Acts of Reading

Acts of Reading PDF

Author: Hiroshi Nara

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2002-09-30

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9780824822613

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Students who have completed a year of German read Brecht in their second year, those of Spanish read Cervantes. Teachers of first and second-year Japanese can often find nothing comparable. "Why aren't your students reading literature?" they are asked. "Why not Soseki? Or Murakami?" What are instructors of Japanese doing wrong? Nothing, according to the authors of this volume. Rather, they argue, such questions exemplify the gross misunderstandings and unreasonable expectations of teaching reading in Japanese. In Acts of Reading, the authors set out to explore what reading is for Japanese as a language, and how instructors should teach it to students of Japanese. They seek answers to two questions: What are the aspects of reading in Japan as manifested in Japanese society? What L2 (second-language) reading problems are specific to Japanese? In answering the first and related questions, the authors conclude that reading is a socially motivated, purposeful act that is savored and becomes a part of people's lives. Reading instruction in Japanese, therefore, should include teaching students how to work with text as the Japanese do in Japanese society. The second question relates more directly to traditional concerns in L2 reading. The authors begin with a general theory of reading. They then offer a welcome glimpse into the rich and complex perspectives-sometimes conflicting, other times symbiotic-on what reading is and how it is performed in L1 and L2, and, most importantly, on the web of interconnections between the phenomenology of reading and the demands it places on teaching approaches to reading in Japanese. With essays by Charles J. Quinn, Jr., Fumiko Harada, and Chris Brockett Foreword by J. Marshall Unger

Speak and Read Japanese

Speak and Read Japanese PDF

Author: Larry Herzberg

Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.

Published: 2017-10-16

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13: 1611729289

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Modeled on the same winning format as his Speak and Read Chinese, teacher Larry Herzberg's latest book offers simple, fun, and imaginative ways to remember essential Japanese words and characters. Mastering basic vocabulary and kanji is one of the first challenges any Japanese learner faces. This book addresses this task head-on, complementing the content of all major Japanese textbooks and providing valuable tips to independent students. Includes three hundred essential words and kanji from the first two years of study, indexed for quick reference. Larry Herzberg has founded two Asian language programs and taught Japanese at the university level for thirty years.

The Kanji Code

The Kanji Code PDF

Author: Natalie J Hamilton

Publisher:

Published: 2019-02-15

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9780648488606

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Memorising kanji readings is one of the biggest hurdles when learning Japanese. The Kanji Code teaches a systematic method of learning the readings of kanji or Chinese characters. By studying phonetic components and other visual clues, students of Japanese can reduce their reliance on rote memorisation and feel more in control of their learning.

Choose and Focus

Choose and Focus PDF

Author: Ulrike Schaede

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2011-01-15

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0801460557

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Between 2002 and 2008, Japan's economy saw constant expansion, a record among the world's advanced economies and Japan's longest period of economic growth since World War II. This remarkable achievement came about because of a transformation of Japanese business practices. This transformation was guided by strategies that enabled Japan's leading corporations, previously diversified to an exceptionally high degree, to become leaner, more nimble, and more competitive at home and in the global economy. In Choose and Focus, the first in-depth account of this strategic inflection point in Japanese business, Ulrike Schaede argues that the emerging practices and attitudes have created a New Japan. Drawing on profiles of several corporations, including Panasonic, Takeda and Astellas, Softbank, kakaku.com, and SBI E*Trade, Schaede explains how the fundamental principles of Japan's economy have been overturned. "Choose and focus" strategies, whereby corporations concentrate on core areas and spin off unrelated businesses, have completely altered the strategic logic of Japan's previous industrial architecture. These surprisingly aggressive moves, Schaede finds, have created new market opportunities for start-up enterprises and foreign investors, as well as a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and hostile takeovers that have shaken Japanese companies out of complacency. Unlike the advances made by Japanese firms in the 1970s and 1980s, the current transformation is taking root in component and materials industries rather than in consumer products. Because of the relative obscurity of the changes and the overshadowing story of China's ascent, the Japanese corporate revolution has gone largely unnoticed among Western observers. Choose and Focus is required reading for anyone doing business in Japan or trying to understand how contemporary Japanese business works and how Japanese corporations have reinvented themselves to face the challenges—and realize the opportunities—of the 21st century.

