George Trombley

Japanese From Zero came out of years of teaching and interpreting, and its structure is the argument: kana are introduced gradually across the volumes rather than dumped in a first chapter, so a beginner reads real Japanese script from early on instead of romanised crutches.

Trombley worked as an interpreter for Japanese corporations and the series is aimed at self-teachers without a class.

It moves more slowly than academic textbooks and is friendlier than most, which suits people who have previously started and given up.