Review of Japanese for Today by Paul Denisowski

Japanese for Today ... is really not a good beginner's textbook -- the grammar explanations are fairly weak and the excerises are almost non-existent. It does work very well as a beginning to intermediate level reader, with furigana for new kanji and english translations for the passages. The tapes (8?), although a bit expensive (c. $70), are very well done, and they include the somewhat lackluster drills. The nicest thing about the book/tape set is that together they give you over a hundred pages of RECORDED reading material so you can "listen and read along" in addition to working on straight reading or listening comprehension skills. Like JfE the book is visually well-done. The biggest downside is that the book/tape combination will set you back around $120. Some people have also complained that the text is somewhat dated, but I think this is due mostly to a lack of more modern terms (computer, e.g.).

☆ See all reviews by Paul Denisowski.