The Japanese Writing System

The Japanese Writing System PDF

Author: Heath Rose

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2017-06-05

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1783098171

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This is the first book devoted to exploring issues of learning written Japanese, focusing on the challenges the writing system poses for the second language learner. It weaves together previous research on Japanese second language acquisition and kanji learning with original studies on self-regulation and kanji learning strategies. It provides the most comprehensive overview of the Japanese writing system and kanji learning to date; helps further our understanding of second language writing acquisition and offers new directions for research in the wider fields of language learning strategies, motivation and self-regulation. Each chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the content of the chapter for the Japanese language learner, instructor and researcher. It will appeal to researchers of the teaching and learning of Japanese as a foreign/second language, the Japanese writing system and second language acquisition, as well as to instructors and learners of Japanese who are struggling with the teaching and learning of kanji.

Cracking the Japanese Market

Cracking the Japanese Market PDF

Author: James Morgan

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1991-04-04

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 1439106401

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Global business today is played by new rules -- many of which are being written by the Japanese and their remarkably successful companies. Because the Japanese are redefining business as we know it, Western companies expecting to profit from the new global marketplace must first learn to compete and succeed against the Japanese in Japan. James C. Morgan, Chairman of Applied Materials, Inc., the leading supplier of advanced processing equipment to the worldwide semiconductor industry which does about forty percent of its business in Japan, and J. Jeffrey Morgan, who has worked in Tokyo on the "inside" at Mitsui & Co., Japan's oldest trading conglomerate, contend that apathy and ignorance have prevented many Western companies from capitalizing on the enormous opportunities for business in Japan. In this brilliant examination of Japanese markets, companies, and business practices -- with special emphasis on the establishment of Applied Materials Japan -- the Morgans, father and son, assert that success in the world of Japanese business is determined by two factors: technology and relationships. Candidly discussing their own mistakes and failures as well as their triumphs, the authors provide invaluable insights into the specific challenges facing Western companies in establishing a presence in Japan: problems in financing the venture, product design and production, marketing and distribution, and most important, creating long-term relationships or "putting on a Japanese face." The extraordinary success of Applied Materials Japan -- hailed by George Bush on the campaign trail in 1988 as "a model for all America" -- is testimony to the valuable lessons to be learned from this book. The Morgans provide a clearly written, step-by-step framework for reorienting company thinking, revising corporate strategy, and revitalizing any organization for world class competitiveness. Using vivid examples of Western companies that have both succeeded admirably and failed miserably in Japan, Cracking the Japanese Market is a straightforward examination of what it takes to compete successfully there -- and by extension in the world today.

Let's Learn More Kanji

Let's Learn More Kanji PDF

Author: Richard Glenn Covington

Publisher: Kodansha Amer Incorporated

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9784770020697

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Everyone agrees that it is possible to learn to speak Japanese in a reasonable amount of time, but no one has ever said that about reading and writing it. It is widely held that spoken and written Japanese require separate efforts by the student, as if these two aspects were in fact distinct languages. A first step toward alleviating the problem of learning Chinese characters, or kanji, was taken by Yasuko Mitamura in 1997 with the publication of Let's Learn Kanji, which introduced the student to the fundamentals -- strokes, radicals, components -- and 250 basic kanji. Now, Let's Learn More Kanji goes one step beyond: the learning of complex kanji and the formation of compounds of more than one character. Not just a brilliant exposition but also a workbook, Let's Learn More Kanji teaches the student how to analyze difficult characters in terms of radicals, components, and basic kanji, how to put kanji together into compounds, and how to recognize and learn any kanji not introduced in this book. Progress is continually checked, and the student is encouraged through quizzes and exercises. The result: 300 complex kanji and over 1,000 compounds, learned with ease.