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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Japanese Picture Dictionary Jun 23, 2008
This book is great for any beginner who is looking to broaden their Japanese vocabulary. It has numerous full page spreads which are interesting and fun to look at. Along the margins are pictures of the objects or people you are learning the Japanese words for along with the romaji and either hiragana, katakana or kanji symbols. My only complaint was that they were not all in simply hiragana or katakana (for reading practice) but were instead in kanji. This is good though considering everything you would read beyond children's level is a combination of the three. Plenty of interesting topics for each layout too, from living room and kitchen to zoo, space and medieval castles! Recommend to any beginner looking to increase their Japanese vocabulary.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 a nice book, with a helpful way to learn some Japanese words Sep 21, 2007
I bought this book in a bookstore before we moved to Japan; I was so excited to see a Japanese picture book that my daughter may enjoy that I bought it immediately. In reading through it before our move here, it was interesting, although a bit dense with information since I initially bought it for my preschool-aged daughter. This may be more useful for adults or school-age kids who want to learn Japanese words in a context beyond just memorizing the words and their meanings, but rather associating pictures with the Japanese words and how they are pronounced. The pictures are good, and my daughter enjoys looking at them for a little while; however, they really are geared more toward adults or school-age children (i.e. they are not the fun and happy pictures to which preschoolers or that age group are typically drawn). I do still go over it in limited doses with my 3-year old to help her learn Japanese words, but this is not a book she will pull off the shelf and look through on her own (she does do that with most of her other books).
Now that I am living in Japan and learning the language and having to use it in everyday life, I find myself reading this book more than my daughter, where it is useful as a tool to increase my vocabulary. There is also a nice index in the back of the book with both the english as well as romaji text for the Japanese words. I wouldn't use this book by itself to learn Japanese, but do not think that was ever its intention anyway. This is a nice book in that it does include the kanji/hiragana/katakana text for the words as well as how it is pronounced. The actual Japanese script for the words is great because it can help you identify it on packaging or other times you need to learn the written word. For a real beginner, having the romaji pronunciation help there is a plus, since learning all of the kanji scripts and their respective pronunciations can be more than a little overwhelming (at least there are more limited numbers of hiragana and katakana scripts to learn). For those of us learning Japanese and needing to use it in everyday life, having the romaji pronunciation there is a big help, vs. a more academic approach of strictly learning all of the Japanese script (kanji, hiragana, katakana) for the words.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Love the layout of this book! Jan 10, 2007
I have never seen a "dictionary" laid out this way, but I love it! Every time you turn a page you get a two page spread of a scene from daily life: school, work, home, neighborhood, etc. - kind of "Where's Waldo" style. Within the picture almost everything is labelled in Japanese. It's really a great idea for helping kids (and adults) link the internal concept of a thing or action with the spoken word for that action, rather than trying the translation approach. A really great learning aid!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Let's Learn Japanese Picture Dictionary Jan 09, 2007
Bought for my daughter (5). She is learning English. It's awesome!
7 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Good book, would have preferred no romaji Mar 17, 2006
Children's book or no, I was hoping this picture dictionary would be very useful. Unfortunately its usefulness is abated by the use of romaji. Do not be mistaken, kana and kanji are used -- each word/image is broken up into English, romaji, and its proper kana or kanji. However, I would very much have prefered that it just be English, kana, and kanji with furigana/rubi where required.
As it stands, the romaji becomes a crutch. Not to mention it is the only way of learning the pronunciation of the kanji, something I very much dislike.
If you don't mind this issue, then it is otherwise a very good book.
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