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REFERENCE BOOKS:
- Japanese For Everyone, Nagara Susumu
- A textbook using a functional approach, rather than a grammatical one, toward communication in everyday situations
- Complete with a storyline, illustrations, and exercises, it is an interesting book to start with
- All About Particles, Chino Naoko
- A dictionary of particles, it provides several usages and examples
- Koudansha's Pocket Kanji Guide
- A kanji dictionary containing the 1,006 Shin-Kyouiku Kanji (New Education Kanji) plus over 10,000 Kanji compounds
- Portable and well laid out, it's a must-have for the beginner and intermediate learner
OTHER BOOKS USED WHEN DEALING WITH SONG LYRICS, COMICS AND THE LIKE:
- Communicating With "KI"
- A dictionary of idioms containing the word "KI" which is ever-present in daily conversation
- "Body" Language
- A dictionary of idioms containing parts of the body
- A colorful and imaginative aspect of Japanese, idioms can help one enjoy, appreciate, and deepen the study of Japanese
- Kodansha's Romanized Japanese-English Dictionary
- Includes Japanese script and numerous sample sentences, especially on selected keywords
- Also included an appendix of counters
- Universe Waei Jiten
- A compact, relatively comprehensive Japanese-English dictionary including a generous helping of sub-entries, sample setences, illustrations, and even loan words
- With entries and sentences written in Japanese script, it is a good way to learn the Kana and Japanese alphabetical order
COMICS:
Chinpui, Fujiko F. Fujio
Dragonball #28, Toriyama Akira
Escaflowne
Pyokotan No Waraippanashi
Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki
Disclaimer:The author has compiled this quick-and-dirty guide based on the above-mentioned references for the sake of self-learners who usually deal with Japanese animation, comic, and games. This guide does not necessarily follow the sources and may be prone to errors. If in doubt, simply review your references and/or consult a teacher.
Material from comics have been used as examples to illustrate how they may appear in colloquial/informal usage. This is not recommended for those who are not yet used to switching between polite and informal speech depending on the situation.