Kodansha's Katakana Workbook: A Step-By-Step Approach to Basic Japanese Writing - Softcover

Anne Matsumoto Stewart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 4770030827 ISBN 13: 9784770030825

Publisher: Kodansha International, 2009

Synopsis

An all-new workbook for learning the ABCs of Japanese, complete with flash cards, games and free downloadable audio for every word introduced. Kodansha's Katakana Workbook, designed for beginner-level students, teaches the basics of katakana, the script used for writing English words in Japanese. The book introduces the characters not in the traditional a-i-u-e-o order, but in a radical new one that most usefully serves the needs of the learner. One page each is devoted to the basic 46 characters. As these individual characters are introduced, they are immediately used to form actual, everyday words, so that from the first lesson the student is not only able to read and write a handful katakana, but also to utter more than a dozen words that make use of them. In this way, the book serves as a vocabulary builder in addition to a guide for reading and writing katakana. Exercises abound in Kodansha's Katakana Workbook. Each set of characters is followed by a short quiz that allows learners to test their understanding. And at the back of the book, like in the hiragana companion volume, there is a set of flashcards with suggestions for games. Best of all, the book comes with free audio in the form of a podcast. By listening to the recordings - spoken by a professional voice actor - students can acquire a sense of proper Japanese pronunciation and intonation.

About this title

About the Author

Anne Matsumoto Stewart is a professional Japanese language instructor with more than 20 years of experience teaching at all levels, from kindergarten through university. She pursued graduate studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Cornell University and has authored and co-authored Japanese language instruction books. She is a member of the Association of Teachers of Japanese and the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers.

Edition details

• Publisher: Kodansha International
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 4770030827
• ISBN 13: 9784770030825
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112