When reaching beyond beginner level Japanese text books can be thin on the ground, this book by Giles Murray provides a perfect step stone from moving from textbooks to "real" books.
Upon opening the book, its clear it's aimed at the serious student of Japanese.
The original Japanese is presented on the left with Furigana over each Kanji,with the English translation on the right.
This itself would be enough for most students to go on from, when coming across an unknown word while reading you could look up the word or phrase in a dictionary, though the author has been even more generous in providing below each page the translation and explanation of vocabulary or phrase.
The content is mainly from godfather of modern Japanese Literature Natsume Soseki.
Personally, I love Soseki's stories and have read many in English so its a thrill to read in the original Japanase, though at my level even reading this book can be quite difficult at times remembering kanji or more complex phrases.
Yet it does make a great break from the usual textbooks and allows a good diversion, being both entertaining and educational.
Posted by sasqwach
at April 22, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink
