Japanese From Zero! 3: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals

Japanese from Zero Book 3,Please note that I am writing this review with the assumption that you have already read and understood the first two books in this series.The third book in the series is where you will really need to know your stuff before you even think about attempting it. You will NEED to know Katakana and Hiragana from the go and up to a high standard as everything is written in that format apart from the explanations that of course are written in English.A little Kanji knowledge would be helpful if you know it but is not necessary, as this book will introduce you to them at a steady pace. I would also recommend another book in the series called ‘Kanji from Zero’ that has more examples that you may find helpful as an accompanying book but isn’t necessary.So as I just mentioned, this time the Kanji symbols are introduced for the first time but fear not, they are not as difficult to understand as you might think! I know many people start to panic when these are introduced and look like nothing more than funny squiggles. However, much like when Katakana and Hiragana were introduced in the previous two books, this one follows the same pattern. It will show you the first five (which are also the numbers 1-5) from that point on any time one of those numbers turns up it will be replaced with the Kanji symbol. Then you will get a chapter on something else (usually grammar) before getting another five to add to the list. I found this a great way to do it as it does give you a breather between chapters and allow to get used to the style. Once you’ve learned some it will make Japanese much easier to read and understand. Your written sentences will shrink in size and be a lot easier to read. Oh, and you will feel smarter :-POf course you will learn some new vocabulary and grammar skills like the previous entries but I would also recommend going back to the first two books and brushing up on the vocab in those as well. They do come up and you will not be reminded of what they are this time.The thing I noticed about this book is how it is more adult in the way you have to present your answers. Simply giving one-word answers or simple sentences like you did in the past is not enough. For example, one question will ask you to translate the sentence, ‘I like the seventh bird from the left’. So you will need to know grammar, animals, numbers, vocabulary and location words to answer one question. That is a lot of knowledge for such a simple answer. I want to get across that you will need to really think about your answers and all previous knowledge from book 1-2 will be used.However, that being said the book is still within the N5 category if you are working towards that test and I would say it takes around three to four reads for the majority of the information to sink in.If you have the first two in the series then you can’t go wrong with this one. A real challenge this time around but very rewarding in the long term. Also if you have made it this far, please don’t give up even if it gets tough. Learning a language is not easy but to come this far and give up is something you will regret for years to come. I know this from personal experience.*************I would also like to recommend some other learning material that may help you with this book which can both be found on YouTube.First is the official YesJapan channel. George Trombley, the founder of Japanese from Zero hosts a series of videos that go through each lesson from book 1-3 in more depth and in a friendly setting. I didn’t know about these till a few days ago but I have watched a few and they are very useful even if you have gone through the books already.Second is a channel called ‘Japan Radio’ hosted by NHK (A Japanese news network) They upload regular podcasts of the national Japanese news and is spoken entirely in clear and well-spoken Japanese too. Very helpful for listening practice.

Firstly, I wish everyone at Amazon a Very Happy Easter and a special thanks to the deliveryman who was very polite and courteous. The set of books arrived in a neat box with wrapping to avoid damage. I have added these to my collection (1 and 2). So happy to own these. I am learning Japanese and I really love the layout and presentation with diagrams. The book offers exercises and tests that really help to show how much progress is made. Worth every penny. I never knew that one day, I would be learning to speak Japanese. I am learning Hindi as well because I love both Japan and India. Thank you very much, Amazon. GOD BLESS YOU.

This is the first book in the series I have purchased. I chose to do 1 and 2 on the authors website yesjapan.com because although the progressive way kana is introduced seems like a great Idea for learning I found it a little strange reading it since I had studied it previously. The website allows you to choose how text is displayed.I have previously studied with a few teach yourself beginners things intended for tourists followed by Japanese for busy people which although was good the language was stuffy and business oriented. I've also done Pimsleur up to level 5The thing I like about this series of books is the clear layout, good pace, depth of explanations and the occasional things the author throws in to keep it interesting. Despite having a degree in astronomy I hadn't thought about the names of planets till I bought Kanji from zero.To sum up I wish these books had been available when I first started learning Japanese if they were I'm sure my learning would have progressed a lot quicker. I'm about halfway through the book now and will be purchasing 4 shortly.

I chose this rating because during the time i first got this book, I started to use an app which I made me able to talk to native japanese people, and after each chapter of the book I learnt a new concepts which made me sound more fluent and more able to under stand people when they speak in japanese. This book has made a big impact on my learning of japanese and made me able to communicate in japanese very easily. I definitely recommend getting this book if you want to learn japanese.

Another great book in the series. The writers have videos on YouTube to go with the lessons and are very active on social media and in their own forum. Your questions about lessons can be directly answered unlike every other Japanese language system. The book is clear, easy to understand especially if you have gone throught books 1 and 2. If you have got this far with the books I don't need to tell you how effective they are. Forget Genki and get this.

