Learn Japanese with Manga Volume One: A Self-Study Language Book for Beginners - Learn to read, write and speak Japanese with manga comic strips! (free online audio)
Product ID: 394142279
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Learn to read, write, and speak everyday Japanese with manga stories! If you're into anime, manga, or planning a trip to Japan, this book is your perfect starting point! Learn Japanese with Manga brings the language to life with manga-style comic stories, immersive lessons, and a strong focus on the casual, everyday Japanese spoken by young people. Whether you're a total beginner or just want to brush up your skills, you'll learn to read, write, and speak Japanese naturally—with no classroom required. Designed for self-study use by adult learners, this book is a fun resource for beginners—no prior knowledge of Japanese required! What You'll Learn: How to read and write all 92 Hiragana and Katakana letters, plus 160 essential Kanji Real Japanese phrases used by young people—from greetings to slang and even insults! Seven engaging manga stories woven throughout the book, with recurring characters in a sci-fi storyline Core grammar and vocabulary that grow with you as you progress Native-speaker audio recordings to perfect your pronunciation Exercises, quizzes , and a built-in dictionary for fast reference This isn't just a textbook—it's a complete interactive experience that makes learning Japanese entertaining and effective! Great for self-study Native-Speaker audio included for every Japanese word and phrase NOTE: Contains some mature language—best for ages 16+ Review: A Fun, Low-Pressure Way to Start Learning Japanese - I picked up Learn Japanese with Manga, Volume One because I wanted something more engaging than a traditional textbook, and this ended up being a really pleasant surprise. If you’re someone who feels intimidated by language learning or gets bored easily with drills, this book is a great alternative. What I liked most is how approachable it feels. The manga format makes learning feel less like studying and more like following a story. Vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure are introduced gradually and explained in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’re a complete beginner. It doesn’t assume you already know Japanese, which I really appreciated. The explanations are clear without being overwhelming. I liked that it pauses to explain why things work the way they do instead of just telling you to memorize rules. The visual context from the manga really helps with understanding how words and phrases are actually used in conversation, not just in isolation. This isn’t the kind of book that’s going to make you fluent on its own, but that’s not what it’s trying to do. It’s perfect as a starting point or a supplement to other learning tools. It made me feel more confident and excited to keep learning, which is honestly half the battle with a new language. If you’re interested in Japanese culture, enjoy manga, or just want a more relaxed and enjoyable way to begin learning Japanese, this book is definitely worth picking up. It makes learning feel fun instead of stressful, and that alone makes it a win for me. Review: Fast and Fun - This book essentially covers the same material as Genki, but with more casual language that is beneficial for easily learning the Japanese used in manga, anime, and other casual situations. Each panel is typically in a different art style and theme, emulating the richness and variety seen in manga. There are plenty of one-off one-or two-panel examples as you go, but every 5 lessons (there are 35 in volume 1), the book will give you a few pages of a continuing story of a sci-fi epic that is actually really well drawn in my opinion. The beautiful thing is that they use concepts you have just learned AND give you just a little bit of "We never covered this?" that can be figured out by context. Then, after it gives you a written quiz on those concepts and even on the manga itself, such as "What is the name of the man who introduces himself to Hide at the end of page 3?" and "How many men are in each of Yasu's armies?". Really great if that is your learning style, or if you need a break from Genki.
| Best Sellers Rank | #47,136 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #35 in Alphabet Reference #40 in Grammar Reference (Books) #51 in Foreign Dictionaries & Thesauruses |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 179 Reviews |
S**H
A Fun, Low-Pressure Way to Start Learning Japanese
I picked up Learn Japanese with Manga, Volume One because I wanted something more engaging than a traditional textbook, and this ended up being a really pleasant surprise. If you’re someone who feels intimidated by language learning or gets bored easily with drills, this book is a great alternative. What I liked most is how approachable it feels. The manga format makes learning feel less like studying and more like following a story. Vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure are introduced gradually and explained in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’re a complete beginner. It doesn’t assume you already know Japanese, which I really appreciated. The explanations are clear without being overwhelming. I liked that it pauses to explain why things work the way they do instead of just telling you to memorize rules. The visual context from the manga really helps with understanding how words and phrases are actually used in conversation, not just in isolation. This isn’t the kind of book that’s going to make you fluent on its own, but that’s not what it’s trying to do. It’s perfect as a starting point or a supplement to other learning tools. It made me feel more confident and excited to keep learning, which is honestly half the battle with a new language. If you’re interested in Japanese culture, enjoy manga, or just want a more relaxed and enjoyable way to begin learning Japanese, this book is definitely worth picking up. It makes learning feel fun instead of stressful, and that alone makes it a win for me.
