2000 Most Common Japanese Words in Context: Get Fluent & Increase Your Japanese Vocabulary with 2000 Japanese Phrases (Japanese Language Lessons)

Once again Lingo Mastery has come to the rescue, allowing us to make Japanese more accessible to a wider population. In the Introductory Note the goal is stated well: ‘This book presents expressions and phrases in an order based on frequency in both spoken and written language. Therefore, the ones listed at the top are the words you would hear if you had just arrived on the streets of Japan…One of the things you might attempt when learning a foreign language is to make friends who speak the language and learn form conversations with them. While it is highly recommended, what could be left out is the written language. In order to improve fluency, you will need to know the written language as well, and some words or phrases may only appear in writing. This book is composed of frequently appearing words in both spoken and written Japanese.’After their success teaching Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, and Chinese, now they turn to teaching Japanese! And it works. To make the Japanese characters accessible, transcriptions are provided in the form of transliteration and conventional signs used for transcription. Taking it slowly, step by step with practice, Japanese words become accessible! And one of the very successful features of this book is the depth of discussion about the symbols, grammar, and English phonology of words – a feature that makes this a quality textbook!The technique is solid and the lessons well taught. This is a very fine introduction to Japanese vocabulary that may arise when you visit Japan or simply conversing and understand the Japanese population here at home. This book is appropriate for all age levels, and a book much needed at this time in our national status! Grady Harp, April 20

So, first off...there's NO Romaji. If that's what you're looking for, sorry.But as far as actual sentences, it does hold up. Other people have said there are some grammatical errors, which is true, but still a good tool if you're trying to use everyday sentences.Book is lightweight, easy to understand and the foreward helps the reader know what to expect.

These are the most authentic sentences that I have encountered. They've obviously done their research because these example sentences are leaps and bounds beyond the contrived and quirky sentences you'll find in dictionaries and Japanese language texts. For example: "This is a picture of my sister." "We will deliver your package tomorrow."Drawbacks: (1) I got the Kindle book and it does not have the furigana over the kanji. If you've already learned about 3,000 kanji, you likely don't need this book, so missing furigana in the e-book makes as much sense as a door without a handle (otherwise I would have given it 5 stars). (2) Don't get this book if you are a beginner. You should already be comfortable reading Hiragana and Katakana and have at least a 500 word vocabulary in Japanese, or this will be slow going. My Japanese ability is lower-intermediate based on the CEF, so I think it's perfect for lower-intermediate and above.

I like it very much so far. I like that it’s presented in order of frequency and that all words are given in the context of a full sentence. I also like that it’s written in native kanji and kana with furigana provided to help read the kanji. Finally, a natural sounding English equivalent is given (Note: this is not a word-for-word translation. I think that’s a good thing as English and Japanese don’t correspond nearly). Some reviewers have criticized it for not providing grammatical explanations but that’s not the purpose of this book.This book is not necessarily for absolute beginners but for those who know how to read hiragana and katakana and are at least acquainted with reading kanji.I think it’s a great source for acquiring new vocabulary as well as practicing reading skills and acquiring grammar through reading input and example. It works well as a stand-alone resource or combined with textbook or other grammatical materials.

This book is great as a main source of supplemental study material. I'm a beginner in Japanese (~60 hours of studying so far) and what I like most about this book is the following:1. Words are listed in order of frequency2. You get repeated chance to recognize words you have seen before in other sentences3. (similar to 2) You get repeated exposure to words, particles, and grammar structures4. They didn't shy away from including Kanji and the equivalent Hiragana for pronunciationHow I'm using this book:I use a multi-faceted approach to language learning, where I like to expose myself to a variety of sources (books, podcasts, shows, music, etc) at a variety of difficulty levels (beg, int, adv). I use this book on the back end of a study session after doing some more focused vocab, Kanji, and grammar studying. I find this to be the best spot because a lot of times it gives me the opportunity to recognize words or structures I learned that day or recently which helps to reinforce them and also helps my confidence (it feels good to know you ARE in fact learning, especially in a language that is so foreign to native Western speakers and where progress can sometimes feel "slow").I wouldn't look to this book to get you fluent, but in what it was designed for, I think it's a great resource.

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