Very good, will actually help you learn Japanese. If you want to furthur your Japanese study and begin learning kanji this is the best place to start. Repurchased twice when I first started out to make sure I remembered it all and for a refresher.

Muchas gracias, el libro llegó en buenas condiciones, el contenido es lo que necesitaba. Recomiendo mucho el libro para quién quiera mejorar en el japonés.

El libro es bueno para anglosajones que quieren aprender japonés. Es una forma entretenida para aprender vocabulario, gramática ...

Depois de dois meses, cheguei no livro 3.Mas como o conteúdo gramatical está se aprofundando cada vez mais, já prevejo que vou precisar de dois a três meses para devorar esse livro inteiro.Para quem já conhece os livros do George e conhece a didática fantástica do autor não há o que comentar!Mas quem desconhece, nesse livro, é introduzido o ensino do Kanji, através do mesmo método empregado para o ensino dos alfabetos hiragana e katakana nos livros anteriores. Conforme você aprende os Kanji de um capítulo, o capítulo seguinte já os incorpora nos seus textos e exercícios.Os Kanji são apresentados, respectivamente, com suas leituras kun e on, exemplos de palavras e a ordem dos traços.Quem adquirir o livro físico poderá treinar a escrita com os espaços dedicados especialmente para isso.

My teen son was homeschooled since eighth grade. One of his main interests turned out to be languages. In his first couple years of homeschool, he attempted to learn Japanese using Rosetta Stone (he went through the full first level and most of the second), using the first Genki book and workbook, various other beginner books (as I scroll through the popular books on Japanese language in Amazon, I see we own many of the titles...), and by doing a few other things like us just going through flashcards of hiragana and katakana.Halfway through his Junior/11th grade year (Jan 2017), he told me he felt like he learned a lot of Japanese, but said he wouldn't be able to put together even the simplest sentence - written or spoken - if he was put to the test. As with all things homeschool, there's some trial and error, and we occasionally try something that doesn't work. This was definitely one of those things. I knew he was frustrated, but not at all ready to give up.At that point we came across Japanese From Zero! Book 1. When he started using that first workbook and discovered the hundreds of free videos the author, George Trombley, put on YouTube, I mean, this kid was transformed. He ate that book up, and book 2. By the end of that school year (June 2017) he'd gone from saying he couldn't say "How are you?" to being comfortable enough to converse with teens in Japan. In the summer he completed book 3. Senior/12th grade year (starting September 2017) he completed Japanese From Zero! 4 and Kanji From Zero! 1. He kept up with the supplemental videos from George. When George asks a question, I'm continually impressed at how my son replies correctly, without fail, before George supplies the answer.My son is telling me to say he didn’t feel he started actually learning Japanese before he opened the first From Zero! book.These books and the free supplemental videos are by far the best system we've found for any English speaker who wants to learn Japanese.UPDATE MAY 2019:My son graduated homeschool Spring 2018. He asked if he could take a placement test for Japanese at the university he was planning to attend. Recall he’d only gone through George Trombley’s Japanese From Zero! books 1-4 plus Kanji from Zero! book 1 and the free YouTube videos. From the placement test, he was put in 3rd semester Japanese. He likely tested into 4th semester, but as that class is only offered each Spring, he was happy to go into 3rd semester.How did he do? He got straight As - a 4.0 in both 3rd and 4th semester, and he’s continuing with his Japanese studies this coming year. Each class was worth 5 credits, and for the two classes he skipped, he was given 4 credits each. So for 3rd semester he got 13 credits for his one Japanese class, and another 5 in 4th semester. Just from self studying these books in homeschool.

Japanese From Zero is honestly the most forgiving way to learn Japanese. Yes, it is slow paced, yes it is a bit repetitive and there are some mistakes here and there in the corrections at the end. However, I have been taking Japanese at University and Japanese from Zero gave me the edge to always be on top of my game when needed. Sometimes, Japanese teachers can have a hard time explaining Japanese concepts in french and even english and so it can be quite intimidating to do homework or answer questions right after we have learned something in class. I accidently missed one class this week because I have misread my agenda and while studying the resume of the class online I noticed that I had already learned in book 2 half of what had been taught in class for that day. And I have to mention that it's a "learn Japanese from manga" class so there are people there with 2-3-4 sessions of Japanese ahead of me, yet I feel like what is mostly seperating us is only that they know more vocabulary and kanji readings. A special thanks to mr. George Trombley Jr. for the books and especially the courses on line that dont judge me if I relisten them over and over again. P.S. the live podcast is hilarious. Please keep on making them.