Japanese from Zero! 2: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals

I finished book 2 today after having finished video series by the author and I have to say that the learning is super enjoyable. Many thanks to George for presenting the book and videos in a fun way. I am now looking forward to reading book 3.

Few typos here and there but is a good book to learn katakana for self learners. Now proceeding towards book 3 which is all kanji.

Once again, very helpful. Really helps in learning Japanese grammar, love their youtube channel too.

I have just finished book 2 of this series and whilst it is definitely more difficult than the first book, it is still satisfying to work from and builds on the knowledge you have previously gained. I have studied Japanese on and off for many years, but when I decided to 'get serious' with studying this wonderful language, this is the series of books I chose to study from. The accompanying videos on YouTube were a huge consideration for me. This is extremely clear to work from and the explanations make it easy to grasp the concepts of forming sentences and using the language you learn. It even manages to explain quite complex ideas in a clear way, although I did struggle from chapter 9 onward, as this is where it introduces informal forms (in past, present and positive and negative forms) and a little more grammar. I had to take it slow and keep reinforcing what I'd learnt, but bit by bit it is sinking in. Like the first book, this has a workbook built into it, with reading and writing exercises (with an answer guide at the end of each chapter this time, rather than in the back like in book 1) and these exercises really help you grasp and solidify what you have learnt in that chapter. This books also teaches you Katakana and I love the way that as you progress through the book the words are gradually built up with each Katakana you learn, until by the end everything is written in Hiragana and Katakana and you can read and understand written Japanese. Kanji will come in book 3!. The author has also written a book called Kanji from zero, which covers Kanji a little more. But learning Hiragana and Katakana so quickly and effortlessly is a huge win and will impress native Japanese and will also enrich your experience when you travel in Japan. This isn't necessarily a book that'll teach you lots of phrases you can use on your holidays, right off the bat, but instead builds a solid language framework and introduces vocab, so you can build your own sentences and actually understand the language. This is much better than simply learning by rote. This also includes lots of foreign words that Japan has borrowed, which is why there is Katakana and these vocab are easier to learn as they already feel familiar. I also like how the author teaches a style of Japanese that is actually used and which is useful when in the country. Some courses will teach very formal and stilted Japanese, and whilst the author does teach you polite forms, he also teaches language that sounds more natural. As someone who wishes to use Japanese when I am in the country, this is essential for me and will hopefully open up another side of Japan that I may not have seen. My personal way to use this book was to read through each chapter to familiarise myself with the material, then watch the accompanying YouTube video for that lesson to get a clearer idea of pronunciation and any tough parts. Then I'd go back and work though the chapter in a slower, more methodical way, answering the exercises and making notes. I used the Ankidroid app to make up flashcards for all the words and phrases from each chapter, so I could study and test myself when out and about. And I also used a notebook to write up mind maps and mnemonic techniques for the more 'non-sticky' words. In conjunction with this course I also listened to Michel Thomas cd's in the car, JLPT audio CD's and used an excellent Particles dictionary (which I have also reviewed on Amazon). Using all these techniques together has really helped the info in this course sink in and start to build a decent framework to build upon. This course is great to work from and really progresses well from what you have already learnt. You quickly grasp difficult concepts, feel as if you actually understand the way the language is formed and the accompanying videos are light hearted and a wonderful additional media to aid your study. I can't recommend this series enough and if you wish to seriously learn Japanese and unlock your full potential, then give this a try and see what it can do for you.

Pratique, bien expliqué et accessible à tous

Un gran libro para todo aquel que quiera aprender Japones de forma autodidacta, ya que su sistema de enseñanza del japones es unico y muy util para aprender Katakana de forma progresiva. Buena cantidad de gramatica, vocabulario y muchos ejercicios. La unica pega es que este es solo en ingles a diferencia del volumen 1 de hiragana que estaba tambien en español.

So, I brought this on Kindle and I must say (even though its a bit more work, for me its how I learn best) the intergrated textbook works wonders for my Japanese (as I write the questions out before answering them in my notebook), but if you buy the book in hardcopy you can write in the bookitself. This book is part of a series (Japanese From Zero) and should be used after you have completed Japanese From Zero 1, and should be followed up by Japanese From Zero 3. Because of this, if you do plan on using the book on its own (without the rest of the series), remember to already have learnt you hiragana, because this book focuses on katakana learning instead. Like with the first book, it takes away the romaji of the katakana words as you learn them. You already start without romaji for hiragana words, so this book focuses on teaching you the second of the three scripts (katakana). Once again, using it with their accompying YouTube videos is recomended, but not essential

Excellent book