Japanese study books

Updated on Sun, 21 May 2017 13:33:34 GMT, tagged with ‘study’.

A handbook of common Japanese phrases

A handbook of common Japanese phrases, compiled by Sanseido, translated and adapted by John Brennan. OhioLink record

John Brennan’s translation for Japanese learners of publishing house Sanseido’s book of language etiquette originally intended for Japanese native speakers has many common set phrases (highly developed and sometimes lengthy collocations) for

That’s part 1, “everyday phrases”. Part 2, “business phrases” continues in this vein. I will turn to this book when I’m further along.

Japanese core words and phrases

Japanese core words and phrases: things you can't find in a dictionary by Kakuko Shōji. OhioLink and SearchOhio records.

The first half of this book, sixty pages’ worth, is a detailed exposition of the こ・そ・あ・ど・な words (you know, これ, それ, あれ, どれ, etc.), their many forms and idiomatic usages. The discussion builds on itself, so it discusses the あ words first, then こ, そ, ど, and な. E.g., it elucidates the following あ phrases:

The nuances of the relationship between these are demonstrated by example sentences and English explanations. The rich intricacy of these usages makes me think I will return to this book when I’m more advanced.

The second half of the book contains a few dozen idiomatic phrases that “are not properly explained in textbooks and dictionaries”. These are classic idioms that one learns to use through reading and hearing, but may be useful in collecting. Examples:

Super-cool stuff. The best way to learn these of course is to find examples in native text that you are familiar with, and I hope to build resources like that (and meta-resources, to help build those resources) in the near future.


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