Table of contents : Contents Preface Part I. Preliminaries Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Background Chapter 3 Variation and Change in Nihongo Part II. Sounds and Scripts Chapter 4 The Nihongo Sound System Chapter 5 Scripts Part III. Words Chapter 6 Kinds of Words Chapter 7 Words in Grammar Part IV Grammar Chapter 8 Simple Sentences–Essential Chapter 9 Simple Sentences–Enhanced Chapter 10 Complex Sentences Chapter 11 Emotive Expressions Part V. Use Chapter 12 Interaction Strategies Chapter 13 Conversation Management Chapter 14 Gestures and Signals Chapter 15 Rhetorical Figures of Speech Chapter 16 Discourse Organization Part VI. Genres Chapter 17 Genre Appreciation Chapter 18 Selected Popular Culture Genres Part VII. Learning Nihongo Chapter 19 Methods Chapter 20 Tools and Resources Appendixes List of Author’s Works Subject Index (English) Subject Index and Key Phrases (Japanese) About the Author