13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese by Giles Murray


13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese
Title : 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 4770023022
ISBN-10 : 9784770023025
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 184
Publication : First published June 30, 1999

13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese presents tested shortcuts for Japanese language acquisition. Identifying two groups of people who actively and effectively study Japanese to the point of fluency-successful non-native learners and Japanese children-Giles Murray has collected from both groups the most rewarding and universal techniques which can be put to immediate use by both beginner and advanced students of Japanese.

This book is designed for people who have tried orthodox textbooks and failed, people who know a little Japanese but don't have the necessary time or motivation to make the transition to more serious textbooks, and people seeking to increase fluency using ability already acquired. It introduces new strategies for thinking, speaking and memorizing Japanese quickly, efficiently and independently. Used in tandem with a mainstream textbook, these strategies will enable any student to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life situations, and to speak without hesitation in natural and fluent Japanese.

With lively and entertaining commentaries, striking illustrations, two Japanese manga-including a six-page extract from Osamu Tezuka's famous Blackjack series-brainteasing puzzles, and genuinely useful example sentences,

13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese Reviews

  • Karen

    There are many flaws with this book but also some really great exercises that can be incorporated into one's routine Japanese study. I think my favorite chapters were Chapter 2: explanatory phrases, Chapter 3: readable phone numbers (just because I see jokes/holidays made up from these different ways of saying numbers and I never figured it out before), Chapter 8: adverbs, and Chapter 10: Prefixes and suffixes. Some of these are only useful because I haven't gotten to study them yet (prefixes/suffixes and adverbs). BUT these chapters were able to make me think about learning and speaking Japanese differently than I had before. The ultimate goal of speaking Japanese is to be able to communicate. As a beginner speaker, I may not be able to communicate efficiently but as long as I'm understood, that's all that matters.

    As for the other chapters in this book, some of them really sucked. This is supposed to be for beginners who have limited vocabulary but you're also supposed to have an incredibly VAST vocabulary to say things in a more difficult way. I get where he's coming from but those chapters were more or less useless. I hated the child's games one, mostly because I couldn't get any of them and that's mostly because my vocabulary isn't there yet. But eventually it will be hopefully and I do intend to work hard with the exercises that I liked.

  • Eri

    Good for some points, definitely great as vocabulary building tool in some cases, best parts are probably those prefixes and suffixes.
    Definitely not for beginners, but pre intermediate and intermediate students can learn something from this.Possibly.

  • Ivy

    Nice try in making learning Japanese sound fun -- especially for beginners who stick too much to textbooks and JLPT drills.

    But some advice is seriously untenable -- especially the chapter where you are encouraged to use synonyms, exaggerations, comparisons etc. when you don't know / forget a word. You need to a sizeable vocabulary for that to work. If you forget basic words like "yasashii" (nice), it's highly unlikely you even know words like "akui no nai" (no ill-intention).

  • Melanie

    3.5 stars

    These are all very good strategies for people who want to outgrow the textbook-and-rote-memorisation phase of studying Japanese, and proceed to a more natural, flexible and fun way of interacting with and studying the language.

    My only complaint would be that the book is too short. I know that the setup of this book is just to offer the necessary strategies with some basic examples and let the reader take it from there (and this it does well), but personally I would have liked to have seen a little more both of examples and more in-depth information and suggestions on each of the strategies.

  • Jnyama

    Needless to say, I did not become fluent. The secrets seemed frankly obscure and helpful mostly to the already-virtually-fluent.

  • Jessica Zu

    It might be useful for English speakers, but pretty useless for me as a Chinese/English bilingual. I'd have to find my own way of studying Japanese.

  • Nur Iman

    the tips is good to those who are learning the Japanese language, it help to boost up your understanding and fluency.