Author: Cure Dolly Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781973719052 Category : Languages : en Pages : 204
Book Description
This book combines the cute and crazy world of Alice in Wonderland with a scientific method of learning (SRS) to introduce you to a wide range of basic kanji (all first-year Japanese school kanji, all JLPT N5 kanji). You'll learn how kanji are constructed, how they fit together to make bigger words, how they are pronounced, and much more, in a form that makes them uniquely memorable-a story in which the kanji themselves are characters and adventures.
Author: Cure Dolly Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781539485506 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
"Every student of Japanese-and perhaps more importantly, every teacher of Japanese-should read this small book." "Is there a dark conspiracy among schools and textbooks to make Japanese seem far more complicated than it really is? Of course not. But there might as well be." So begins this ground-breaking book that sets out to demonstrate that Japanese is "simple, logical and beautiful" and that most of the apparently "arbitrary rules" that you "just have to learn" can be reduced to simple, easily intuitive patterns if you just understand how the language really works. The problem is that Japanese is continually described in terms that fit English and other European languages. This prevents us from seeing Japanese as it really is and often creates a sense of vagueness and guesswork and the illusion of multiple irregularities and exceptions. In fact, there is nothing vague about Japanese, and it has (unlike most languages) very few irregularities. It is extremely precise, economical and elegant. What is needed is a model that allows us to see Japanese on its own terms rather than trying to describe it in terms of European languages - an enterprise akin to doing electronics with a kitchen knife. Building on the pioneering work of Dr. Jay Rubin, Cure Dolly provides the foundation of a new model for understanding Japanese. One that does not involve difficult terminology or abstruse concepts, but allows us to see Japanese in easy, commonsense terms. An ambitious claim? The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Applying Cure Dolly's methods, we do indeed gain a clear, intuitive grasp of many things that seemed complex or confusing before. This is not a massive tome, but a short book, whose aim is not to deliver hundreds of Japanese grammatical fish, but to show the reader how to fish for herself. It is not aimed at the absolute beginner. The reader should know at least a little basic grammar. But arming oneself with these concepts at an early stage in Japanese will make everything much easier. However, even advanced students can benefit from these eye-opening techniques that really do help to unlock the simple elegance of Japanese. Cure Dolly is co-founder and editor of the KawaJapa Japanese-learning website.
Author: Jay Rubin Publisher: Vertical Inc ISBN: 1568366086 Category : Foreign Language Study Languages : en Pages : 123
Book Description
Making Sense of Japanese is the fruit of one foolhardy American's thirty-year struggle to learn and teach the Language of the Infinite. Previously known as Gone Fishin', this book has brought Jay Rubin more feedback than any of his literary translations or scholarly tomes, "even if," he says, "you discount the hate mail from spin-casters and the stray gill-netter." To convey his conviction that "the Japanese language is not vague," Rubin has dared to explain how some of the most challenging Japanese grammatical forms work in terms of everyday English. Reached recently at a recuperative center in the hills north of Kyoto, Rubin declared, "I'm still pretty sure that Japanese is not vague. Or at least, it's not as vague as it used to be. Probably." The notorious "subjectless sentence" of Japanese comes under close scrutiny in Part One. A sentence can't be a sentence without a subject, so even in cases where the subject seems to be lost or hiding, the author provides the tools to help you find it. Some attention is paid as well to the rest of the sentence, known technically to grammarians as "the rest of the sentence." Part Two tackles a number of expressions that have baffled students of Japanese over the decades, and concludes with Rubin's patented technique of analyzing upside-down Japanese sentences right-side up, which, he claims, is "far more restful" than the traditional way, inside-out. "The scholar," according to the great Japanese novelist Soseki Natsume, is "one who specializes in making the comprehensible incomprehensible." Despite his best scholarly efforts, Rubin seems to have done just the opposite. Previously published in the Power Japanese series under the same title and originally as Gone Fishin' in the same series.
Author: Janice P. Nimura Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393248240 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 306
Book Description
A Seattle Times Best Book of the Year A Buzzfeed Best Nonfiction Book of the Year "Nimura paints history in cinematic strokes and brings a forgotten story to vivid, unforgettable life." —Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha In 1871, five young girls were sent by the Japanese government to the United States. Their mission: learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of enlightened men to lead Japan. Raised in traditional samurai households during the turmoil of civil war, three of these unusual ambassadors—Sutematsu Yamakawa, Shige Nagai, and Ume Tsuda—grew up as typical American schoolgirls. Upon their arrival in San Francisco they became celebrities, their travels and traditional clothing exclaimed over by newspapers across the nation. As they learned English and Western customs, their American friends grew to love them for their high spirits and intellectual brilliance. The passionate relationships they formed reveal an intimate world of cross-cultural fascination and connection. Ten years later, they returned to Japan—a land grown foreign to them—determined to revolutionize women’s education. Based on in-depth archival research in Japan and in the United States, including decades of letters from between the three women and their American host families, Daughters of the Samurai is beautifully, cinematically written, a fascinating lens through which to view an extraordinary historical moment.
Author: Ruth Ozeki Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 1101606258 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 621
Book Description
A brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness Finalist for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award “A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.” In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future. Full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.
