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Japanese for Busy People is for people who want to ‘earn essential Japanese as quickly and as effectively as possible.

Preparation of this textbook is based on more than twenty years’ experience of AJALT’s specially trained staff in teaching beginning through advanced Japanese to students from approximately forty countries. Prior to publication, the material was reviewed and tested in the classroom with about 200 students, and revisions were made as necessary.

This course might be described as ‘survival Japanese’ for the language learned can be put to immediate use in conversational situations. The simplistic or childish ways of expression found in most beginning texts do not occur. While vocabulary and grammar patterns have been limited to about one-third of those in the ordinary beginning text, the selection has been made after a careful study of the situations in which foreigners may have to speak Japanese. The objective is to enable the student to obtain the information he needs and to communicate what he or she wants to say in uncomplicated but adult language. The stress is not simply on grammatical accuracy. Careful consideration has been given to the actual linguistic patterns in Japanese communication.

To make the course effective, concise reference is made in the Notes to the linguistic customs underlying these communication patterns. The Grammar sections explain the structure and grammatical principles of Japanese whenever it is thought that such explanations would be helpful in understanding and applying the conversational patterns presented. Grammar and vocabulary are made available to the student as necessary, but he is not overburdened by having to learn excessive amounts of either for some undefined future contingency.

Although this is an introductory text, it does provide a solid foundation for the study of Japanese at a higher level. Every student should be able to obtain a good grasp of just what kind of language Japanese is while learning the basic conversational patterns. Because of this, it should be of value not only to people who are approaching Japanese for the first time but also a good review for people who already know a little Japanese but wish to confirm whether they are using the phrases they know in the right situations.

The amount of time needed to complete this course will naturally vary, depending on the individual. In AJALT classes, which meet for two and a half hours a day, five days a week, the course takes four weeks, or a total of about fifty hours. In addition, two to three hours a day are needed for preparation and review.

(Source: Japanese for Busy People book)