{"product_id":"9781568364186","title":"How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese: A Vocabulary Builder","description":"For every student, a time eventually comes when basic grammar   is no longer the problem. You can say a few words about the weather, or the   fact that, yes, you are feeling hungry, or explain that you are going out for   the day -- and actually be understood. Beyond that, however, the going gets   tough. You cannot make pertinent comments about philosophy, politics, art,   science, law, or business -- simply because you lack the necessary   vocabulary. In fact, you may not be able to say that you are interested in   \"philosophy\" at all, because you don't know the Japanese word for it. How do   you go about acquiring this specialized vocabulary (most of which consists of   kanji compounds)? Usually by spending hundreds of hours reading Japanese   books or picking through a dictionary.   \u003cp\u003e  This book is an attempt to shorten that process by collecting a good number   of the more commonly used key words from crucial areas of human endeavor.   Now, without spending years mastering the written language, you can   occasionally come up with the right word at the right moment in a   conversation that is striving toward comprehensibility. This can even be done   by students who do not have a strong grasp of kanji, for they can learn the   words as sounds.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  The areas covered in the book are ideas and theories; philosophy and   religion; politics and government; the fine arts, humanities, and social   sciences; science and technology; law and justice; and business and   economics. This division allows the student to go the category where   vocabulary is needed and learn the key words given there, rather than   floundering around in a dictionary and hoping one has found what is needed. A   further advantage of this arrangement is that certain kanji tend to be   repeated over and over in certain categories: for example, the kanji read   \"gaku\" in the science section of the book. This type of repetition allows the   student to get a feeling for certain kanji and usages.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Beginning students can pick up individual words and put them in sentences of   their own making, no matter how simple, and advanced students can get a   better understanding of context by reading the sample sentences in the book.   Since no one, even in their native tongue, can hope to be proficient in every   field, advance students can quickly pick up key words in areas they are   unfamiliar with.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kodansha USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47056272261360,"sku":"9781568364186","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781568364186_p0.jpg?v=1763789698","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781568364186","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}