[Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners: First Steps to Mastering the Japanese Writing System (CD-ROM Included)] [By: Stout, Timothy G.] [April, 2011] Paperback – April 10, 2011

If you are learning Japanese, this is the book to pick up. Nothing is more important then learning the basics first. And this book gives you everything basic you can hold in your hand. In the beginning of the book, it gives you a back story of the man who invented TUTTLE. As soon as I stumbled upon the Tuttle Collection, it has been a blessing. And so far, learning Japanese has been a blast!After reviewing the man behind the name in a paragraph or two. It gives you information on how to use the book, vowel pronunciations and even the past of the character sets themselves. Don't worry, it doesn't overload you with textbook definitions. It gives you brief and to the point back story's. Trust me, none of it is a waste of your time. All of it is useful and interesting information.The Hiragana Chart is then introduced and you learn how to write them. This is important. If you are going to write in Japanese , you need to know the stroke order and stroke types. It keeps it neat and legible. When I first started using it I immediately wanted to buy another one. So I suggest, buy two or copy the pages so you can keep practicing off paper. The book provides wonderful practice as well as memorable mnemonics and vocabulary. When you're done with learning how to write them, there's an activity section. Where you are putting what you learned into use. It helps you remember the characters as well as their stroke order. Then when you're done with Hiragana, the exercise begins again with Katakana.Though I would not recommend this to someone to learn Katakana and Hiragana straight out. But if it is what you want to try, go for it. I would offer this book to someone to learn how to write them and make their memory of the characters concrete.If you want to use something to help you learn them, there are many resources on your Nintendo DS (I DON'T recommend Japanese Coach). And there are many free options on your Android Phone like JA Sensei, Kana Mind, Qwiz-Hiragana and more. You won't know until you start looking. The more fun it becomes for you, the easier it will become to learn.The CD has a large number of names in katakana so you can look up your name in japanese. It even has flash cards with the same mnemonics images that are in the book.This is a great tool, get it while its still cheap and they don't realize what they're selling.

Just for clarification purposes I haven't goten to use the book YET. I will be doing so when my college class / holidays at work slow down some.This book will greatly augment any learning program or class you are taking. I highly recomend it.Try and remember what it was like to learn curssive back in 4th or 5th grade. Are you picturing it. Ahh yes that's right you had that mean teacher that made you re-draw those weird symbols that you were never going to use again in your life over and over again in between those extra big lines just like you were an Elementry student. Which of course you were.That's what this book is like. There's a big cursive "a" at the top of the page and boxes for you to draw them in. Only they're not "a's" they're japanese character symbols. Each page also has a pronociation guide in the upper right corner. They're around 77 pages in this format. These include numbers, basic characters, & other important characters.In the back of the book there is flash cards. So no you don't have to buy the book & flash cards. This books has you covered.There is 96 pages all chuck full of learning. the back third of the book is questions and anwers that you can fill in with your newfound skillz. This is also very useful as it practices you writing & improves knowlege of the country. For example on question looks like this: "2. How much is a rice ball (o ni gi ri)? _______________".EX # 2: There is also a map of Nippon (Japan) at the back of the book with cities on it. it states the name of the city and the english translation for it's name. You must use hiragana to fill in the proper characters.The first few pages are dedicated to explaing the book, system, and process. We have all used these types of books at one point or another in our life, and yes they DO work. If they didn't I wouldn't be able to sign checks, or my name. granted I don't know all of my cursive because I'm a programmer and type really really fast. So I don't need cursive much, but as I will be using hiragana this book will be indespencible.

En mi opinión es el que más me ha gustado de todos los libros de hiragana y katakana aparte del matter in kana. Sin duda lo recomiendo; las ilustraciones ayudan mucho a memorizar y además vienen ejercicios adicionales

The media could not be loaded.  Livro ótimo para iniciantes em japonês que já sabem inglês ! Muitos exercícios para praticar e vem com CD ! Ótimo livro indico!

Loved this book. Flash cards are included, you have to download them off the internet and print and cut them. I worked with the book and the flash cards, and I learned Hiragana in a week. The mnemonic system is great and helped me a lot. I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn Hiragana and Katakana.One important thing to know: the book teaches you a sort a writing style that is somewhat “traditional” with the strokes written like you would with an ink brush. Which is fine !! But I found out it was easier (and more fun) for me to write the characters like they are on, say, a Japanese keyboard. Bottom line is there are many writing styles and the book only teaches you one kind, which is okay but I wish I had understood that at the beginning of my studies and not halfway through.10/10 would recommend !!

Learning a new language isn’t a walk in the park, we are well aware of that. But when it comes to Japanese, a language that has three writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji, which don’t even remotely resemble the English Alphabets, you must wonder where to begin. Quite simple. Grab yourself a copy of ‘Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners: First Steps to Mastering the Japanese Writing System’.Pros:1. Teaches basic 46 Hiragana and 46 Katakana characters (with little drawings that make it easier for you to remember the characters), along with the additional characters.2. Covers ‘Tenten and Maru’, ‘Combined Characters’, ‘Small “tsu”’, ‘Long Vowels’, and ‘Sentence Particles’.3. Comes along with reading and writing practice, which isn’t like the normal tests we are used to. This is fun!4. Flash Cards!Cons:1. NoneI’ve been learning Japanese for over a month now. But before I joined the Japanese school I’m currently at, I picked up this book and decided to learn the basics. Having to know Hiragana & Katakana (Kana) beforehand came as an incomparable advantage because the book covered the basics. So, if you wish to do the same, I suggest you get this book. Just remember that Kanji is equally important. But for that, look no further, the author has published a book on Kanji as well – 'Japanese Kanji for Beginners: (JLPT Levels N5 & N4) First Steps to Learn the Basic Japanese Characters'. I will be starting Kanji soon and reviewing that book as well.This book is a must have for every Japanese beginner! 11/10 would recommend.For all the new learners: がんばってください (Good luck!)And for the author: ありがとうございました!

Ich hab mir dieses Buch gekauft vor einer längeren Japanreise um dort nicht als völliger Analphabet dazustehen und es hat geklappt. Jedes Zeichen wird einzeln vorgestellt mit einem kleinen Bild und einem Spruch, was das merken erleichtern soll. Ich weiß nicht, was ich ohne diese Eselsbrücken gemacht hätte, die haben mir das Lernen auf jeden Fall enorm erleichtert. Daneben gibt es Schreibübungen und Leseübungen. Besonders gut finde ich auch den sehr ausführlichen Übungsteil jeweils am Ende des Hiragana- bzw. Katakanateils. Auf der CD-Rom sind nochmal Lernkarten mit allen Zeichen und Anleitung für verschiede Spiele/Übungen damit, ich hab die Karten ehrlich gesagt gar nicht gebrauch, ist aber ein netter Zusatz. Ich kann es fürs Japanisch lernen auf jeden Fall empfehlen. Das Buch ist komplett auf Englisch u.a. die Ausspracheerklärungen und auch die Sprüche, die über Laute funktionieren, man sollte also schon sehr sicher in Englisch sein.