Traveler's phrase book recomendations?

wktd
  • So far one of the better laided out books I've found from my perspective is Barron's Japanese at a Glance (ISBN:0-7641-0320-2).

    Does anyone have any others they would suggest as a back up to the 20 or so phrases that every tourist should know?


  • never learn casual language from a book... in fact, books will either make you too crass, or much too polite... Onegai Shimasu is great for meeting the parents, but not much else... Cho! sugoi......... aint it? (I taught my girlfriend "yikes", it's hard to figure out how to describe, "yikes"...


  • I agree : Lonely Planet - JAPANESE PHRASEBOOK is a good book to read.


  • I actually found Todd & Erika Geers' Making Out In Japanese (ISBN 0-8048-3396-6) useful as well as a fun read. This is the book Bill Murray has in the Lost In Translation DVD extra on the making of the movie.


  • I'm going to stay away from slang as slang can change within a few years. Linguists struggle with slang all the time. I just want to be able to get around for the week and order food without soundling TOO much like an idiot.


  • Speaking of phrase books. I was going through some of my father's Korean War artifacts today and came across his "Japanese Phrase Book for the Occupation Forces." It was published in 1950. He was briefly stationed in Sendai, Japan before being sent over to South Korea, about 1951. I scanned the cover (it is a bit worn and dog-eared) and I'll post it over in the photo gallery (maybe we should start one for old stuff like this).


  • i lost so-called friends from using some words in that making out book
    the rough guide books are pretty harmless imo (they work for ME anyway)
    *crosses fingers and hope know-it-all language trolls don't see this thread*


  • yah, that is the BEST, bar none
    can't even find it in japan though, always sold out...
    got lucky, a girl bought it for me as a gift, that's how it was found
    a book i've been reading/studying lately is "Japanese Particle Workbook" by Kamiya Taeko, isbn 0-8348-0404-2
    "This is the book Bill Murray has in the Lost In Translation DVD extra on the making of the movie."
    not surprised at all :(


  • POINT AND SPEAK Phrasebook JAPAN, English Edition
    ISBN: 4795818436

    I don't know how easily you can get the book in your country. But I have several books, Thai, Vetnamese, Korean, and Chinese. They did really work.


  • Cute book, but not what i was looking for - BUT it did lead to a couple of otehrs that are right on target!

    So that was an indirect good lead. Thanks :-)


  • i have had friends who complained that the speak was too polite, others that complained that it was too rough

    "I just want to be able to get around for the week and order food without soundling TOO much like an idiot."
    isbn 0-8048-3368-0
    gl


  • You're better off learning polite Japanese than the slang. I've got the making out in Japanese and while some of it is useful, a proper (ie. Lonely Planet) phrasebook will help you faaaar more in the long run. Couple it with a cheap dictionary (phrase book has "How do I get to ...", dictionary has the word you want for the gaps :D) and you are set!


  • I'm selling a Lonely Planet phrasebook (http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=378&item=4548727009&rd=1). I had two and I love my copy. This mixed with "Making out in Japanese" (lots of good slang in it if you want to go that way) will help you on your travels.

    The "Japanese in 10 minutes a day" by Bilingual Books is helpful before you go.







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