13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese

by Giles Murray

13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese presents tested shortcuts for Japanese language acquisition. Identifying two groups of people who actively and effectively study Japanese to the point of fluency-successful non-native learners and Japanese children-Giles Murray has collected from both
groups the most rewarding and universal techniques which can be put to immediate use by both beginner and advanced students of Japanese.

This book is designed for people who have tried orthodox textbooks and failed, people who know a little Japanese but don't have the necessary time or motivation to make the transition to more serious textbooks, and people seeking to increase fluency using ability already acquired. It introduces new
strategies for thinking, speaking and memorizing Japanese quickly, efficiently and independently. Used in tandem with a mainstream textbook, these strategies will enable any student to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life situations, and to speak without hesitation in natural
and fluent Japanese.

With lively and entertaining commentaries, striking illustrations, two Japanese manga-including a six-page extract from Osamu Tezuka's famous Blackjack series-brainteasing puzzles, and genuinely useful example sentences, 13 Secrets offers a unique and exciting alternative to all students of
Japanese.

Featuring
- An original manga by Tezuka Osamu
- All new custom-written 16-page manga
- 3 mini-graphic novels
- Over 100 illustrations
- Dynamic quiz format
- Full glossaries

Genres: Japanese Literature, Japan, Language, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Reference

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1999

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many flaws with this book but also some really great exercises that can be incorporated into one's routine Japanese study. I think my favorite chapters were Chapter 2: explanatory phrases, Chapter 3: readable phone numbers (just because I see jokes/holidays made up from these different ways of saying numbers and I never figured it out before), Chapter 8: adverbs, and Chapter 10: Prefixes and suffixes. Some of these are only useful because I haven't gotten to study them yet (prefixes/suffixes and adverbs). BUT these chapters were able to make me think about learning and speaking Japanese differently than I had before. The ultimate goal of speaking Japanese is to be able to communicate. As a beginner speaker, I may not be able to communicate efficiently but as long as I'm understood, that's all that matters.

As for the other chapters in this book, some of them really sucked. This is supposed to be for beginners who have limited vocabulary but you're also supposed to have an incredibly VAST vocabulary to say things in a more difficult way. I get where he's coming from but those chapters were more or less useless. I hated the child's games one, mostly because I couldn't get any of them and that's mostly because my vocabulary isn't there yet. But eventually it will be hopefully and I do intend to work hard with the exercises that I liked.

[Eri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for some points, definitely great as vocabulary building tool in some cases, best parts are probably those prefixes and suffixes.
Definitely not for beginners, but pre intermediate and intermediate students can learn something from this.Possibly.

[Ivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice try in making learning Japanese sound fun -- especially for beginners who stick too much to textbooks and JLPT drills.

But some advice is seriously untenable -- especially the chapter where you are encouraged to use synonyms, exaggerations, comparisons etc. when you don't know / forget a word. You need to a sizeable vocabulary for that to work. If you forget basic words like "yasashii" (nice), it's highly unlikely you even know words like "akui no nai" (no ill-intention).

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good fun book, that provides an alternative approach to learning Japanese. It aims to fill the gap between too much bookish, unrealistic Japanese that is all too common in textbooks, and the colloquial Japanese we all want to speak. It is not really a substitute for a textbook, but it has some good ideas. Especially good are chapters 2 on explanatory phrases, chapter 5 on hypothesizing, and chapter 10 on prefixes and suffixes. The rest is a bit hit and miss - like some reviews suggest, it is aimed at higher level learners in some parts. All in all, this is probably worth a look if you are bored with all those textbooks you mean to look at but never quite get around to. But it won't make you fluent.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

These are all very good strategies for people who want to outgrow the textbook-and-rote-memorisation phase of studying Japanese, and proceed to a more natural, flexible and fun way of interacting with and studying the language.

My only complaint would be that the book is too short. I know that the setup of this book is just to offer the necessary strategies with some basic examples and let the reader take it from there (and this it does well), but personally I would have liked to have seen a little more both of examples and more in-depth information and suggestions on each of the strategies.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by the man who wrote _Japanese for Busy People_. These secrets help adult learners use the techniques that children use. Some of these I've used just because they work, e.g., using an explanatory phrase rather than a simple vocabulary word. (That's also a tip that brain injury survivors use.) I recommend this to anyone learning a language (some of the concepts are transferable), who has a basic foundation, but wants to speed up their conversational ability.

[Jnyama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needless to say, I did not become fluent. The secrets seemed frankly obscure and helpful mostly to the already-virtually-fluent.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 2 out of 5]

It might be useful for English speakers, but pretty useless for me as a Chinese/English bilingual. I'd have to find my own way of studying Japanese.

[Nur Iman · Rating 3 out of 5]

the tips is good to those who are learning the Japanese language, it help to boost up your understanding and fluency.