ぶんぽう

It's been a hectic week, filled with work, sleep, study, and a promotion. (woohoo!) On the study side, I've picked up two new texts which have quite a bit of promise:


First is the Oxford Beginner Japanese Dictionary. This little tome is extremely useful and easy to use. The dictionary is a collection of starter language for the first-year student of Japanese; packing a healthy amount of vocabulary into a thin volume. It is both English-Japanese and Japanese-English, and is accompanied with grammar notes in the middle and a "Learning and Lifestyle Kit" in the back. The kit includes such things as: exercises that help you use the dictionary itself more effectively, Japanese words that you must know, a phrase finder, a kana chart, important dates, and a culture guide. The best thing about this dictionary is its complete freedom from romaji, with nearly every single Japanese word spelled using the Kana. (even in the lifestyle kit and grammar notes!) This dictionary is great, and will probably be my primary dictionary for a little while.



Number 2 is very new. New as in: purchased yesterday. However, it already seems to be a fantastic text. Barron's Japanese Grammar is split into three major sections: The Basics, Parts of Speech, and Special Topics. The Basics covers just what it suggests, and it is truly the basics: a pronunciation guide, information about the writing systems, and an explanation of word order. Parts of Speech covers all the majors: nouns, pronouns, particles, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. (It's the Verbs that I can't wait to sink my teeth into.) Special Topics seems to be everything else: days of the week, telling time, useful words, loan words, and sections concerning language particulars and oddities. The whole thing is super-packed with information, yet remains pocket sized and only costs $7. I think this one is a keeper, but I'll be sure to post if I find any flaw that I have not yet come across.

And those are the new study materials. May they be accurate and up to date.