Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners: First Steps to Mastering the Japanese Writing System (CD-ROM Included) Review "As a whole I find this book to be a useful tool to learning the characters of both writing systems. I especially like the vocabulary usage at the bottom of each characters page…If you are looking for a book to get you started with Japanese I think this is a good place to start." —BenLearnsJapanese.com  About the Author Timothy G. Stout has taught Japanese language in public and private schools in the United States and Japan for 14 years. Stout currently teaches Japanese at Waterford School in Utah, where he lives with his family.