---
product_id: 1210857
title: "Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals"
price: "VT6772"
currency: VUV
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1210857-japanese-from-zero-1-proven-techniques-to-learn-japanese-students
store_origin: VU
region: Vanuatu
---

# free online audio with native pitch 13 progressive chapters worksheets for active learning Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals

**Price:** VT6772
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🚀 Unlock Japanese fluency with the most user-friendly guide out there!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals
- **How much does it cost?** VT6772 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1210857-japanese-from-zero-1-proven-techniques-to-learn-japanese-students)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
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## Key Features

- • **Learn Hiragana Like a Pro:** Progressive introduction replaces romaji with authentic script
- • **Master Japanese Step-by-Step:** 13 well-paced chapters build confidence without overwhelm
- • **Active Learning Tools Included:** Worksheets and exercises designed for real retention
- • **Cultural Insights Beyond Language:** Includes etiquette tips like bowing and common social phrases
- • **Native Pronunciation at Your Fingertips:** Free online audio ensures natural pitch and fluency

## Overview

Japanese from Zero! 1 is a highly rated, beginner-friendly textbook that combines clear explanations, progressive hiragana learning, and practical cultural insights. With 13 chapters, interactive worksheets, and free online audio by native speakers, it’s designed to build your Japanese skills steadily and confidently—perfect for professionals and students eager to join the global Japanese-speaking community.

## Description

desertcart.com: Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals: 9780976998129: George Trombley, Yukari Takenaka: Books

