“Guess What!” English Textbook Insights – NAN'UN-DO
Bilingual English Learning Resource for Japanese Students
As a kind of universal English teacher, I’ve occasionally used textbooks from the NAN’UN-DO catalogue in my eikaiwa and private tutoring classes—a byproduct of my wife being a university teacher and me being a textbook nerd. Since these books aren’t readily available to the general public—and there aren’t many reviews—I see this as a missed opportunity. NAN’UN-DO has produced some genuinely good textbooks that could be useful to any English teacher, Japanese or otherwise. Perhaps I can show you what I find interesting about this series.
YouTube Video Overview – 5 Minutes
What is NAN'UN-DO?
NAN’UN-DO is a relatively small publishing company based in Tokyo. They produce textbooks primarily for universities, which order them in bulk for large print runs. These books typically focus on English-language education, including:
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University-level English textbooks
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Research books on British and American literature
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Authentic mystery novels
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Literary criticism and cultural studies
There’s a wide range of titles, and many are quite useful. As a teacher like myself, I wouldn’t be ordering 50+ copies for my classes, but you can often find them secondhand—via Book-Off, Amazon, Mercari, or other platforms—at reasonable prices. Just keep in mind: these secondhand copies won’t come with an Answer Key, which can sometimes be a real limitation if you’re teaching solo or outside a university setting.
Let’s take a look at one of my favorites: Guess What!? – Intercultural Surprises – . I’ll give you a quick overview of what it is, what it’s trying to do, and how I use it in my classes. Just so you know, I don’t know Japanese well, and this book includes a mix of Japanese and English—but that hasn’t stopped me from using it.
Intercultural Surprises—Starting with Canada, Indeed!
My real introduction to the NAN’UN-DO catalogue came through this book. As a Canadian English teacher in Japan, I’ve often had to supplement the standard materials assigned by my employers. I figured that, as a kind of cultural ambassador, I could always use more content from my home country—so when I saw Canada featured in the first chapter, my curiosity was instantly piqued.
Skimming through the chapters, I was struck by how clearly and accessibly the material was presented. Then I read the Canada passage—again, right there in Chapter One—and I was hooked. It was thoughtful, engaging, and surprisingly well-balanced. As I explored further, I realized this book had everything I needed to enrich my own syllabus. It’s flexible, culturally aware, and designed to get students talking. I felt I could use most of this despite my lack of Japanese skills!
The book promises “Read, Listen, Write, Speak, and Discuss!”—and it delivers. Each chapter gives you something for every skill, without overcomplicating things.
Consistent, Usable, and Surprisingly Rich
Each of the 15 chapters (six pages per chapter, 98 pages total) spotlights a different country—Japan excluded, which is a refreshing change from the usual “Japan as benchmark” narrative that creeps into so many domestic textbooks. As a foreign teacher, I’ve grown weary of materials that treat Japan as the gold standard. I understand the need for cultural reference points—but there’s a fine line between contextual framing and self-promotion.
Each chapter (or module) starts and ends in roughly the same way, keeping the layout uniform and the purpose consistent. While I would have preferred color photos, most of the images are intriguing enough and do a decent job of sparking student interest.
I’d say this book in particular targets mid-level intermediate learners and up. It follows the familiar 80/20 principle: students should already understand about 80% of the material, with the remaining 20% pushing them to expand their skills. That’s exactly the kind of textbook I gravitate toward—it aligns with my own teaching philosophy.
There’s also an intentional TOEIC undertone throughout—both in how the material is presented and in the kinds of skills it emphasizes. Learners preparing for TOEIC would likely benefit from the structure and pacing.
The audio section, read by three non-Japanese speakers, features a fairly uniform accent. It’s not as fluid as I’d like, but it’s clear and usable. The audio section is available on the website for free.
Japanese is used sparingly throughout—except in the final “Column” section that leads into the Group Presentation. I had to skip that part in each chapter, as it was beyond my language ability. That said, this book was likely designed with Japanese teachers of English in mind, not folks like me. Still, the group presentation tasks seemed reasonable and well-structured.
What makes this textbook more supplemental than others is its consistent chapter structure, which avoids building each unit around a specific grammar schema. That design shifts the focus away from explicit instruction and toward conversation generation, homework tasks, and vocabulary building. It’s less about teaching mechanics and more about getting students to use the language. Which suits me just fine.
All in all, there’s more than enough in each chapter to keep both me and my students engaged.
Let’s go into a chapter breakdown, and I’ll highlight each part.
What You Get in Every Chapter
1. 🖼️ Pre-Reading Activity: Picture Montage & Discussion
A set of 4–7 black-and-white images introduces the country’s cultural quirks and thematic focus.
Students are prompted to “Guess what?” and discuss with a partner—just enough ambiguity to spark curiosity.
The layout and prompt style are reminiscent of TOEIC’s visual warm-ups, which I find quite effective.
Despite the monochrome format (understandable given printing costs), the images are well-chosen and often provoke genuine interest. This section sets the tone beautifully.
2. 🧠 Vocabulary Map: Puzzle-Based Word Connections
Students complete a vocabulary map using words from a provided box—connecting terms by theme, usage, or concept.
