August is…Learn Japanese Month!
Why not celebrate this observance by learning a new language?

Yale University Press Languages division offers books in a several languages, including Japanese.  For more information, visit Yale University Press’s Languages homepage or browse the entire list of titles here.

One comprehensive title, Living Japanese: Diversity in Language and Lifestyles (Ikita Nihongo: samazama na kotoba, samazama na seikatsu) by Karen Collingan-Taylor, offers a companion DVD with spontaneous interviews on topics ranging from farming and architecture to traditions and music.

Living Japanese draws students into the lives of thirty-three Japanese from ages seven to seventy-five.  As students listen to diverse viewpoints on cultural and social issues, they will develop an extensive vocabulary and become accustomed to natural speech and linguistic differences.

The workbook contains a transcription of all interviews, a cultural introduction to each topic, a complete vocabulary list, and grammar explanations.  Furigana are provided in the transcriptions and notes to facilitate reading.  Discussion questions encourage students to research the topics further, to think about and discuss recurrent themes, to speak or write about the topic in terms of their own culture or experience, and to seek out the views of native speakers.

Click here for an excerpt from Living Japanese.