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.
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AMAZING BOOK BUT THERES A TYPO
i love this book and the book series so much!! georgeee in the next revision of book 4, page 298 has a typo and put ankle twice, then another verb not relevant to the kanji learning. thank you for the books though, theyre amazing!!
Top reviews from other countries
CompactCassette (Piyush)
Awesome book! Could have been better (kindle)
Reviewed in India on October 12, 2022Ramon carmona
Te lleva de la mano sin darte cuenta
Reviewed in Mexico on September 22, 2020