Japanese is an intricate language, and in many aspects it is the opposite of English. If you hope to go beyond the surface of polite greetings, hailing a taxi, renting a room, and ordering food, you need the foundation to be able to read and research. You need to understand grammar beyond the basics to deal with the slang of various regional dialects and different eras. In this book we'll cover the Katakana phonetic alphabet and over 100 more Kanji, enough to pass the second grade. Along the way you get pronunciation hints and alternate pronunciations that imply different meanings, all in a natural progression that will allow you to continue your journey into being sentient in Japanese.