Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Book/CD Pack (Teach Yourself Languages)

I am completely new to the japanese language and this book has taken me from not being able to speak a word beside "konnichiwa" to having actual conversations with japanese friends. It is perfect with the CD so that you get the pronounciation right, as the language is so different from english and there is even an opportunity to learn some of the script. However, if you are looking to be able to read and write japanese properly, this is probably not the best suited book for you. But for people who want to speak and write/read in romaji: BUY THIS BOOK

The reviews on this item are not specific to the CD and book on their own or the CD/book pack, so it is a bit confusing if your search lands you on the CD (without the book) page. We ordered having read the reviews and synopsis thinking that we were buying a CD/book pack. Turned out to just be the CD, which makes constant reference to the book, so isn't much use on its own. Quite disappointing, and could have been clearer. In fairness to Amazon, on bringing this to their attention they were kind enough to give us a gift certificate so that we could get the book....

Even though I did pass the 3rd Level of the Japanese proficiency test before studying the book, it was helpful and useful even though it was intended for beginners. I did not regret that I paid for it since I did learn new things from chapter 1 until chapter 20.

After reading the Teach Yourself; Japanese Script (by the same author) i felt right at home with this book. The style in which the book is presented is very informal and gives some insights into japanese culture that have kept me entertained while reading.
There is a supporting CD or tape but the version i had did not come with one. This would normally mean the end of the world but the book also puts the dialogue and activities for each section. There are some times, such as the pronounciation exercises, where it may have been better to have a CD but i have learned far more from this book and can talk adequatly even if my pronounciation is a little suspect!
If you are going to buy this book then i suggest you get the CDs/tapes and the Beginners Japanese Script book (also in the TY series).

This is a well balanced and easy course. It combines good explanations with useful dialogues and the vocabulary lists at the start of each unit allow you to immediately understand what is being said. The book briefly touches upon written Japanese but it really only covers Katakana. You'll need another book if you want to learn Hiragana en Kanji as well (and you probably will).
The whole course is pleasantly written and can easily be studied without the cassettes. I would have given it five stars if it wasn't for the fact that a large amount of the vocabulary lists and some parts of the dialogue are missing from the tapes. I also couldn't understand why small parts of the vocabulary were given after the dialogue instead of adding them to the main vocabulary list.
These are minor objections however and out of the three courses I own (Hugo's Japanese in three months, BBC's Talk Japanese and TY Beginner's Japanese) this is certainly my favourite one.