Description:The aim of this book is to get you speaking practical Japanese in the shortest amount of time possible without neglecting the script. It focuses on teaching you to communicate well, will teach you to read katakana and hiragana, and will explain around 250 Kanji characters.
If you need to learn practical Japanese very quickly, say for a business visit or holiday, this is an ideal book to use.
Good reasons to use this book, in my opinion:
> the book is very easy to work with
> the grammar is clearly explained
> the kanji characters are explained and practiced in the chapters
> the exercises are many and varied
> at least two reading passages per chapter ( in script )
> it gets you learning hiragana and katakana gradually
> large vocabulary build-up: the glossary lists around 2800 words
> practical vocabulary for everyday use and conversation
> can be completed in 3 month's time
I think this book is especially practical for business-people, because:
> it includes alot of business terminology
> it avoids "college"-topics such as 'what is your major?'
My complaints about this book are:
> there are typo's here and there in the romanized script
> some parts of the grammar and some topics (like telling the time) was not explained adequately
> it can be argued that it places too much emphasis on business-terminology
Overall, this book does a very good job of teaching practical Japanese in a short amount of time and in a user-friendly manner.