しあわせ

John Millen (Tuttle Publishing)

またまた漢字の本。 Yet another kanji book. This book uses the 240 characters of the first two grades of the Japanese school system. each character is given half a page. Each entry includes a stroke diagram, onyomi and kunyomi, an explanation of how the character developed (although I’m not sure of some of the explanations), example sentences and example compounds. All kanji in examples have furigana. There are quizes and tests at regular intervals to test your progress.

Hiroko Fukuda (Kondansha International)

Another book in Kondansha’s series of grammer titles. This time it’s all about 擬音語　（ぎおんご）　and 擬態語　（ぎたいご）. These are those words like べろべろ　(a state of total inebriation) and たっぷり　(replete). This little book explains the system behind Japanese onomatopoeia; how い sound are light and お sounds are heavy for instance. Then the words are introduced through 11 conversations followed by a complete glossary and extra usuage examples and a quiz to check your progress. For day to day natural usuage this is one of the best books in the series. The only drawback I can see is you might want to overuse these expressions!

Taeko Kamiya (Kondansha International)

A sister title to Kamiya’s Handbook of Japanese Verbs. It takes a similar approach with adjectives and adverbs. Lots of examples. Very Useful.

Taeko Kamiya (Kodansha International)

This small book in Kodansha’s series of handbooks takes a more textbook approach. It systematically covers verb conjugations and usage. Each section also has a series of excercises so you can check your understanding.

R. Lampkin, (Contemporary Books)

This is an inexpensive book of 47 crosswords. 24 are Japanese to English and the remainder are English to Japanese. If you already have some vocabulary they are are a fun to revise and figure out new words by trying to fill in the blanks.

If you haven’t managed to master kana a romaji version is also available. One note though the book uses American spelling so it’s color not colour. etc.

Naoko Chino (Kondansha International)

Yet another title in Naoko Chino’s series. This is as clear and useful as the others.