Recently I received a really cool book to review—Lightning-Fast Japanese for Kids.
My mom is Japanese but I never learned the language, and it’s always been a regret for me.  My daughter expressed interest in it and wanted me to teach her.  When I had the chance to review this book, it seemed like a great opportunity to do something really cool this summer.

The first thing I noticed about the book was that it’s very different from the other language books I’ve used in the past.  Instead of focusing on phonetics, verb tense, etc. it targets everyday language in everyday situations.  This is really useful when working with kids, who tend to take the most from concrete, meaningful learning.  You can really just jump right in and start learning, rather than having to teach yourself before you teach your kids.

I wish I could say that my daughter and I are now fluent.  We stuck with it for a day or two but lost track of our routine.  Something that would make this user-friendly book even better would be a CD accompaniment.   It would help to be able to hear the language while learning it. Maybe listening to it in the car or even on the iPod would make it more effective.  I haven’t given up, though. I think we’ll have more time for it this summer.  Who knows, maybe we’ll start talking in Japanese while lounging by the pool.  Regardless, I love it that learning–and teaching–a new language can be simple and fun.

Connect with author Carolyn Woods and learn about the other products she has available!  Carolyn is a kindred spirit—she’s a busy mom who likes to save time and money.  You can find her on Facebook, on Twitter, and on her blog.   Traveling to a foreign country this summer?  Want to help you child get a head start in a foreign language class?  Carolyn has LOTS of other books available! Below are a few of her other titles. Check out her page on Amazon. 

Buy it: Lightning-Fast Japanese is available in print form and on the Kindle.  

Win it:  Win your own copy of Lightning-Fast Japanese!  Check back in June for the giveaway form.

(Disclosure: I received a copy of the book to review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  The links on this post are my affiliate links.)