Part of a series that offers mainly linguistic and anthropological research and teaching/learning material on a region of great cultural and strategic interest and importance in the post-Soviet era.

Every serious student of Japanese needs a reliable and user-friendly dictionary in their collection. Tuttle Concise Japanese Dictionary, now with 30% more content, is a thoroughly updated dictionary designed for students and business people who are living in Japan and using the Japanese language on a daily basis. Its most significant advantage is that it contains recent idiomatic expressions and slang which have become popular in the past several years and which are not found in other competing dictionaries. The dictionary has been thoroughly updated through the addition of modern vocabulary relating to computers, mobile phones, social media and the Internet. Other special features that set this dictionary apart include: Over 25,000 words and expressions including idioms and slang. User-friendly layout with main entries in color. Complete Japanese-English, and English-Japanese sections. Romanized forms and the Japanese script are given for all Japanese words. A guide to pronunciation helps the user to pronounce Japanese words correctly. Different senses of each word are distinguished by multiple definitions.

A compelling and innovative reflection on the way photography captures and condenses time Two photographs, connected by a ladder, separated by a century. First, William Henry Fox Talbot photographed a faithfully realistic image of a ladder against a haystack in the English countryside.One hundred years later, an anonymous photographer captured another ladder, "photographed" alongside an incinerated man by the blinding light of the atomic bomb. These two images underpin a poetic and theoretical reflection on the origins of photographic technique, the imaginative power of montage, and the relation of photography to time itself in Jean-Christophe Bailly's The Instant and Its Shadow, translated into English for the very first time. A rare find of intellectual caliber and theoretical rigor, The Instant and Its Shadow pursues a unique and powerful reflection on the first hundred years of photography's history and on the essence of the photographic art in general. Inspired by the unexpected coming together of these two iconic images, the book begins by retracing Talbot's invention of the photographic calotype in the early nineteenthcentury, highlighting the paradox that saw Talbot wishing to imitate the representative arts of painting and drawing while simultaneously liberating the image from any imitative paradigm. This analysis leads Bailly to elucidate photography's relation to material and visual reality. A meditation on photography's seeming ability to stop time follows, concluding with the photographs of Hiroshima and the photographic nature of the atomic bomb. Building on an inspired juxtaposition of The Haystack with the Hiroshima photographs, the book becomes a testament to the potency of photomontage, arguing that "the more singular an image, the greater its connective power." Bailly's book is at once a lyrical homage to some of the founding texts of photographic theory and a startling reminder of the uncanny power of photography itself. Part theoretical reflection, part lyrical reverie, The Instant and Its Shadow is packed with profound and stellar insights about the medium.

This handy Japanese dictionary allows you to look up words quickly and easily and be understood while speaking. Intended for use by tourists, students, and business people traveling to Japan, the Pocket Japanese Dictionary is an essential tool for communicating in Japanese. It features all the essential Japanese vocabulary appropriate for beginning to intermediate speakers. Its handy pocket format and user-friendly, two-colour layout will make any future language class or trip to Japan much easier. All entries are in Romanized form as well as Japanese script (Kanji and Kana) so that, in case of difficulties, the book can simply be shown to the person the user is trying to communicate with. This dictionary includes the following key features: Over 18,000 words and expressions in the Japanese language. Japanese English and English Japanese sections. Fully updated with recent vocabulary and commonly used Japanese slang. Clear, user-friendly layout with headwords in blue. Romanized script and Japanese script (hiragana and katakana) and characters (kanji) for every entry. Other books from this best-selling series you might enjoy include: Pocket Korean Dictionary, Pocket Vietnamese Dictionary, Pocket Mandarin Chinese Dictionary, and Pocket Cantonese Dictionary.

"Basic Japanese" takes a friendly and innovative approach, emphasizing the structure of the Japanese language rather than just vocabulary.
This method was pioneered by the author, Samuel E. Martin. Once considered controversial, modern linguists now agree that the structural based approach for leaning a language allows for more effective retention than the traditional repetition-based approach. It is especially effective for self-study and first-time learners as well as in a classroom setting. The MP3 Audio-CD helps to reinforce pronunciation and build listening comprehension.
Each lesson is set up to ease learners into not just understanding new material but mastering it, using a four-step method: Step 1: Basic Sentences: Each lesson begins with the key to quick mastery of spoken Japanese--learning and understanding new sentence patterns. Vocabulary is learned in context. A Basic Vocabulary section lists only essential words and phrases that are relevant to the theme of the lesson. Step 2: Structure Notes: Next the learner is guided through complete, in-depth explanations of the sentences' grammar essentials, to aid in mastering the sentence patterns. Step 3: Conversation: Authentic dialogue teaches the way people naturally speak, putting into practice the lesson's sentence patterns with common, everyday topics. Step 4: Exercises: An opportunity for practicing--and for strengthening your understanding of the lesson's key points.
Accomplished teacher Eriko Sato has produced an excellent revision of Samuel Martin's classic text for the classroom and self-learners, while remaining true to Martin's voice and teaching style. Together they make the challenge of learning Japanese at once manageable, practical, and fun.

A model of structural linguistic analysis as well as a teaching tool, this text gives the student a comprehensive grasp of the essentials of modern Korean in 25 lessons, with 5 review lessons, leading to advanced levels of proficiency. It has been designed for adult students working either in classes or by themselves, with the assistance of native speakers or tape recordings.