The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook: 1800 Sentences for Everyday UseIncl. CD - Softcover

Nagamura, Kit Pancoast; Tsuchiya, Kyoko

4.25

16 ratings by Goodreads

9784770031006: The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook: 1800 Sentences for Everyday UseIncl. CD

Softcover

ISBN 10: 4770031009 ISBN 13: 9784770031006

Publisher: Kodansha USA, 2010

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The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook is an ambitious new phrasebook for students who want to improve their speaking and listening skills. The book features 1,800 expressions for daily use, in English and Japanese, with the Japanese presented in both native script and roman letters. Topics include basic greetings, self-introductions, talking about the weather, getting around, ordering at a restaurant, visiting a Japanese friend's home, special events (birthdays, funerals, weddings, baby's birth), and much, much more.

What sets this book apart from others is its focus on sentence-level utterances. Many phrasebooks present loads of useful vocabulary, but provide little or no guidance on how to use those words in actual sentences. The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook shows readers how Japanese sentences work. All the sentences are of the sort learners are likely to use in Japan, whether as students or professionals.

Throughout the book, key vocabulary is listed along the bottom of each page, allowing learners to build on what they already know. And there are notes and special columns on usage and communication strategies.

Best of all, the book comes with a free MP3 audio CD containing all the sentences read aloud, with feeling, in both English and Japanese, so that readers can casually listen on their iPods or in their cars.

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From the Back Cover:

No matter how long you’ve been studying the language, no matter how many words you’ve memorized, it seems you never stop wondering, How do I say X in Japanese?

The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook, the world’s first comprehensive book of colloquial Japanese phrases, was designed to answer that question. Going beyond the scope of standard phrasebooks for tourists, this compact volume presents all the expressions a student, businessperson, teacher, homemaker, or other professional will need—not only to get by in Japan but also to set up a life there and make Japanese friends.

The book contains 1800 sentences organized into 19 chapters, covering almost every situation a visitor to Japan is likely to encounter, from meeting people, shopping, and getting around, to finding a place to live, getting a job, and having kids. A chapter on social interaction teaches you how to initiate a chat, agree and disagree, and express your thoughts on matters of importance, while another, on feelings, guides you through the various ways of expressing emotion in Japanese. There is even a chapter on romance and sex, "The Private Zone," which introduces key phrases for hooking up and bedding down.

Included with the book is a free MP3 audio CD containing all the sentences read aloud—first in English, then in Japanese—by professional narrators and actors. Just download the files to your iPod or other MP3 player, and you’ve got Japanese on the go.

The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook—practical, insightful, and fun—will make getting on in Japanese easier than ever. Just look up what you want to say, and say it!

About the Author:

KIT PANCOAST NAGAMURA, a Tokyo resident since 1991, has a Ph.D. in literature and has won various teaching and writing awards. She works as a freelance writer and editor, and as an acquisitions editor at Kodansha Ltd. She has authored or coauthored three English-language phrase books for Japanese learners of English. She regularly writes for the Japan Times and other media outlets.

KYOKO TSUCHIYA was born in Nagoya, Japan, and graduated from the Tokyo University Faculty of Liberal Arts, where she majored in American studies. She is a professional translator. Among the works she has rendered into Japanese are Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Goleman), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Rebecca Wells), and The Yearling (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings).

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