しあわせ

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.

Naoko Chino (Kondansha International)

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

Naoko Chino, (Kondansha International)

Another small book by Naoka Chino.

This one gives formulae for sentence construction. At its most simple this is Noun1 は Noun2 です。Noun1 is Noun2. Insert your own nouns and make lots of sentences. As there are 50 patterns some of them can get fairly complicated. But usage is explained, variations are pointed out and lots of examples are given, of polite and informal speech and of male and female speech.

I don’t really think about how my sentences are structured in English, they just happen. Usually they sound ok and I hope they make sense but I’ve had years of practice. I think I’d find it hard to parse them. (Even then I’d probably rely more on the Latin and French I know). Japanese sentences are different (and new to me) so it’s very useful to have such clear examples of how to construct them specifically made so that I can reuse them to say what I want.

Naoko Chino, (Kondansha International)

This is a small book describing 69 different particles.

The entries are roughly in order of how frequent they appear in speech and are loosely grouped by usage. Each entry lists the different usages of a particle and gives clear examples. Different usage by men and women is also given.

As verbs, nouns and adjectives are relatively straightforward perhaps particles (and counters) are the difficult part of Japanese that requires study. They usually aren’t listed in dictionaries in a way that will help you use them. For example my starter dictionary has 2 pages of a quick overview of 17 particles with no examples. よ is given as adding emphasis to a statement. Compare that to the 4 usages and 8 examples of a page and a half in this book.

by AJTS

THE textbook. Its probably best to bite the bullet and get the kana version from the start.
Recently, AJTS has revised this series of textbooks, so it’s best to look for the 3rd edition. They now integrate more workbook content and come with a CD of all the dialogues. The structure of the course is also better with 4 chapters comprising a Unit based around a single theme.

My only complaint would be that Biji-san has gone and the drawings have lost a little of their humour as a result.