This best-selling Japanese textbook is a user-friendly guide for beginners designed for use in a classroom or for self-study. It adopts a very different approach from other Japanese language books teaching you the underlying sentence structures and patterns of Japanese along with key vocabulary and phrases so you can attain basic fluency quickly. The emphasis is on acquiring a working knowledge of simple, everyday Japanese sentences.

Colorful illustrations and simple labels make learning Japanese fun. From the basics to cool phrases, this book will give you lots to talk about! - Publisher.

Pairing words and characters with whimsical illustrations, each section features examples of word pronunciation, the three main Japanese writing systems (kanji, hiragana, and katakana), and common Japanese elements.

This handy book teaches you a new mnemonics-based method to read and write the 430 highest-frequency kanji characters. The accompanying CD-ROM includes an interactive game, printable flash cards, and native-speaker audio recordings of all 430 kanji and their related vocabulary.

Traditional Japanese verses depicting the natural world and the many tiny moments that make childhood special, such as blowing bubbles, escaping the rain, rolling an acorn, and flying a kite. Presented in Japanese script, Japanese romanized form, and English.

Simple text paired with themed photos invite the reader to learn to speak Japanese.

This fast and easy language guide features: clear and straightforward explanations of Japanese grammar fundamentals; numerous examples of simple and complex sentence structures; Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji with phonetic transliterations for all Japanese words; helpful writing and speaking exercises that bring the Japanese language to life; coverage of everyday topics as well as conversational expressions; quizzes at the end of each chapter...

Learn to speak Japanese—the fast and easy way

Japanese is the gateway to the rich culture of the exciting andcomplex island nation of Japan. Some people get intimidated by theprospect of speaking Japanese—worried that it's just toocomplex and different—but these fears are unfounded. Whileyou can devote a lifetime to the study of this or any language,picking up the basics of Japanese doesn't require any more than aninterest

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After living her whole life in the city, 27-year-old Taeko decides to visit her relatives in the countryside. As she travels, memories of her youth resurface. And after meeting young farmer Toshio, she wonders if she's been true to the dreams of her childhood self.