How to Learn Japanese by Simon Reynolde Read Free Book Online

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    Textbooks
Japanese for Busy People
Romaji version
This is a very popular textbook but I can't help feeling that its success is down to the catchy title rather than any particular superiority over its rivals. Who among us is not busy? If you can look through it, by all means do so, but you should not be spending too much time with a book like this. Read it and move on, and when the rest of your gaijin classmates are plodding through this at a chapter a week, you should be focusing on kanji acquisition or expanding your vocabulary.
    Japanese for Busy People
Kana version
Same as the above but with kana rather than romaji which is a step in the right direction.
    Minna no Nihongo
Another commonly used textbook which translates as “Japanese for Everyone”. It's a decent book but you'll want to get through it as fast as possible. One chapter a week is too slow. Most of the volunteer run classes I attended gave out free photocopies of this textbook so you'll probably end up using this at some point anyway if you live in Japan.
    Genki I
This is a decent textbook for beginners. It quickly moves from romaji to kana and covers some basic kanji . It is designed for use in a classroom setting under a teacher. There are other books more suited to self study. In addition, the CD containing the listening exercises comes separately with the teacher set. It doesn't offer any special method for learning kanji other than writing them out again and again but then, neither do the other commonly used texts.
    Genki I Workbook
Practice your writing with this workbook designed to accompany Genki I. I personally think studying kanji via flashcards will probably be more beneficial than working through this book but if you like Genki you might like this.
    Genki II
The follow up to Genki I, this book covers more grammar and kanji up to about JLPT 3 level. Again, it's more for classroom use.
Genki II Workbook
     
Practice writing the kanji and grammar you learned in Genki II.
    Kana
Kana Flashcards
It is not strictly necessary to buy or even use flashcards to learn kana especially if you live in Japan, however, these will definitely help anyone who is struggling to master the kana and probably make the learning process more enjoyable. For those on a budget, make your own cards with a piece of paper and use your imagination to link the kana to recognizable shapes (e.g. the character Ki looks a key). Make sure you always follow the correct stroke order and doodle the kana with your fingers whenever you get a spare moment.
    Kanji Dictionaries
The Learner's Kanji Dictionary
Highly recommended!!!
This is a great reference book. It lives up to the description on the back: “The ultimate desk reference for the student of Japanese”. It has all the kanji and compound words you will ever need. If you need a kanji reference book, buy this one, it's the best.
Kanji & Kana: A Handbook of the Japanese Writing System
     
By the same authors but nowhere near as comprehensive as The Learner's Kanji Dictionary.
    Kanji
Remembering the Kanji: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters
Highly recommended!!!
This is a very important book for anyone who wants to learn kanji . Even if you don't own a physical copy you should be familiar with the concepts inside. Part of it can be downloaded online and is essential reading. The book covers all 1945 of the general use kanji which is quite some feat; most other books don't come close to that number.
The book sometimes comes under criticism because it doesn't deal with kanji pronunciation but the author explains quite convincingly that his system works better when reading and writing are separated. Pronunciation is of course covered in the second volume of the series. The book even has its own yahoo newsgroup dedicated to it. Highly recommended.
    Remembering the Kanji 2: A Systematic Guide to Reading the Japanese Characters
Highly