Review: The Most User-Friendly Japanese Text I've Seen! - I have just begun the Japanese From Zero; (JFZ 1) book, but I can already say I like it very much! The organization is excellent, the explanations are clear, and the Japanese taught is so relevant. The book starts you off with Pre-Lessons (in Roomaji;English letters;) that teach numbers and simple introductory exchanges, extremely useful for tourists and more serious students alike. I was especially impressed by JFZ teaching the question "Nansai ni miemasu ka?" (何歳に見えますか？), which means more or less "How old do you see me?", a cool question to ask when someone asks you how old you are (a common question to foreigners in Asia). The explanations of grammar, syntax and vocabulary are also accompanied by warnings of what NOT to say, which is very helpful (e.g., yonjuu; for 40, never shichijuu;). There is even information for how and when to bow, another important point not generally covered in a Japanese textbook. JFZ 1 also slowly teaches writing hiragana (katakana and kanji are tackled in later books), which is by far the most useful of the syllabaries for a beginning student. I already speak Chinese, so the kanji that the student will need to learn later on are far less of a problem, though the Japanese use the older traditional forms (繁体字 in Chinese) rather than the simplified characters (简体字) used in the PRC. But a person knowing Chinese can adapt pretty quickly. A knowledge of Chinese can also be very helpful with Japanese vocabulary, even after the phonetic modifications they undergo, since a large percentage of Japanese words were borrowed from Chinese (though usually from a different dialect than Modern Standard Chinese). The lessons are light-hearted and fun, a real pleasure to tackle, and this is a good thing, because Japanese appears as a rather "strange" language in its grammar and syntax (which to me are harder than Chinese). Though I haven't bought the other books in the series (JFZ 2, JFZ 3, JFZ 4), I've looked at them on desertcart, and they seem very good. The pacing in this series is conducive to mastery, and I disagree with the reviewer who wrote that it moves too slowly. How is that a problem? If you think the book moves slowly, go through it more quickly (duh). The point is that it is easy to become discouraged in studying a language---Japanese more than most---and the measured pace (which I don't find slow in the first place) encourages mastery and builds confidence in your ability to make real progress in the language. The author George Trombley doesn't avoid certain difficulties in the language but presents them in manageable bites (the modest distance I have covered has taught me irregularities in the counting system which are basic and certainly need to be learned at an early stage because of counting's fundamental nature). One of the best points of JFZ 1 is the online component, which is free. Apart from some crude language on the part of the author in one video that I watched, they are entertaining and extremely helpful. Japanese is a pitch language, and having recordings of native speakers using correct pitch will help your Japanese to sound more natural and even avoid confusion. I use the online component all the time. As a language teacher and learner, I know that poor textbooks can do great harm to the learning process, and the complexity of Japanese draws this point home in spades. JFZ 1 is a refreshingly manageable and even entertaining book that leads the learner by small steps to a good knowledge of the language and culture. I highly recommend it! すごいですね！
Review: Down to earth learning with smooth progression. Best self-study out there - This book is amazing. George Trombley does a great job at explaining concepts. One thing that I appreciate is that he gives you a quick rundown of the formal Japanese (so that you recognize it when it pops up), but then focuses on how you'll most hear / be using it. He also just has a general demeanor of teaching in a down to earth manner. This removes some of the rigid feeling and droll of merely grinding through coursework. He also implements a "progressive" hiragana technique. This is a great idea. As you progress through the chapters, you pick up a new grammar concept, a list of new words, and 5-10 new Hiragana per chapter. The new Hiragana you learn will replace the "romaji" (english alphabet) until you are reading in complete Hiragana. This is a wonderful mechanism for learning as he eases you into everything rather than having massive knowledge dumps which feel discouraging. This book is not filled with a lot of filler and redundant information as other books can be. However, I would appreciate having extra examples or additional explanation of nuances like that you would find on the website / youtube version. For this reason I would highly encourage combining this with their website/youtube channel. Also, I'm a visual learner, so having the visual audio reinforcement really helps me excel. Something that you have to understand as a language student is that learning another language is not a passive activity; it takes hard work, dedication, and immersion. There is no other way to learn another language, so do not pay money to scam artists who will tell you otherwise. I have browsed through other Japanese learning programs like JapanesePod101 (which I don't feel is the best for actually learning Japanese), and have thus far found Japanese From Zero! to be the best there is. This book also does a really good job on worksheets. Again, I would recommend combining this with George Trombley's online resources so you can receive a few more helpful examples, pronunciation, and Japanese nuances. If you are debating between just doing online versus this book, realize that you will miss out on the worksheets which I feel are done better in the book. I definitely think you get a good deal for this as compared to other language learning programs (way better and cheaper than Rosetta Stone if that is on your mind). Is this book perfect? No. For instance, there are a few cases where a new Hiragana which you, as the student, have not learned yet will be slipped into text. It is, in my opinion the best book out there and prefer over Genki. As per my personal recommendation, you should make flashcards of words outside of the books. The books build a fantastic foundation, but you really need to build up your vocab on your own. It's pretty easy to find some word lists out there. However, I would work on those vocab lists after this book or when you are able to use it in a sentence. Learning words is MUCH easier when you can them in a sentence because then you aren't memorizing meaningless scribbles. This book consists of 13 chapters and gives you the basic structure of the Japanese Language. Everyone is different, but I would have a "focused study" a couple hours a day (you need to be practicing your and phrases throughout the day) and was able to get through this book in about a month. After completing it, my vocab was still relatively small, but I could pick out words and phrases people were saying. Certain topics people talked about, I could get the gist of what they were saying. Most topics though, I could only pick out small parts. Also remember that this is just book 1, so don't expect perfect fluency upon its completion. So far I have been very pleased with this book and my progress so far. Learning a language can definitely be daunting, especially when it is something as foreign as an Asian language. This series has definitely kept at bay that anxiety. Sometimes I have to remind myself of how far I've come and the things I do know rather than focusing on what I have yet to learn. George Trombley is very encouraging in his teaching. "Even dust when piled up becomes a mountain" As a little bit of my personal background, I have learned Portuguese as a second language and lived their several years. My experience in learning it was horrible, solely because I did not have anyone take the time to give me that down-to-earth explanation of how Portuguese functioned. I then made a friend who gave me that explanation I desperately needed. At this point in my Portuguese, I understood what people were saying but I could not speak very well myself. This friend transformed my Portuguese within a week so I sounded like a native and I could be considered "fluent". That friend to me in Portuguese is equivalent to how I feel George Trombley is for Japanese. ありがとう ございます

## Features

- Used Book in Good Condition

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #10,683 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Japanese Language Instruction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 8,296 Reviews |

## Images

![Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cMdNED0xL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Most User-Friendly Japanese Text I've Seen!
*by R***A on July 12, 2018*

