しあわせ

あなたの弱点がわかる!日本語能力試験3級模試×2
(Unicom)

This book has 2 mock exam papers for JLPT level 3. Complete with sheets for you to mark answers on by filling in boxes just like the actual test and a CD for the listening portion.

Where it is better than the official past exam papers you can buy is the extras.

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Judging by the title, A Day in the Life — University Student, this could be the first in a series of “Day in the Life” titles from JapanesePod101.
This is a slightly new departure for jPod101. Previously their method of raising revenue has been through subscriptions alone but recently they’ve opened a webstore and are now selling courses for a one off fee.

This 14Mb downloadable course consists of 8 MP3 audio tracks and an e-book of accompaning transcriptions, translations and notes. The audio is 28 minutes in total and is essentially a radio drama in Japanese. There are no explanations on the audio. All Japanese conversations all the time. The audio quality is excellent and the voices are quite clear. The main actor will be familiar to anyone going to JapanesePod101 on a regular basis. It’s Kuze Miki san of Miki’s blog fame. And Miki-san also wrote the script for this program.

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The revised 3rd edition.

AJALT are slowly revising their series of textbooks. The 3rd edition is a major revision.
The revisions are completely modernising the texts that now have a slightly better flow based around practical topics such as shopping, and have a much clearer layout. Another large change is that there will no longer be romaji editions of level 2 and 3. (And I would encourge everyone to start using kana from the beginning; it’s really not that difficult.)
Unfortunatly Biji-san has gone and so has the gentle humour in the workbooks. I wish they could have kept him.

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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.