Book Review: Making Sense of Japanese
To fellow followers of a certain language acquisition style, it may not come as a surprise that I haven’t really used textbooks while learning Japanese. You know the reasons why – “no one talks like that, yada yada yada”. There are a couple of exceptions to that rule – the revolutionary kanji course Remembering the Kanji by James Heisig and Tae Kim’s brilliant (and non-traditional) Complete Guide to Learning Japanese. However, most textbooks seem to peddle the older style of language learning that doesn’t really benefit the student.
But wait, I can recommend a book on Japanese that teaches in a forward thinking manner, but doesn’t try and teach the reader everything. The ambitious title of Jay Rubin’s Making Sense of Japanese
There’s an informal yet scholarly style at hand – much like that of the best teacher you had at school. It’s learning, but not quite as you know it. By aiming to make seemingly dense topics interesting through the use of clear writing and humour, Rubin is able to breach deep topics with apparent ease. There are two parts – the first half deals with the idea of topics and the myth of the subjectless sentence. It also covers the は and が particles, with clarity I haven’t seen elsewhere. The second part is a collection of essays on various topics, that can be read in any order (unlike part one, which is written as essays that build on each other).
The book seems suited to intermediate learners, but the topics covered are worth bearing in mind for learners at any level. The book would have considerable benefit for translators, as it shows both literal and considered translations of text – making it a nice primer for how to translate trickier sentences when moving from Japanese to English. Indeed, Rubin’s experience of a translator (of several notable works in Murakami’s ouvre, nonetheless) gives credence and weight to his writing.
The biggest downside is that there’s next to no kanji use (or even kana), apart from in the very last chapter. It isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s odd as hell to go back to reading romaji. It does allow slightly easier digestion of the points at hand, because you’re not really looking at vocabulary in this book. There’s a chapter that deals with his thoughts on kanji, that seeks to explain why they were ommited from the book. He seems to share a love/hate relationship with the little guys. A kana+kanji edition of the book would be welcome though.
Overall: A clearly written and humorous collection of essays on the murkier parts of the Japanese language. Beginners will enjoy it, but those with a stronger grasp will take much more away.
(Quick question, since I know there are a few Murakami fans that might read this. Have you read Jay Rubin’s other book, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words? I’ve been meaning to read it, I just don’t know if it will be 100% worth my time)
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Hmm I don’t think that Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words is realy worth your time.
I was also thinking about to read the book, but then I decited against it. I’ve read some reviews of the book and to be honest there were not a singel review wich made me want to read the book – not because the reviews were bad. No it’s because your expecting something other from the book than it is.
Some reviews said that the book was more about Jay Rubin than about Murakami.
So if your’re expecting to get some new informations about Murakami the book isn’t the right one, I personally think.
What in my way speacks also against it is that I’m not that found of Jay Rubin.
I read a translation of him from one of Murakamis works. And compared it with the German translation. I realy was shock that I recogniced that one of the importend parts simply were missing, a part wich give the book the sense it should have. ( That hint for the missing part I get from a blog don’t reamember wich it was).Killing somehow the meaning of the book by letting out one important sentence and Jay Rubin is often cutting out parts from the original because hes thinking that for this part there is no need and maked the book easyer to understand.
But I think that it isn’t right that he’s trying to make it easyer – particularly if you think about the fact that the books are even in Japanese compicaded to understand.
There should be a Japanese book with questions from Murakamis readers to Murakami but poorly all in Japanese. It sure would be interessting to read that book but translating all by oneself is also hard. I personaly hope that 1Q84 will also be that popular in the western countrys so that some non-fiction books of Murakami wil be published and also this nice questions-to-Murakami-book.
I’ll try and find the Music of Words in a library, so I don’t have to worry about wasting money if it’s no good.
I think you might be referring to The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’s translation, which I think has been changed a lot from it’s first Japanese version. I think answers about that may be in this conversation between Murakami translators – http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/murakami/complete.html
I like the sound of more Murakami being translated in English – but I think that his publishers have a very specific ‘brand’ for his style, and all the non-fiction stuff wouldn’t fit with that brand. I guess we’ll just have to get better at Japanese and translate it ourselves!
Yeah try it with a library – would be nice if you would write a review maybe you have onther opinion about the book.
As far as I remember the book was Norwegian Wood or Kafka. But I looked it up now and find the blog entry. It was in Hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world. And it was not Rubin it was Birnbaum with the missing sentence but Rubin also like to leave out parts or rewrite them…
Somehow it seems to be normal for some translators to leave out things.
Heres the blog entry I write about:
http://howtojaponese.com/2009/09/14/spinning-around-and-around/
And heres the one about the murakami-question-book ^^
http://howtojaponese.com/2009/09/07/condoms/
Yeah the publishers realy have there own opinion of Murakami but I think that there sure are some non-fiction publishers wich would publish it (or better to say I hope that there are some). But reading it all in Japanese sure would be the best.
Hey N-noobie! Since I’m all pro-textbook I’ll throw in my two cents. I do agree that everybody has a certain way of learning things and what might work for one, might not work for another. I do believe textbooks provide you with a solid base (provided it’s a good textbook). Compare it to ‘going to school’. For example, even though stuff you might have learned in science class doesn’t help you with your future job, you know the basics and I think thats what it’s all about. Textbooks provide you with a certain ‘stability’. You might not ‘talk’ the same way you would find in a texbook, but it gives you the tools and trades to create something on your own and ‘talk’ in your own way. (people who learn through watching anime, people REALLY don’t talk like THAT)
btw, Remembering the Kanji ain’t all that. I don’t get why people first need to learn just the kanji (how it looks visually) and then in the end, STILL need to learn the meaning again. Kanji flashcards does it in one go.
Oh I agree about their merits, it’s just that I don’t find them a great way to work. Self guided learning really needs more structure to it, which a textbook has really well. I think it’s about finding a balance (and a good textbook). Agree with everything you’ve said though.
RTK is a great way of getting aquainted with the kanji. You get all the meanings, then can work on the readings afterwards. Again, it’s not for everyone, but it was totally essential for me to start actually learning the language.