YesJapan Corporation Japanese from Zero!

Japanese from Zero Book 3, Please note that I am writing this review with the assumption that you have already read and understood the first two books in this series. The third book in the series is where you will really need to know your stuff before you even think about attempting it. You will NEED to know Katakana and Hiragana from the go and up to a high standard as everything is written in that format apart from the explanations that of course are written in English. A little Kanji knowledge would be helpful if you know it but is not necessary, as this book will introduce you to them at a steady pace. I would also recommend another book in the series called ‘Kanji from Zero’ that has more examples that you may find helpful as an accompanying book but isn’t necessary. So as I just mentioned, this time the Kanji symbols are introduced for the first time but fear not, they are not as difficult to understand as you might think! I know many people start to panic when these are introduced and look like nothing more than funny squiggles. However, much like when Katakana and Hiragana were introduced in the previous two books, this one follows the same pattern. It will show you the first five (which are also the numbers 1-5) from that point on any time one of those numbers turns up it will be replaced with the Kanji symbol. Then you will get a chapter on something else (usually grammar) before getting another five to add to the list. I found this a great way to do it as it does give you a breather between chapters and allow to get used to the style. Once you’ve learned some it will make Japanese much easier to read and understand. Your written sentences will shrink in size and be a lot easier to read. Oh, and you will feel smarter :-P Of course you will learn some new vocabulary and grammar skills like the previous entries but I would also recommend going back to the first two books and brushing up on the vocab in those as well. They do come up and you will not be reminded of what they are this time. The thing I noticed about this book is how it is more adult in the way you have to present your answers. Simply giving one-word answers or simple sentences like you did in the past is not enough. For example, one question will ask you to translate the sentence, ‘I like the seventh bird from the left’. So you will need to know grammar, animals, numbers, vocabulary and location words to answer one question. That is a lot of knowledge for such a simple answer. I want to get across that you will need to really think about your answers and all previous knowledge from book 1-2 will be used. However, that being said the book is still within the N5 category if you are working towards that test and I would say it takes around three to four reads for the majority of the information to sink in. If you have the first two in the series then you can’t go wrong with this one. A real challenge this time around but very rewarding in the long term. Also if you have made it this far, please don’t give up even if it gets tough. Learning a language is not easy but to come this far and give up is something you will regret for years to come. I know this from personal experience. ************* I would also like to recommend some other learning material that may help you with this book which can both be found on YouTube. First is the official YesJapan channel. George Trombley, the founder of Japanese from Zero hosts a series of videos that go through each lesson from book 1-3 in more depth and in a friendly setting. I didn’t know about these till a few days ago but I have watched a few and they are very useful even if you have gone through the books already. Second is a channel called ‘Japan Radio’ hosted by NHK (A Japanese news network) They upload regular podcasts of the national Japanese news and is spoken entirely in clear and well-spoken Japanese too. Very helpful for listening practice.

My teen son was homeschooled since eighth grade. One of his main interests turned out to be languages. In his first couple years of homeschool, he attempted to learn Japanese using Rosetta Stone (he went through the full first level and most of the second), using the first Genki book and workbook, various other beginner books (as I scroll through the popular books on Japanese language in Amazon, I see we own many of the titles...), and by doing a few other things like us just going through flashcards of hiragana and katakana. Halfway through his Junior/11th grade year (Jan 2017), he told me he felt like he learned a lot of Japanese, but said he wouldn't be able to put together even the simplest sentence - written or spoken - if he was put to the test. As with all things homeschool, there's some trial and error, and we occasionally try something that doesn't work. This was definitely one of those things. I knew he was frustrated, but not at all ready to give up. At that point we came across Japanese From Zero! Book 1. When he started using that first workbook and discovered the hundreds of free videos the author, George Trombley, put on YouTube, I mean, this kid was transformed. He ate that book up, and book 2. By the end of that school year (June 2017) he'd gone from saying he couldn't say "How are you?" to being comfortable enough to converse with teens in Japan. In the summer he completed book 3. Senior/12th grade year (starting September 2017) he completed Japanese From Zero! 4 and Kanji From Zero! 1. He kept up with the supplemental videos from George. When George asks a question, I'm continually impressed at how my son replies correctly, without fail, before George supplies the answer. My son is telling me to say he didn’t feel he started actually learning Japanese before he opened the first From Zero! book. These books and the free supplemental videos are by far the best system we've found for any English speaker who wants to learn Japanese. UPDATE MAY 2019: My son graduated homeschool Spring 2018. He asked if he could take a placement test for Japanese at the university he was planning to attend. Recall he’d only gone through George Trombley’s Japanese From Zero! books 1-4 plus Kanji from Zero! book 1 and the free YouTube videos. From the placement test, he was put in 3rd semester Japanese. He likely tested into 4th semester, but as that class is only offered each Spring, he was happy to go into 3rd semester. How did he do? He got straight As - a 4.0 in both 3rd and 4th semester, and he’s continuing with his Japanese studies this coming year. Each class was worth 5 credits, and for the two classes he skipped, he was given 4 credits each. So for 3rd semester he got 13 credits for his one Japanese class, and another 5 in 4th semester. Just from self studying these books in homeschool.

Japanese From Zero is honestly the most forgiving way to learn Japanese. Yes, it is slow paced, yes it is a bit repetitive and there are some mistakes here and there in the corrections at the end. However, I have been taking Japanese at University and Japanese from Zero gave me the edge to always be on top of my game when needed. Sometimes, Japanese teachers can have a hard time explaining Japanese concepts in french and even english and so it can be quite intimidating to do homework or answer questions right after we have learned something in class. I accidently missed one class this week because I have misread my agenda and while studying the resume of the class online I noticed that I had already learned in book 2 half of what had been taught in class for that day. And I have to mention that it's a "learn Japanese from manga" class so there are people there with 2-3-4 sessions of Japanese ahead of me, yet I feel like what is mostly seperating us is only that they know more vocabulary and kanji readings. A special thanks to mr. George Trombley Jr. for the books and especially the courses on line that dont judge me if I relisten them over and over again. P.S. the live podcast is hilarious. Please keep on making them.

3 eme volume de l excellente série de livre Japanese from Zero, une des meilleures méthode pour l apprentissage du Japonais ( compréhension, lecture et écriture) .

Even if I am a german native speaker I have chosen the Japanese From Zero! series to learn japanese. I was very satisfied with parts 1+2, because of its clear and easy to understand structure. The same goes for part 3 where the first kanji are explained. Although the content of part 3 is more difficult, the book is still always motivating and rewarding. After 6 month of learning japanese with JFZ! , I can speak some basic japanese already and have no problems with reading and writing hiragana and katakana. I already bought part 4 and look forward to the release of part 5!