Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication: A Self-Study Course and Reference »

TAEKO KAMIYA received her BA from Doshisha Women's College and MAs from the University of San Francisco in education and from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in linguistics. A veteran language teacher, with 25 years' experience teaching Japanese, she is the author of numerous books on the Japanese language, including The Handbook of Japanese Verbs and The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs (both by Kodansha International).

To be able to speak fluently in Japanese can take hundreds of hours of intensive study. But the ability to communicate effectively-to say what one thinks, to ask and answer questions, to describe events in the past, present and future, and even to create with Japanese based on one's knowledge of it-can be achieved in a much shorter time. And now shorter than ever with this book.

Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication presents 142 essential sentence patterns for everyday conversation-all that is needed to get by in most uncomplicated social situations. These patterns represent the basic building blocks of sophisticated speech, and are mastered by all intermediate students. Each is given first in the form of a full-length English sentence, so that one can quickly understand its meaning and intent, then is followed by a Japanese translation, a short, precise explanation, several example sentences, and a practice section that allows one to test one's comprehension. By familiarizing oneself with these patterns and practicing them out loud, and inventing new sentences with them, one will quickly gain the skills necessary to effectively communicate one's thoughts in Japanese.

With page after page of sentence-pattern practice and straightforward explanations of grammar, this book is ideal for ambitious beginning-level students who wish to up their oral proficiency quickly. But it will also usefully serve intermediate and advanced students in need of solid review material, or anyone with an interest in the workings of the Japanese language.