Jonathan
Member
From: Brazil
Registered: 2008-02-19
Posts: 30
Hi everyone!
I've finished RTK 1 for quite some time now, I will be finishing Pimsleur's Japanese III this Monday and I have gone through Genki 1 and 2 by myself about a month ago. What is really hampering my Japanese ability right now is vocabulary and I find myself lacking the organization that books like RTK provide. Taking a look at the 2001 Kanji Odyssey thread, it seems to me this series is a great investment and exactly what I'm looking for, especially because of the availability of the books in an spreadsheet that I can import in Anki.
My concern right now is how to get my hands on this material. I went to a bookstore here in my city hoping that maybe they could order the books for me, but their distributors don't work with Coscom (the publisher of 2001 KO). They told me to try Amazon 'cause it's a reliable online store, but it doesn't have the books. So I think the only way to order these are directly from the Coscom website (http://www.coscom.co.jp/ebook/e-2001kanji.html).
But I have never bought anything through the internet. This newer style of shopping isn't so popular yet here in Brazil and I'm worried about the risk it involves. I would have to buy through a credit card, using a foreign currency (we don't use dollars here, our currency is called "real" and it seems like it isn't accepted internationally). I'm afraid that the security of credit card might be compromised, or that the books won't be delivered, or that the will be delivered to a wrong address, or that I will have to pay a customs tax or something like that. Additionally, being a unemployed college student, I don't have a lot of money. Buying this books will pretty much make me broke, but I see it has a good investment. But, to tell the truth, I don't know how to go through this process.
If anybody could please make any recommendations or teach me anything about ordering things over the net and especially from a foreign country, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any kind souls that help me and sorry for the extremely long post.
Last edited by Jonathan (2008 August 23, 10:50 am)
sfekas
Member
From: Seattle
Registered: 2008-06-14
Posts: 40
As far as I know, the only way to buy the books outside Japan is through the CosCom website.
As for the security... in general, buying things online using a credit card should be safe, as long as you buy from a trusted seller. (That's one reason to prefer buying from a place like Amazon.) I'll admit that I was a little nervous buying from Coscom, but went with it because I wanted the books and because everyone on this forum had a successful experience.
The books are good, though. And (I think) very inexpensive for what you get. I was also happy that the international shipping wasn't very expensive. (700 yen)
iSoron
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2008-03-24
Posts: 490
Jonathan wrote:
But I have never bought anything through the internet. This newer style of shopping isn't so popular yet here in Brazil and I'm worried about the risk it involves. I would have to buy through a credit card, using a foreign currency (we don't use dollars here, our currency is called "real" and it seems like it isn't accepted internationally). I'm afraid that the security of credit card might be compromised, or that the books won't be delivered, or that the will be delivered to a wrong address, or that I will have to pay a customs tax or something like that.
Hi, I'm Brazilian too.
From my personal experience:
Currency. The currency is converted automatically by your credit card company. Don't worry about it.
Shipping. Never had any problems with Correios. Just a few weeks ago, I received a shipment from China, via standard mail. Took a long time, but arrived just fine. Note that, depending on the method of shipment you choose, you may be able to track your packages online.
Taxes. In Brazil, books, comics and magazines are free of import fees. Software is not, tough, so you may have to pay something for the accompanying CDs.
Security. I too don't trust small sites, but seeing that there is no other way to get the books, I guess you'll have to take the risk.
Good luck!
Last edited by iSoron (2008 August 23, 3:23 pm)
Jonathan
Member
From: Brazil
Registered: 2008-02-19
Posts: 30
The books just arrived. I browsed them for a bit and it seems like they are better than I had expected. Also, I'm thrilled! Just looking at the kanji on the mail package already got me like this.
I ordered my books from Coscom on August 24 (Sunday), but sent an email to them on the same day explaining something about my address. They answered my email the next day and were very polite and helpful. They told me they would ship them the next day, August 26 (Tuesday), and the books got here today, September 2 (Tuesday). So it takes a week to ship, even for Brazil. Amazing, isn't it?
I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. You guys turned this into a painless process and I thank you for that. Thanks also goes to everyone that was involved on the KO project and thread, 'cause you were the ones who made me aware of this awesome book.
Finally, I hope that this thread may also come in handy to anyone that's wondering about buying these books or that is afraid to shop online, be it from Coscom or for the first time. Now, it's time to contact the people from the KO project and get some spreadsheets.
