First Japanese Reader for Beginners

In the beginning, I was faced with a list of vocabulary words and I immediately groaned. I was slightly annoyed but figured, "I already paid for this so I might as well try." I must of read each word maby 2-3 times, really board and wanting to just quit and find some flashcards or something else. However, when the list of words ended, I was met with section B, where two sentences were written. It was just mere moments after I read them that... I realized I had read them with ease... I had unknowingly read a japanese sentence and understood what I had said with little to no effort! I was absolutely shocked! I had to immediately go back and see the vocabulary. There must have been some kind of trick! No way had that just happened! I was a little upset that I couldn't read the next few sentences. But that small spark of joy that those first two sentences gave me, made me hopeful and determined for the first time in years to finally master this language!

I love the format and the repetition. It starts w/ full on Japanese-- kanji, hiragana, and katakana. I hate how difficult kanji is, but Ms. Ono has done a tremendous job of repeating it regularly to reinforce it. I have been reading this during appointments for my children, and I am getting full of pride because I feel I am actually learning (and that feeling doesn't often happen with me studying Japanese). After the regular Japanese, there is a romanji (letters as used in English) section, in case you aren't sure how something was pronounced. Lastly, there is a full-on Engliish translation to clear up any issues the reader may have with content and story line. I think Ms. Ono has created the perfect product for where I am in my Japanese study right now. I hope to see more books like this.

I studied Japanese in university and spent many years in Japan, and after not visiting nor speaking Japanese for some time now, I decided to brush up on it. I think this book is perfect for someone just learning Japanese or trying to refresh their memory. However, after I purchased it from Amazon I went to the publishers site to download the sound files which was a breeze to download, and they are very helpful. Overall the book is well thought out and easy to use.