Learning Hiragana and Katakana is a systematic and comprehensive Japanese workbook that is perfect for self-study or use in a classroom setting. Written Japanese combines three different types of characters: the Chinese characters known as kanji, and two Japanese sets of phonetic letters, hiragana and katakana, known collectively as kana, that must be mastered before the Japanese kanji can be learned.
Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana provides beginning-level students of Japanese a thorough grounding in the basic hiragana and katakana phonetic symbols or syllabaries. A comprehensive introduction presents their primary function, origin, pronunciation and usage. The main body of the book is devoted to presenting the 92 hira and kata characters along with their variations, giving step-by-step guidelines on how to write each character neatly in the correct stroke order, with generous practice spaces provided for handwriting practice.
This Japanese workbook includes:- Systematic and comprehensive coverage of the two Japanese kana systems.
- Ample provision for Japanese kana practice, review, and self-testing at several levels
- Detailed reference section explaining the origin and function of kana, and the various kana combinations.
- Access to online Japanese audio files to aid in correct pronunciation.
- Helpful additional information for language students accustomed to romanized Japanese.
- Vocabulary selected for usefulness and cultural relevance.
About this new edition: The new third edition has been expanded and revised to include many additional reading and writing exercises. Accompanying online recordings demonstrate the correct pronunciation of all the characters, vocabulary, and sentences in the book.
"Even long-time students of Japan will find the book illuminating and thought- provoking."—Sam Jameson, former Tokyo Bureau Chief of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times
"Among the numerous books by foreigners on the intricate Japanese mindscapes and businessscapes, this is undoubtedly the most informative and eyeopening; it is rich in exploratory insight and provocative wisdom."—Dr Tae-Chang Kim, President, Institute for the Integrated Study of Future Generations, Kyoto
"KATA explains the rationale for Japanese behavior and fills in the blanks for everyone, including long-term foreign residents."—James Fink, General Manager, Colliers Halifax, Tokyo
In this first book ever to explain why the Japanese think and behave the way they do, veteran Japanologist Boye Lafayette De Mente, author of more than 30 books on Japan, unlocks the mystery of kata—the cultural molds that have traditionally shaped and defined the attitudes, behavior, and character of the Japanese and are primarily responsible for the traits and talents that make them different from other people—to explain what makes the Japanese Japanese, and how it effects all their personal, professional, and political affairs!
In some 70 brief essays, ranging from "The Art of Bowing" and "Importance of the Apology" to "The Compulsion for Quality" and "Exchanging NameCards", the author looks at the origin, nature, use, and influence of kata (literally the form and order of doing things) in Japanese life and how this cultural conditioning causes the Japanese to think and react in the way they do. Because all relations with the Japanese are influenced by kata, the key to dealing with the Japanese in personal or business matters requires knowing how and when to induce or compel them to break the kata and behave in a non-Japanese way.
