 |
|
 |
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
rohini
JLPT Starter
Joined: 02 Jul 2006
Posts: 6
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:37 am Post subject: Preparation books for level 3 |
|
|
Hello ,
I need names of good preparation books for level 3. It should have everything especially grammer and vocabulary. There are n no of books in market but I am not able to decide which one is good to buy.
Please guide me on this.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Rohini |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Tim
JLPT Helper
Joined: 29 Jul 2005
Posts: 218
Location: Perth, Western Australia
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Here is a post i wrote in the Learn Japanese about japanese textbooks:
| Quote: |
I started using the "Yookoso" textbooks (both book 1 and 2) at university. I never found any problems with them and found that they seemed to cover most of the essentials.
The grammar structures are explained clearly in English, there are many word lists from a large range of topics (which is a huge benefit), and it covers a reasonable amount of kanji and listening exercises.
By using the textbook, you should cover everything you need to pass level 3 of the JLPT without that much extra study other than a few extra words in the word list.
To progress further, i suggest getting a beginners - shoukyuu (初級) or intermediate - chuukyuu (中級） textbooks written by Japanese publishers. Ideally, one aimed for students in-between the two is ideal.
I suggest before going on to study more after completing the initial textbooks, you should buy a grammar textbook written by a Japanese publisher as they tend to explain additional rules about using grammar forms that are not explained in many textbooks written in English. The "Donna toki, dou tukau" series are good ones to get for checking your grammar. If you don't do this step, your grammar will be incomplete and full of holes.
Now that i think back, the only bad point about the Yookoso book is that most of the vocab is written in kana only, so it is harder to memorise.
Now i study vocab using kanji which is much easier as you have something visual to associate the meaning and sounds to.
Upon reaching 2 kyuu in the JLPT, you should know the common readings of a lot of kanji and therefore should be able to use this to help you memorise new words.
Hope this helped. |
Since you mentioned you were looking for a book that covered as much of the content as possible, these volume 1 and 2 of the book seemed to come to mind considering their completeness. It is quite expensive though and you would want to buy the listening cds as well as the workbook for learning the kanji.
Each volume is usually sold with the CD, workbook and the textbook, so you should be fine.
Note however that this textbook isn't specifically for the JLPT. It is intended as a full Japanese course to take you from no knowledge of the language to level 3 (by vol 2).
If you have level 4 already, then consider not buying the first volume as you may already know the content.
Good luck with your study. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
rohini
JLPT Starter
Joined: 02 Jul 2006
Posts: 6
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for your reply. You said in your reply that the books you suggested were not specifically for JLPT. I have seen books having everything in Japanese. I will have a look at those books and see if my Japanese would be able to cope with them since I have a very basic Japanese level right now. 
Thanks again for your reply. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
aggie17
JLPT Starter
Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Imabari, Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:28 am Post subject: Busy People |
|
|
Hi, I recently bought the Japanese for Busy People books 2 and 3, and they claim to cover all necessary topics for passing the level 3 exam. I was just wondering if anybody out there could back up that statement from experience for me, or let me know if these books are lacking in any particular areas. Of course, in the end I will just try and make sure I have memorized this entire study website! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
snallygaster
JLPT Helper
Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 134
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well I'm only studying for the sankyuu myself, but I've been using "The Preparatory Course for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test" published by Unicom, and it seems very good so far. It's just an organized catalogue of grammar point after grammar point, each with an explanation and a couple of examples, and a review quiz in each section. There's also a reading practice section at the end. It's written entirely in Japanese but they also publish an English supplement with translations of the explanations/examples.
The only thing it's missing is listening practice. It comes with 2 CDs but they're just readings of the explanations/examples and reading practice. And the readers speak more slowly & clearly than they do in JLPT listening section. Okay, it doesn't have anything specifically for vocabulary either, but the examples & quizes seem to be based on the JLPT3 specs. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
befletch
JLPT Starter
Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Canada
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:24 am Post subject: Re: Busy People |
|
|
| aggie17 wrote: |
| Hi, I recently bought the Japanese for Busy People books 2 and 3, and they claim to cover all necessary topics for passing the level 3 exam. I was just wondering if anybody out there could back up that statement from experience for me, or let me know if these books are lacking in any particular areas. Of course, in the end I will just try and make sure I have memorized this entire study website! |
The only thing I would point out is that the first book and perhaps the second one are available in romanji and kana versions, and I would never recommend someone to start learning Japanese using romanji. That was the biggest mistake I made.
Hopefully that doesn't affect you, I just wanted to put the warning out there for anyone else who might buy Japanese for Busy People. Buy the kana version!
I think the books are very well thought out, though, so if the publisher says book 3 prepares you for JLPT level 3 I would believe them. You should find something to help with the listening portion of the test, of course. Unless JfBP comes with CDs now. They didn't back in my day. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
aggie17
JLPT Starter
Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Imabari, Japan
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject: No worries |
|
|
Yeah, I made sure to get the kana version when I ordered them since I felt the same way. I think you can order cds to go along with the books, but I don't feel I need them. I hear Japanese all around me at the office every day so my listening skills are pretty well developed. When I know the words they are using, which is rare enough, I understand them. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
JanneM
JLPT Helper
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 313
Location: Osaka
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: Re: Busy People |
|
|
| aggie17 wrote: |
| Hi, I recently bought the Japanese for Busy People books 2 and 3, and they claim to cover all necessary topics for passing the level 3 exam. I was just wondering if anybody out there could back up that statement from experience for me, or let me know if these books are lacking in any particular areas. Of course, in the end I will just try and make sure I have memorized this entire study website! |
For what it's worth, they were enough for me to pass level 3. But of course it wasn't my only study material (and they plainly aren't meant to be); my teacher added various bits and pieces from different sources to go over particular grammar points or practice vocabulary, and I also used grammar dictionaries, self-created word lists, kanji practice, previous years' tests and so on. And i live in Japan, which makes the listening a lot easier of course.
That said, the books do seem to at least use most or all of the kanji once, cover a good deal of the vocabulary, and all the important grammar. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
