Grammar
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns (Kodansha Dictionary)
Naoko Chino
I recommend Naoko Chino's books. She covers the basics well and in an easy to understand fashion with plenty of example sentences. This book will take you right up to about JLPT 3 level. My mother has this book and loves it.
This book breaks down some of the most important and elusive concepts of Japanese and illustrates them well with example sentences. Good for upper beginner to intermediate students.
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
This is a heavyweight grammar book which is reflected in the price. It's longer and more comprehensive than most other grammar books. It's good as a reference or for those who want to go a little deeper into the grammar. I don't recommend this one as highly as its partner, Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar, because I think that you will outgrow most of this book eventually. Having said that, it is a very solid book.
Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
This is another heavyweight grammar book. Each grammar point is covered in depth and there are several very useful appendices. An understanding of kanji is necessary for this book as some of the example sentences do not have furigana. There is no romaji in the book so it will sharpen your reading skills. A great reference book for intermediate to advanced students. I highly recommend this.
Verbs
The Handbook of Japanese Verbs
Taeko Kamiya
Taeko Kamiya is another author I recommend. Like Naoko Chino, her books are easy to understand and logically set out to help you learn as fast as possible. This is a great book and should be required reading for all beginners. Romaji sentences are provided throughout. Highly recommended.
Adjectives
The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs
Taeko Kamiya
Like its sister book, The Handbook of Japanese Verbs, this is a great book for beginners and lower intermediate students. It covers a great number of adjectives and adverbs, groups them together logically and shows you how to use them. Not as essential as THoJV for attaining fluency but still a very good book indeed.
Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs: Visual Language Learning Cards
Japanese Adjective Flashcards 100
Particles
All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words
Naoko Chino
How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles: Comparisons and Exercises
Naoko Chino
The Japanese Particle Workbook
Taeko Kamiya
Dictionary of Japanese Particles
Sue Kawashima
Miscellaneous
How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese (Kodansha's Children's Classics)
Don't be put off by the title - this book is actually a very decent vocabulary builder and great for those who want to be able to discuss art or politics in Japanese. Romaji is provided throughout. This book is for intermediate students. Recommended.
Learn Verbs and Adjectives with Memory Mnemonics
Good – this is how you should be learning!
Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar (Language - Japanese)
Lampkin
Japanese Verbs at a glance – Naoko Chino
Breaking into Japanese Literature
This one contains several stories from Japanese classic literature and has free downloadable mp3 files on the net to accompany it.
Japanese Idioms - Akiyama and Akiyama
Cheap and great!
Fill in this form to get your audio files!
