Clay Boutwell

Yumi Boutwell

Struggling to sound natural in Japanese? Looking for a Japanese "text"book that's as fun as it is educational? 

Learn how to use ninety-nine essential Japanese onomatopoeic sound words with this book and the included Anki flashcard deck and sound files.

Japanese has many words that symbolize sounds (onomatopoeia) or soundless actions or feelings (mimetic words).

There are two main types of these words:

擬音語 giongo—onomatopoeia [a word that imitates a sound.]

擬態語 gitaigo—ideophones or mimetic word [a word that mimics something that doesn’t make a sound.]

We have this in English too. Think of the 1960s’ Batman TV series. Bang! POW! Boom! Or the sounds animals make but really aren’t very representative. Bow-wow. Chirp. Cluck cluck. These are all English examples of giongo. What about gitaigo? We don’t use words that mimic non-sounds too much, but there are a few in English: twinkle twinkle, glimmer, and willy-nilly. 

Each of the ninety-nine entries begins with the target word itself and several English definitions. This is followed by a single example sentence showing usage. At the bottom of the page are some notes either about the word itself or the example sentence.

We are also including, for no extra charge, an Anki flashcard deck of all the words. Find the download link on the last page of the book.

Covers 99 key Japanese onomatopoeia

Includes example sentences with each sound word

Download sound files AND an Anki flashcard deck for no extra charge

Sound files include both the sound word and its example sentence

The Anki flashcard deck includes the sound file too

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