Author: Alfred Lubrano Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 1118039726 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 263
Book Description
In Limbo, award-winning journalist Alfred Lubrano identifies and describes an overlooked cultural phenomenon: the internal conflict within individuals raised in blue-collar homes, now living white-collar lives. These people often find that the values of the working class are not sufficient guidance to navigate the white-collar world, where unspoken rules reflect primarily upper-class values. Torn between the world they were raised in and the life they aspire too, they hover between worlds, not quite accepted in either. Himself the son of a Brooklyn bricklayer, Lubrano informs his account with personal experience and interviews with other professionals living in limbo. For millions of Americans, these stories will serve as familiar reminders of the struggles of achieving the American Dream.
Author: Lingo Mastery Publisher: ISBN: 9781951949228 Category : Foreign Language Study Languages : en Pages : 222
Book Description
Do you know what the hardest thing for a Japanese learner is? Finding PROPER reading material that they can handle...which is precisely the reason we've written this book! You may have found the best teacher in town or the most incredible learning app around, but if you don't put all of that knowledge to practice, you'll soon forget everything you've obtained. This is why being engaged with interesting reading material can be so essential for somebody wishing to learn a new language. Therefore, in this book we have compiled 20 easy-to-read, compelling and fun stories that will allow you to expand your vocabulary and give you the tools to improve your grasp of the wonderful Japanese language. How Japanese Short Stories for Beginners works: - Each chapter possesses a funny, interesting and/or thought-provoking story based on real-life situations, allowing you to learn a bit more about the Japanese culture. - Having trouble understanding Japanese characters? No problem - we provide you with the English translation below each paragraph, allowing you to fully grasp what you're reading! - The summaries follow a synopsis in Japanese and in English of what you just read, both to review the lesson and for you to see if you understood what the tale was about. Use them if you're having trouble. - At the end of those summaries, you will be provided with a list of the most relevant vocabulary from that chapter, as well as slang and sayings that you may not have understood at first glance! Do not get lost trying to understand or pronounce it all, either, as all of the vocabulary words are Romanized for your ease of learning! - Finally, you'll be provided with a set of tricky questions in Japanese, allowing you the chance to prove that you learned something in the story. Whether it's true or false, or if you're doing the single answer questions, don't worry if you don't know the answer to any - we will provide them immediately after, but no cheating! We want you to feel comfortable while learning Japanese; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles! So look no further! Pick up your copy of Japanese Short Stories for Beginners and level up your Japanese language skills right now!
Author: Natalie J Hamilton Publisher: ISBN: 9780648488606 Category : Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
Memorising kanji readings is one of the biggest hurdles when learning Japanese. The Kanji Code teaches a systematic method of learning the readings of kanji or Chinese characters. By studying phonetic components and other visual clues, students of Japanese can reduce their reliance on rote memorisation and feel more in control of their learning.
Author: Alice Peck Publisher: Ryland Peters & Small ISBN: 1782497536 Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 253
Book Description
Discover how going outdoors and spending time in nature, from forest bathing to a walk in the park, provides a simple and powerful way to improve your health and wellbeing. What we all know on an intuitive level is a scientific truth: the simple act of going outside is good for us – really good for us. It has been shown to have a positive effect on a huge number of health conditions and issues, from diabetes to depression, anxiety to arteriolosclerosis. Down-to-earth and relevant, The Green Cure shows you that you don't need a lot of fancy equipment or holidays to heal your body and mind. An afternoon stroll among trees in the park, a dip in the ocean or sinking your bare feet in the mud might change your life! Each chapter combines anecdotes and literature alongside recent medical and scientific discoveries to show how nature can heal us. The book also includes 'prescriptions' for how to use the information in realistic, easy ways, so you, too, can enjoy the beneficial shift within that simply going outdoors can bring you.
Author: Manami Okazaki Publisher: National Geographic Books ISBN: 3791347276 Category : Photography Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Showcasing Japan's astonishingly varied culture of cute, this volume takes the reader on a dazzling and adorable visual journey through all things kawaii. Although some trace the phenomenon of kawaii as far back as Japan's Taisho era, it emerged most visibly in the 1970s when schoolgirls began writing in big, bubbly letters complete with tiny hearts and stars. From cute handwriting came manga, Hello Kitty, and Harajuku, and the kawaii aesthetic now affects every aspect of Japanese life. As colorful as its subject matter, this book contains numerous interviews with illustrators, artists, fashion designers, and scholars. It traces the roots of the movement from sociological and anthropological perspectives and looks at kawaii's darker side as it morphs into gothic and gloomy iterations. Best of all, it includes hundreds of colorful photographs that capture kawaii's ubiquity: on the streets and inside homes, on lunchboxes and airplanes, in haute couture and street fashion, in cafés, museums, and hotels.
Author: Cure Dolly
Author: Cure Dolly
Author: Jay Rubin
Author: Janice P. Nimura
Author: Ruth Ozeki
Author: Alfred Lubrano
Author: Lingo Mastery
Author: Natalie J Hamilton
Author: Alice Peck
Author: Manami Okazaki