Living Japanese: Diversity in Language and Lifestyles (Conversations with Native Speakers) | 
 enlarge | Author: Karen Colligan-taylor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $44.15
Buy New: $35.99
You Save: $8.16 (18%)
New (13) Used (5) from $33.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 120885
Media: Paperback
Edition: Pap/DVD
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 030010958X
Dewey Decimal Number: 495.682421
EAN: 9780300109580
ASIN: 030010958X
Publication Date: December 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Product Description
This book draws students into the lives of thirty-three Japanese from age seven to seventy-five. As students listen to diverse viewpoints on cultural and social issues, they will develop an extensive vocabulary and become accustomed to natural speech and linguistic differences. This DVD/workbook package is an ideal tool for conversation courses and an engaging resource for intermediate and advanced language and culture classes. Individuals returning from study or work in Japan will find the package an enjoyable way to maintain or build language skills.
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| Customer Reviews:
Unique and much needed September 13, 2008
Just a couple of lines to confirm that I fully share the views of the two reviewers before me. I have just finished listening to the book/DVD (I did it over several weeks, more or less one chapter a day). I intend to do a few more passes (I am far from having "learned" the book - I still need the written text to follow the spoken words). I am an intermediate student, with good reading skills (but sadly negligible speaking skills), so I don't mind the fact that there is no English translation - but in the end working back and forth from a translation can be cumbersome, and it would not be a realistic setting for listening to interviews. Ample vocabulary notes are provided, anyway (which helps a lot). A caveat: some of the speakers are harder to follow than others - but that's to be expected from speakers of any language. So that's just a fact of life with a book that gives you "real spoken language", as opposed to the sterilized textbook version. Moreover, they all have something interesting and real to say, so you feel that the effort to understand is well spent. Speaking of which, I found the story of the old lady who had to miss school because of the war work her country imposed on students really touching. She was very dignified (a teacher of traditional ikebana), but hearing her speak you could feel that her grief was still alive 60 years or so later. Sounds like a small thing compared to all the evils of war (some students might even consider it a plus), but it brought home the cruelty and nonsense of war more clearly than reading a history book or watching the news.
I will recommend this book to the other students in my weekly Japanese night-class - but I am certainly NOT going to lend them my copy, this is too good to risk losing...
One last point, I reviewed here a few years ago a book with 3 CD that had lots of good "real sounding" spoken Japanese, including lots of "aizuchi" (no video and no real interviews, though, so not at all the same thing as this one). It's called Aozora, and if you loved Living Japanese, you will probably like Aozora too (albeit not as much).
Bingo! January 8, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Wow! Japanese people in Japan being interviewed, their responses being transcribed in natural Japanese (with furigana to clarify) and vocabulary lists to define some of the more difficult terms! I've been wanting something like this for a loooong time... even the aizuchi is transcribed. Everything - and there are no English translations - perfect! This is REAL Japanese, not from a textbook. The speech is all natural speed, the people interviewed are all different ages and genders, the questions are all about aspects of Japanese culture and society. This DVD / book combination feels long overdue.
Please note, as I mentioned, that there are vocabulary lists, but no English translations of the interviews. You might take this as too difficult, but it really isn't. Dive in and get to work.
Good resource for exposure to 'real' Japanese January 21, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book/dvd set is very good for bringing Japanese as it is really spoken to those who are learning the language and don't have the fortune of actually living in Japan. It's especially nice that all the dialogue on the dvd is given in written form in the book, with proper explanations. One thing that lacks in many language learning devices is the opportunity to hear the language applied in reality, and this program fills that gap. Instead of set dialogues and situations, you hear unrehearsed responses to questions about daily life, such as family, work, and school.
However, because of the nature of this work it is not for beginners; I would recommend it for at least intermediate learners, unless one wants only to listen and train their ear.
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