Japanese: The Spoken Language, Part II (Japanese)

Rating:
Summary: Isn't it time to learn Japanese?
Review: If you are considering purchasing this text, you fall into one of three categories:
1) Jorden's acolytes (in which case you have already been persuaded to believe that learning Jordenese is not a wasteful and even counterproductive approach to Japanese)
2) You have completed some other first semester (or year) program and are looking for an intermediate text
3) You have signed up for a course that uses this text, though you did not use JSL Volume I in your elementary Japanese course.

For 1), there is not much to say, but I'll offer a bit of friendly advice anyway: you are crippling your ability to survive without romanji by continuing in the Jorden method. I noticed in my course this summer (we covered both volumes 1 & 2), that many of the "better" students memorized new vocabulary (for our quizzes) from cards written in romanji. Will they prove to be better readers of Japanese in the long run?

For 2), you really should steer clear of this text. Jorden's romanization is not standard (hers does NOT derive from phonetic English). If you dive into Jorden Volume II, be prepared to face Mt. "Huzi", "sirimasen", "tukurimasu", "titi", and a complete lack of "kanzi", hiragana and katakana. This will be a regressive move on your part, assuming that you been studying Japanese up to now.

For 3), I recommend that you find another course. Try searching on the internet. There may be a Japanese organization in your area that offers courses. I realize that if you need college credits, this may not seem the best route, but if you would like to progress rather than regress and would like to maximize the use of your time by avoiding spending many hours reading in Jordenese, a fictional language used by no people anywhere, then you really ought to find another way to continue your study of Japanese.

Rating:
Summary: The best method
Review: Please ignore any review that makes a comment on the use of romaji in this text book. If someone is even complaining about the use of romaji in this book, they are approaching the book with the wrong method. As is mentioned in other reviews, the proper method of using this text must be applied. If it is followed, your japanese will soar. The romaji, which is different from what you normally see, is not meant to be read, but only as a reference if you forget the pronounciation. The romazi, used, is by far superior than the starndard one, as it expresses nuances in pronunciation, that are missing in the standard approach, For example, when you should pronounce an the "n" sound as an m, et cetera. The key to this book is to always listen to the tapes and to repeat, repeat, repeat. I find situations, living in japan, when one of the core conversations I have memorized, just automatically comes out of my mouth, and I dont have to think. The conversations and the grammatical patterns are constructed in a way, that you can use a minimal amount of japanese, and get by, gramatically correct, and be understood. Maybe there is an over emphasis on politeness in the language, but in order to understand the grammer completely, and to be able to talk to anyone, not just your close friends, i recommend that you use this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good for serious students
Review: This is book 2 of a 3 book series and so you really want to be looking at the reviews for the first book. That said a few brief points. As stated by another reviewer, ignore completely reviews that complain about the Romaji aspect of this book (especially when they incorrectly refer to it as RomaNji! ). Japanese is not English, so in no sense should a romaji system be expected to correspond to an English pronunciation. Jorden's system is parallel to the Kunrei system which is based on the Japanese language and is in fact a superior system to the familiar Hepburn system. 'tsu' is 'tu' because in Japanese it is parallel to 'ta'. Hence ta, ti, tu, te, to, and how do you pronounce these: Listen to the tape! Don't link it to English.

Living in Japan, I've heard too that some of the things are not as Japanese would say them; but that's because a) language changes, b) people always say that about text books, c. not everybody experiences life in the same way - a high-school girl won't use stuff that a office worker would.

That said this is an excellent text for the serious student. i.e. you will spend about 2 years of hard work in a bid to get proficient. If you want a lighter approach this book will not be suitable.