Japanese Culture BUNDLE [DIGITAL DOWNLOAD]

Review of the culture bundle.
This is an excellent collection of books for the beginner/intermediate level.
1. Karate Vocabulary: It is essentially a sophisticated list of technical expressions. But it also contains phrases, e.g. in the section on dojo rules.
2. Jokes in Japanese: A Japanese teacher once told me: “Only when you understand Japanese Jokes, you really understand the language. I am still far from this blessed state, but this book provided me with some appreciation of the humour hidden in it. That is due to the breakdown and detailed explanations of the authors.
3. Ninja Penguin: This is one of the highlights of the series. It describes the fanciful journey of a ninja penguin who tours all the 47 prefectures of Japan. Whatever area of Japan the reader is interested in, she should be able to find some useful information. But it also helps to put the various prefectures in relation to each other. The text is mainly in English. But each chapter has a basic vocabulary list. Therefore, it can be easily red by any beginner.
4. Haiku 1: That is an introduction with a focus on the poet Basho. But it includes also more recent Japanese poets.
5. Haiku Basho: This book has just been added to the series. Like all the books, also the two Haiku volumes contain a detailed breakdown of all the poems rather than just a translation. For each poem, also a commentary in Japanese and in English has been provided.
In summary, this series is suitable partly for beginner students and partly for intermediate students. But a beginner may also benefit from a more advanced volume, because in each volume every single word is explained. An additional plus are the audio files, where all the texts are read out in a clear and crisp voice: A highly recommendable access to Japanese culture for students on all levels.

High quality bundle with a low price. The audio recordings are great and the documents are perfect for looking thing up, learning, or reading as the audio playing back. Also the themes presented are somwhat specially and nowhere found in this comprehensive type of learning material.