Study Japanese: Introduction to Japanese: Introduction to Japanese

Author: Japan Foundation Japanese Language Center
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: "Japanese for Study Abroad—An Introduction to Japanese" is written for foreigners starting to learn Japanese from the basics. Although this book is designed for Japanese learners outside of Japan, it also considers Japanese learners within Japan, allowing them to make full use of the book through different learning methods. The purpose of this book is to help learners further master basic Japanese grammar after learning basic pronunciation and kana, or while learning them simultaneously. The book primarily aims to enable readers to learn and master the four fundamental skills of "listening, speaking, reading, and writing" in stages. It is recommended to first practice orally and then proceed with reading and writing exercises to reinforce learning. The estimated study time for this book is approximately 300 hours. After completing this book, it is hoped that learners will continue practicing oral and written exercises using simple expressions. The book contains 34 lessons. Each lesson focuses on sentence patterns and sentence structures that match the content being expressed, incorporating key grammatical points within the context of thematic scenes. Each lesson consists of main text and exercises. In the main text, the grammar points of the lesson are presented in specific contexts through question-and-answer formats, allowing learners to understand them within the context. New sentence patterns and vocabulary in each lesson are introduced in both the main text and exercises. In the fill-in-the-blank exercises, only sentence patterns and vocabulary that have already been introduced are used. The book uses approximately 1,400 basic vocabulary words. New words introduced in each lesson are listed at the end of the lesson as new vocabulary. The writing system is standardized to modern kana. Hanzi (Chinese characters) are based on the Common Hanzi Table and the On'yomi/Kun'yomi Table. The principle for separating characters is that particles, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions are written together with the preceding word, while others are written separately. Illustrations are appropriately included for learning and guidance, especially to facilitate oral practice.