D**N
Fast and Fun
This book essentially covers the same material as Genki, but with more casual language that is beneficial for easily learning the Japanese used in manga, anime, and other casual situations. Each panel is typically in a different art style and theme, emulating the richness and variety seen in manga. There are plenty of one-off one-or two-panel examples as you go, but every 5 lessons (there are 35 in volume 1), the book will give you a few pages of a continuing story of a sci-fi epic that is actually really well drawn in my opinion. The beautiful thing is that they use concepts you have just learned AND give you just a little bit of "We never covered this?" that can be figured out by context. Then, after it gives you a written quiz on those concepts and even on the manga itself, such as "What is the name of the man who introduces himself to Hide at the end of page 3?" and "How many men are in each of Yasu's armies?". Really great if that is your learning style, or if you need a break from Genki.
H**N
Great supplement to his class book
Son was taking Japanese in collage and this book was a great supplement to his class book.
L**D
A great book other than sending you online
This would have been a five-star review if not for one thing: that students using this book are told to go online for lots of answers. Everything from multiple-choice questions to kanji stroke order is only online. I get this when it comes to listening work, but I don't like it. That said: I bumped my low review because A. It seems this is the new way of things, as Genki is the same way. B. The rest of the book is quite good. Having to go online did sap my momentum for filling things out, but - again - this seems to be the norm, and, once deeper into the book, there seems to be fewer times in which this discouraged me. I still don't go online for these things, but the book is still well worth my time and - compared with Genki, which I really like - it does feel more engineered for self study, which I need, since I'm lone-wolfing it.
B**N
Great for learning the grammar!
This book is the cheat sheet for all the questions you didn’t know you had until you started trying to speak Japanese. And it’s a ton of fun because of all the manga examples.
J**H
Excellent quality book, may be a little too advanced for complete beginners
This is a great book with lots of real manga examples! It's fun and engaging to follow. However, I would recommend it for those who know a little bit of Japanese already (especially are comfortable with hiragana and katakana). Technically it's set up for absolutely from zero beginners (so you could technically start with this book), but I think it goes a bit too fast for that level and may be very frustrating for total beginners. It you are a little more advanced, I would say definitely go for this book and reinforce your skills!
B**I
So I like this book but..
My biggest issue with most japanese learning books (this one is no acception) is that they shove kanji down your throat right off the bat. My issue with this is even in Japan they don't start learning SIMPLE kanji until 6-12 years of age. While you might think so? They learn hiragana and katakana first. Trying to learn 3 letter sets at one time is hard for beginners. Finding out how many kanji their are AND they can be pronounced more than one way depending on how its used its a bit much. I 100% kanji needs to be learned but maybe not RIGHT away. You need to learn to walk before you can run. Other than that this book is fun to use. The manga parts are a little out there but it's still fun to read.
B**E
I like it
I just started reading it. Giving it a 5 star because right away it answered questions I have about kana like the small tsu and two ji sounds and two zu sounds. I like the illustrations and explanations. Once I finish this I’ll definitely buy volume two.
M**N
Super hilfreich für Japanisch-Anfänger!
Ein großartiges Buch für alle, die Japanisch lernen wollen! Die Kombination aus Manga und Lektionen macht das Lernen spaßig und leicht verständlich. Sehr gut strukturiert, und die Übungen sind sehr nützlich. Absolut empfehlenswert für Anfänger!
Y**I
Ok but needs more pictures
My son is a HUGE fan of Asia and Japanese culture and food. I bought this to help him learn a little more of the language. It does maybe need more imagery though as he hasn’t been inspired to start using it or learning yet.
S**A
Looks great!
It's bigger than I expected and looks amazing! I'm so excited to start. It arrived in a timely manner and in perfect codition
T**S
Great book!
Great book to learn Japanese and Japan's culture!
C**Y
Not for pure beginners
I had been learning Japanese for about 6 months before I bought this book, and I'm glad I had that foundation otherwise this book would probably have made little sense and maybe even have been discouraging. It skips a lot, assumes you've learnt hiragana and katakana, and uses a few manga snippets to teach you basic words and phrases without explaining much grammar in detail. For me, it was fun for awhile because I just needed a break from Genki, Duolingo and Anki cards, and it served that purpose, but this won't function as your only (or even main) resource for learning Japanese.
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