssimativo lasciando mille dubbi allo studente. L'ho trovato talmente prezioso che ho acquistato tutti i volumi di questa serie e se state iniziando a studiare questa lingua partendo davvero da zero ve lo consiglio vivamente! L'ho trovato interessante, piacevole e ricco di nozioni.

This entire series of books has been invaluable in my goal of learning Japanese despite having little interaction with native speakers of the language. Its greatest strength is the many, many examples of sentences for each grammatical point. Sure, one can memorize rules, but you need examples on top of examples to get a feel for the language, especially on things like the ga/wa distinction and sentence-ending particles, which are second nature to someone for whom Japanese is their first language but are tough for English speakers because our language has no equivalents. Repetition and examples are also plentiful for the kanji characters -- by the end of this book you will be able to write 160 kanji and should recognize quite a few more when used in common words. The only caveat I have, which gets worse as you go along in the series and the grammar gets more sophisticated, is that it doesn't explain the logic underlying grammar rules. It took me a long time to realize that the fact some verbs could take an object with a "wo" particle while others only the subject "ga" particle or a target with the "ni" particle was not arbitrary but based on whether the verb was transitive or intransitive (there seem to be are a lot more of the latter in Japanese than in English). These books don't even use the term intransitive if I recall correctly. Similarly, the student would be better served if the book used more literal translations, like in Tae Kim's guide. Getting from the Japanese sentence to the English translation shown in the book can be a head-scratcher sometimes. This is particularly true, and this has become more of a problem in book 4, where the sentence requires understanding a grammar point that the series hasn't covered yet! For example, many Japanese particles do double-, triple -, quadruple duty, meaning different things in different clauses or in combination with other particles. Sometimes a sentence in the book, though, will use a particle you've learned but in a way you haven't learned. Many times I've had to consult the book Essential Japanese Grammar to figure out something that this book is neglecting to tell me. Without another grammar book (and a dictionary) I suspect I would be quite frustrated at times. A grammar reference book is also needed because the format of this book, which is meant to be user-friendly to a student (a younger person than me, I'm assuming), makes it inconvenient as a reference work. Despite all this carping, I can't give it less than 5 stars, simply because the sheer volume of material presented at a nice pace makes this series the primary resource for a beginner like myself.

Based on the previous books, there is no doubt in my mind that this will be golden

Book 4 continues teaching new grammar concepts, gives new vocabulary and continues kanji. Everything here is great stuff which is really handy to start applying to your Japanese skills and as with all of George's books the pace is great and keeps the learner engaged and wanting to keep going and not giving up halfway through a book due to constant boring lessons (i'm sure most people have come across at least one book like that right?) so highly recommend this book if you've finished with parts 1, 2 and 3. Also one thing I will add about the Japanese From Zero series is that there are some very fun and amusing example sentences and conversations for you to translate and whatnot in there which is a great touch. Look forward to the next Japanese from Zero book, part 5! Whenever it gets finished. ;)