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| Japanese in Mangaland: Basic Japanese Course Using Manga | 
| List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $14.31
You Save: $9.69 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $12.08
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 30 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10762
Category: Book
Author: Marc Bernabe
Publisher: Japan Publications Trading
Studio: Japan Publications Trading
Manufacturer: Japan Publications Trading
Label: Japan Publications Trading
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Turtleback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.8 x 0.3
ISBN: 4889961151
Dewey Decimal Number: 495
EAN: 9784889961157
ASIN: 4889961151
Publication Date: March 12, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Love anime? Want to learn Japanese? Look no further. May 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Hi,
I don't usually write reviews too often unless I feel the need to let someone know whether or not they're about to make a purchasing mistake.
This review is mostly going to be tailored to people (like myself) who are obsessed with anime and dream that, one day, they too will be able to watch an anime without subtitles and understand everything, among other things.
With that in mind, this book is by far THE best beginners' Japanese course I have ever found. I have purchased many of the popular titles you may have already heard of... (ex: Japanese for Busy People) and I was so frustrated at myself for never sticking past the first chapter... blaming myself for my lack of discipline. Now it is no longer a mystery to me--it wasn't my fault! These books are extremely dull and boring to anime fans. "Where is the train station? Thank you, Tanaka-san, for the rice. Would you like to sit down? Okay. Nice to meet you. Thank you very much! What time does your train leave? etc etc..." Not only that, but you never learn anything interesting / in style, and you are pretty much reduced to learning "Watashi and Anata" as the only way to address I and you, respectively. Jeez, what were they thinking? Doing that completely takes the fun out of Japanese learning and gives me the mistaken impression my hopes of Japanese as a cool language were simply pipe-dreams.
This book takes care of all that. You will learn how to say "You bastard!!!" like you hear so often in Anime. You will see examples of beautiful anime girls asking if they can bathe with guys they like. You will so cute cartoons express themselves in silly ways. But that's not all! It is a beginner's book too, so you will learn how to say days of the week, calendar days, seasons, how to count and the different systems, etc... all the critical stuff. Even a few swear words! You will learn how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana right off the bat (you do not need to purchase anything else for this either, as it is all succinctly explained in 2 chapters, even stroke order.. etc).
You also may be wondering how they teach this information. 1. Charts. 2. Explanations... and 3... Real manga examples! What better way to learn casual day to day conversation-style that's so apparent in Anime and everyday life? I can't think of a better way. I really don't want to learn Japanese from a hoity-toity course and speak like those geeks wearing lawyer outfits you see around town with their "the Queen's" Japanese. No, none of that, though you will be able to speak like that if you choose to. To illustrate, I was even saying some of the things in this book to Japanese waitresses with excited and happy results, such as: "You speak exactly like a Japanese man!!! Oh my God! Where did you learn?". Nowhere, no formal education, just many hours of anime, this course, and a sincere desire to be able to speak it fluently.
There is one complaint about the book... (another reviewer was correct in pointing this out). There is no stroke order to draw / write the kanji. I do find this quite irritating, as I'd like to go along with the book and learn these simple kanji without developing bad habits. (hence the 4-star rating). Thankfully though, all hope is not lost, and it's not that big of a deal. Get Heisig's Remembering the Kanji set which will teach you 2042 Kanji and their readings, stroke order, etc etc. Book 3 of 3 has another thousand or so).
In conclusion, if you love Anime / manga, and haven't purchased any other books looking for a beginner's Japanese course to do on your own, then this it. Look no further. I am extremely grateful to the author for deciding to use this radical yet effective method of teaching me Japanese.
Thank you.
 Enjoyable find January 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My daughter bought this and is learning Japanese faster than when she was getting books from the library. I am impressed. I may spring to pay for the next one.
Good for the interested January 3, 2008
This book made me realize how hard Japanese really is. Its a great book for the interested but don't think that your going know Japanese after just reading this. Combine with the Japanese in MangaLand: Workbook 1 for effective learning. I only got this to familiarize myself of what I'm getting into when I take Japanese in the coming semester at school.
Worth the purchase but... December 22, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been studying Japanese for 5 months. I've worked through, "Japanese for Busy People" the Romanji version. It will take about 10-12 years of daily study to be able to read Japanese if not write it..even if you go through this entire series you won't be able to pick up seinen manga and read it with out more vocabulary and kanji memorization. Even shounen with furigana will be difficult.
However this series is a great way to introduce ones self to the Manga style of writing.
One thing I have noticed is that my other dictionaries and source books on verbs list type 1 verbs as the "u" dropping variable verbs, while this book lists type one verbs (it refers to them as group 1) as the "ru" dropping invariable verbs.
I'm far from being an expert on written Japanese grammar, however I was confused at first with this (I'm working my way through several books and dictionaries from cover to cover simultaneously).
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Thank you,
Michael
Finally a course that focuses on the written word October 3, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This series is the best I've found after floundering off and on for years. I am a visual learner and the best way to learn for me is to read, but reading Japanese has always been presented as something difficult and fearful. Traditional courses put it off as long as possible and you are always taught "polite" language first. However, most of us who want to learn the language are used to hearing the extremely colloquial language found in our favorite anime and/or reading manga. This course, focused as it is on manga reading, does just the opposite. Polite language is not ignored, but colloquialisms that would only be taught to advanced students elsewhere are brought up right from the first.
More importantly, this course hits reading head on from the first page. While it's true that they hang on to romaji throughout the first book, it is eliminated in the two that follow. As the author warns in the preface to Vol. 2, it's time to strap on a headband and get to work after you've made it through the introductory first volume.
I've now finished the second volume and have begun tackling the third in preparation for the JLPT in December. The author claims that you should be ready for the level 3 after Vol. 3, and I intend to put that to the test...literally.
Frankly, I would like to see this series repackaged for college use with more workbooks like that accompanying the first volume (and the answers only found in the teacher's edition!). This series is that good (even with the occasional typos and the one "hacer" they forgot to take out...remember that it was translated from Spanish) and most college course books that I've seen are that BAD. (Don't even get me started on the dense, dry style and confusing romaji in "Japanese: The Spoken Language". It's horrible, and is yet one of the more commonly used series. *sigh*)
The format changes slightly after the first volume, with in depth work with those evil particles and verb conjugations. But to get to the heavy hitting work, you first must make it through the first volume.
My suggestion is to buy all 3 and the workbook for volume one and give yourself the goal of passing the level 3 JLPT (there are 4 levels with 4 being the easiest and 1 the hardest). With a definite goal and a once a year testing schedule with a definite date that YOU have no control over, it's much easier to buckle down and study.
It's working well for me, anyway. I've already noticed myself automatically reading the signs in pictures I took on vacation in Japan a few years ago..and not just the ones in English or kana!
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