I have just begun the Japanese From Zero; (JFZ 1) book, but I can already say I like it very much! The organization is excellent, the explanations are clear, and the Japanese taught is so relevant. The book starts you off with Pre-Lessons (in Roomaji;English letters;) that teach numbers and simple introductory exchanges, extremely useful for tourists and more serious students alike. I was especially impressed by JFZ teaching the question "Nansai ni miemasu ka?" (何歳に見えますか？), which means more or less "How old do you see me?", a cool question to ask when someone asks you how old you are (a common question to foreigners in Asia). The explanations of grammar, syntax and vocabulary are also accompanied by warnings of what NOT to say, which is very helpful (e.g., yonjuu; for 40, never shichijuu;). There is even information for how and when to bow, another important point not generally covered in a Japanese textbook. JFZ 1 also slowly teaches writing hiragana (katakana and kanji are tackled in later books), which is by far the most useful of the syllabaries for a beginning student. I already speak Chinese, so the kanji that the student will need to learn later on are far less of a problem, though the Japanese use the older traditional forms (繁体字 in Chinese) rather than the simplified characters (简体字) used in the PRC. But a person knowing Chinese can adapt pretty quickly. A knowledge of Chinese can also be very helpful with Japanese vocabulary, even after the phonetic modifications they undergo, since a large percentage of Japanese words were borrowed from Chinese (though usually from a different dialect than Modern Standard Chinese). The lessons are light-hearted and fun, a real pleasure to tackle, and this is a good thing, because Japanese appears as a rather "strange" language in its grammar and syntax (which to me are harder than Chinese). Though I haven't bought the other books in the series (JFZ 2, JFZ 3, JFZ 4), I've looked at them on Amazon, and they seem very good. The pacing in this series is conducive to mastery, and I disagree with the reviewer who wrote that it moves too slowly. How is that a problem? If you think the book moves slowly, go through it more quickly (duh). The point is that it is easy to become discouraged in studying a language---Japanese more than most---and the measured pace (which I don't find slow in the first place) encourages mastery and builds confidence in your ability to make real progress in the language. The author George Trombley doesn't avoid certain difficulties in the language but presents them in manageable bites (the modest distance I have covered has taught me irregularities in the counting system which are basic and certainly need to be learned at an early stage because of counting's fundamental nature). One of the best points of JFZ 1 is the online component, which is free. Apart from some crude language on the part of the author in one video that I watched, they are entertaining and extremely helpful. Japanese is a pitch language, and having recordings of native speakers using correct pitch will help your Japanese to sound more natural and even avoid confusion. I use the online component all the time. As a language teacher and learner, I know that poor textbooks can do great harm to the learning process, and the complexity of Japanese draws this point home in spades. JFZ 1 is a refreshingly manageable and even entertaining book that leads the learner by small steps to a good knowledge of the language and culture. I highly recommend it! すごいですね！

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Down to earth learning with smooth progression. Best self-study out there
*by L***X on February 3, 2018*

