| Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2 (Yale Language Series) | 
| List Price: $36.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 12 reviews)
Sales Rank: 251855
Category: Book
Author: Eleanor Harz Jorden
Publisher: Yale University Press
Studio: Yale University Press
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
Label: Yale University Press
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 371
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7 x 0.9
ISBN: 0300041888
Dewey Decimal Number: 495.683421
EAN: 9780300041880
ASIN: 0300041888
Publication Date: May 25, 1988
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Excellent Textbook August 4, 2008
I've found this book to be extremely helpful to learn the spoken part of the Japanese language, but only because I've been using it as a textbook in college. The book provides good explanations and everything in the book is taught in a very logical order, but you do need to use it with the supplemental audio tapes in order to really learn. Another important thing is that you should be trying to learn the written part of Japanese using other resources (such as the "Japanese, The Written Language" book) since this book is all printed in romanization and doesn't use any Japanese characters.
The layout of each unit is the same. Each book of the series has 12 Lessons, and each lesson is divided in two parts that include core conversations, vocabulary breakdowns, and practice drills. To really master each lesson you need to memorize the 'core conversations', which are short conversations that can easily occur between two people in Japan. After the core conversations in each part there is a breakdown of all the new vocabulary used (assuming you've learned all the vocabulary from all the previous lessons, including book 1) and the translations to English. The books then includes drills for you to practice answering and speaking Japanese out loud. The audio tapes are very important for this part. At the end of each lesson, there's an eavesdropping section, a utilization section, and a check-up section. These are the three sections you'll use to determine if you really mastered the lesson.
In eavesdropping you'll listen to conversations in Japanese and answer a few questions about what was said. In the utilization section you'll be asked to say certain things in Japanese given a specific circumstance. The check-up section is the one that helps you see if you've really learned the material in-depth and can talk about the Japanese language in general, and not just do the drills.
This book series is the one being used as textbooks for the Japanese classes at MIT, and usually lessons are taught at a rate of one part per week (i.e. one full lesson in two weeks) and, to ensure students are learning, the classes are very interactive and students speak only Japanese in three out of 4 weekly classes.
If you're studying Japanese on you're own I suggest you only use this book in a similar way, making yourself practice constantly and memorize the core conversations and vocabulary. It's the only way you'll really learn things the right way. And definitely buy a kana/kanji book so you can also learn the Japanese writing system while learning to speak it.
 Worst Japanese Textbook January 8, 2008
I was in a class using this book. It was awful. The romanization was useless in teaching proper pronunciation, and also made it difficult to read. Despite having "drill sessions" in the class, my classmates struggled with pronunciation because of this textbook.
I finally chose to wait until a better class, and a better book, came along. I have been in a class where they used a different textbook, and that was far more productive because of it.
Save your money.
Required textbook December 7, 2007
This is the book I needed for my third year of Japanese. I like the way it is set up and how it encourages practical language use. It may be a little difficult for someone who wants to learn outside of a classroom.
Absolutely Horrid March 17, 2006
I don't know where to begin... I came from a high school where we used the Genki Text and went off to college to be placed in a class below my level which used this text book. This text is horrifying, first off the romanization of the Japanese words is just plain peculiar and they don't even use the kana or kanji in this text (how you learn to read Japanese through this method I do not know). The method through which they present the material is awful as well. I have this monstrosity because I'm in a class that it's a required text for, but if you have a choice I recommend the Genki test from The Japan Times.
 Disappointing October 8, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I can't say that I'm overly impressed with this textbook. If I weren't a Japanese major and didn't need to take the class that requires this book, I'd probably have thrown it away long before now. The use of romaji throughout the entire book is very annoying and the way the grammar points are set up doesn't make them memorable at all. I've been in Japanese 201 since late August and have yet to learn anything new. I previously took 101 and 102 using the Yookoso textbook, which I thought was wonderful and I miss it dearly.
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