Nice idea but I think some of the sample definitions are taken from either an old or slightly off dictionary set as I notice some unusual translations in the clothing and post office/bank pages. For example, the words used for dress are not common/right. No one says ドレス they say ワンピース and 服 could mean dress but really means clothes in general. The checkbook example which makes sense to Americans makes no sense here. Checks arent used in Japan and no one will know what you are talking about. But anyway, love the idea.
one-piece huh? languages are weird.
Checks aren’t used in America either.
This book is adorable - it reminds me of Richard Scarry. My son is learning Japanese right now and he just might need this!
I would like to learn Japanese from this guy who appeared in Breaking Bad.
He seems quite fluent.
Checks used to be common in the US anyway but not even the old people I know here have ever used a checkbook.
Weird. I still get stuck behind people who use them in retail stores. Most recently last week at Whole Foods.
I also still use them to pay my rent. The management companies web site is atrocious. No way I’m trusting payments through it.
For clarity sake, I should have specified “old people” as “old people here in Japan”.
I stand corrected then. I probably should have parsed that from your original post.
It’s a nice idea, but relying on romaji in the early stages of learning will do you more harm than good in the long run. The book has kanji, but doesn’t even offer the ofurigana, making the learner feel even more reliant on romaji.
Checks (小切手) aren’t used in Japan, but I have never met a Japanese person who was unfamiliar with the word 小切手. I understand that they were used by corporations for transferring large amounts of money before wire transfers became common and, although personal checks are virtually unheard of, the concept is fairly easy to understand.
I’m not saying that 小切手 don’t exist but rather that it is just very rare(1). Bank transfer (振込 “furikomi”) has been a function on ATMs here since they were introduced in the 70s and has been used by individuals and small businesses consistently. Medium and large businesses who prefer to have the bank paperwork just use a furikomi form from their bank. Many banks even today will send out someone to collect these forms to their more active customers.
- There are intact visual samples on the web.
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