This book is amazing. George Trombley does a great job at explaining concepts. One thing that I appreciate is that he gives you a quick rundown of the formal Japanese (so that you recognize it when it pops up), but then focuses on how you'll most hear / be using it. He also just has a general demeanor of teaching in a down to earth manner. This removes some of the rigid feeling and droll of merely grinding through coursework. He also implements a "progressive" hiragana technique. This is a great idea. As you progress through the chapters, you pick up a new grammar concept, a list of new words, and 5-10 new Hiragana per chapter. The new Hiragana you learn will replace the "romaji" (english alphabet) until you are reading in complete Hiragana. This is a wonderful mechanism for learning as he eases you into everything rather than having massive knowledge dumps which feel discouraging. This book is not filled with a lot of filler and redundant information as other books can be. However, I would appreciate having extra examples or additional explanation of nuances like that you would find on the website / youtube version. For this reason I would highly encourage combining this with their website/youtube channel. Also, I'm a visual learner, so having the visual audio reinforcement really helps me excel. Something that you have to understand as a language student is that learning another language is not a passive activity; it takes hard work, dedication, and immersion. There is no other way to learn another language, so do not pay money to scam artists who will tell you otherwise. I have browsed through other Japanese learning programs like JapanesePod101 (which I don't feel is the best for actually learning Japanese), and have thus far found Japanese From Zero! to be the best there is. This book also does a really good job on worksheets. Again, I would recommend combining this with George Trombley's online resources so you can receive a few more helpful examples, pronunciation, and Japanese nuances. If you are debating between just doing online versus this book, realize that you will miss out on the worksheets which I feel are done better in the book. I definitely think you get a good deal for this as compared to other language learning programs (way better and cheaper than Rosetta Stone if that is on your mind). Is this book perfect? No. For instance, there are a few cases where a new Hiragana which you, as the student, have not learned yet will be slipped into text. It is, in my opinion the best book out there and prefer over Genki. As per my personal recommendation, you should make flashcards of words outside of the books. The books build a fantastic foundation, but you really need to build up your vocab on your own. It's pretty easy to find some word lists out there. However, I would work on those vocab lists after this book or when you are able to use it in a sentence. Learning words is MUCH easier when you can them in a sentence because then you aren't memorizing meaningless scribbles. This book consists of 13 chapters and gives you the basic structure of the Japanese Language. Everyone is different, but I would have a "focused study" a couple hours a day (you need to be practicing your and phrases throughout the day) and was able to get through this book in about a month. After completing it, my vocab was still relatively small, but I could pick out words and phrases people were saying. Certain topics people talked about, I could get the gist of what they were saying. Most topics though, I could only pick out small parts. Also remember that this is just book 1, so don't expect perfect fluency upon its completion. So far I have been very pleased with this book and my progress so far. Learning a language can definitely be daunting, especially when it is something as foreign as an Asian language. This series has definitely kept at bay that anxiety. Sometimes I have to remind myself of how far I've come and the things I do know rather than focusing on what I have yet to learn. George Trombley is very encouraging in his teaching. "Even dust when piled up becomes a mountain" As a little bit of my personal background, I have learned Portuguese as a second language and lived their several years. My experience in learning it was horrible, solely because I did not have anyone take the time to give me that down-to-earth explanation of how Portuguese functioned. I then made a friend who gave me that explanation I desperately needed. At this point in my Portuguese, I understood what people were saying but I could not speak very well myself. This friend transformed my Portuguese within a week so I sounded like a native and I could be considered "fluent". That friend to me in Portuguese is equivalent to how I feel George Trombley is for Japanese. ありがとう ございます

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Best Book For Beginners Learning Japanese!
*by T***A on September 23, 2017*

As a beginner in learning a foreign language you know it is easy to get overwhelmed. This is especially true if you are like me and are trying to teach yourself on your own rather than in a classroom. If this is the sort of situation you have found yourself in this is the perfect starter japanese series for you. I will be focusing on the two biggest aspects that set this book apart from the rest: Lesson Structure and Ease of Learning. Before I get into that however, I do want to let you know this is a series geared towards those who are beginners in learning Japanese. Those who are more fluent in Japanese already should check out a different series. Now let’s jump in. Lesson structure: To start, I wanted to mention that the lesson structure of the Japanese From Zero series is one of the best I have seen to date. Each lesson starts with a brief rundown of what skills you should already know, what you will be learning in the upcoming lesson and a few notes on what you should be sure to practice. It then moves on to give you a list of new vocabulary words. Don’t worry if you don’t know your Kana yet. This series moves at a pace that allows you to learn the Kana at the same time as learning new vocabulary. The only drawback is that I wish it put more of an emphasis on learning kanji, but I understand that can be intimidating for those looking to more causally learn japanese. Now the meat and potatoes of each lesson are the sections that follow, which include a grammar section that is easy to understand and not overwhelming, and the practice sections. The practice sections will likely become your new best friend as they are a fun way to apply what you just learned and a good way work on your writing. Ease of Learning: The second most important aspect is the ease of learning and the practicality of what you are learning. It is easy to get discouraged when all your book seems to throw at you are obscure words and phrases. This book does the opposite of that. Within the first few lessons you will have learned enough japanese to be able to form your own sentences that have practical applications in daily life, including asking questions and creating basic conversations. Not only do you learn in a practical way but with the book’s integrated workbook the learning comes easily as you work through simple problems such as reading and writing along the way! Overall if you are looking for a fun, well set up textbook for learning japanese this series is the way to go. Good luck on your quest for learning a new language!

## Frequently Bought Together

- Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals
- Japanese from Zero! 2: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals (Japanese Edition)
- Japanese From Zero! 3: Proven Techniques to Learn Japanese for Students and Professionals

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*Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu*
*Store origin: VU*
*Last updated: 2026-01-31*