Personally, I love this section. It’s a puzzle, and it taps into the 80/20 principle: most words are accessible, but there’s enough challenge to keep students engaged.
Even without access to the official answer key (a limitation for freelance teachers like me), I found myself puzzling through it alongside my students. That shared challenge adds a nice layer of authenticity to the lesson.
3. 📖 Reading: A Solid Core for Listening, Shadowing, and Presentation
Each chapter includes a full-page reading passage with accompanying audio.
The recording is well-paced and clear—reminiscent of TOEIC-style delivery, with minimal linking words.
Ideal for intermediate learners: accessible but not overly simplified.
Students enjoy shadowing, reading aloud, and performing the passage as presentations.
The textbook doesn’t explain how to teach this section, which may leave some instructors guessing.
Still, it’s flexible: use it for timed readings, pronunciation drills, or cultural discussion starters.
4. 📝 Words and Phrases: Bilingual Vocabulary with a Few Bumps
A bilingual word list drawn from the reading helps preview and reinforce key vocabulary.
Some Japanese translations—especially those with complex kanji or abstract meanings—can trip up students.
Even with the Japanese provided, learners sometimes struggle with nuance or usage.
I suspect a modern AI pass over these translations might yield more accessible alternatives.
I usually assign this as homework, then have students write answers on the whiteboard or compare with peers.
It’s not perfect, but it works—and with a bit of scaffolding, it becomes a useful bridge between passive reading and active vocabulary use.
5. 🎧 Reading Section A: Listening-Heavy, Format Needs Work
This part of the Reading section is essentially a listening comprehension task.
The third question can only be answered by listening to the audio—making the title misleading.
A more accurate label would be “Reading and Listening.”
The format is uneven: questions vary in style and length, and the audio doesn’t repeat like TOEIC does.
Without the answer key, even I find myself guessing. If I’m struggling, my students definitely are too.
The audio could benefit from a slower pace, especially for longer sentences.
I often skip this section unless I’m specifically targeting listening skills—and even then, I supplement with my own timing and support strategies.
6. ✍️ Reading Sections B, C, D: Reliable, Flexible, and Teacher-Friendly
These sections include fill-in-the-gap sentences, true/false comprehension checks, and word/phrase rearrangement exercises.
They’re consistently well-designed and easy to use—perfect for both classroom and homework.
I’ve never had issues with these, even without the answer key. The logic is clear and the phrasing is fair.
I often assign them as homework, then use whiteboard sessions for peer review and collaborative correction.
When combined with the Words and Phrases section and the rest of Reading Section 5 (excluding A), they form a dependable homework base that reinforces vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension.
That said, the title “Reading Exercises” is a bit of a misnomer. These tasks are more accurately described as Reading and Writing exercises, and reframing them as such would better reflect their value and purpose.
7. 💬 Conversation: Misleading Title, Mixed Utility
Despite being labeled “Conversation,” this section is more of a listening and writing task. It features a scripted dialogue between three speakers (3 random names but with the same speakers throughout), but students aren’t asked to converse—they’re asked to listen and complete grammar-based tasks.
The dialogue itself is lengthy and often feels cluttered or unnatural for a three-way exchange. It’s not poorly written, but it lacks a clear goal or grammar focus, which makes it feel like filler rather than a purposeful activity.
On the plus side, it introduces cultural details not covered in the main Reading section. That’s a nice touch, but it adds to the sense of randomness.
The final task—circling the picture not mentioned in the dialogue—is something I rarely use. The images are small, grayscale, and often ambiguous. Without the answer key, I’ve genuinely had no idea which one was correct.
If I had a choice, I’d eliminate that last task and use the images (minus one) as decoration or visual prompts instead.
When I do use this section, I repurpose it: I focus on a grammar point from the dialogue (often using the fill-in-the-blank format), then have students do word replacements and create their own short conversations. That gives it more structure and makes it useful for production practice.
8. 🗾 Column: Cultural Commentary in Japanese (Skipped, but Worth Noting)
This section appears at the end of each chapter and is written entirely in Japanese.
It’s not just a cultural essay—it’s designed to guide students toward Japanese-style group presentations, often asking them to reflect on the topic and express their preferences.
The format encourages structured output: listing group members, choosing a topic, using key words, and presenting opinions. It’s a familiar format for Japanese university classrooms.
That said, I’ve never used this section myself. Since I teach in English and don’t rely on Japanese-language scaffolding, it doesn’t fit my workflow.
- Still, for instructors working in bilingual or Japanese-dominant environments, this section could be a useful bridge to presentation skills and cultural reflection.
It’s a purposeful inclusion, but one that doesn’t align with my teaching context. I skip it—but I respect what it’s trying to do.
Who Is This Textbook For? What Are Your Thoughts?
Guess What!? – Intercultural Surprises – is designed for Japanese university students at the intermediate level, with a strong emphasis on cultural exposure and integrated skills. It’s clearly built for instructors working within a Japanese-language framework—especially those who want to blend English input with Japanese-style output tasks like group presentations and cultural reflection.
That said, it’s far more adaptable than it first appears. I’ve used it successfully in both my eikaiwa and private tutoring practices, and I can say with confidence: if your learners are mid-ranged intermediate level or above, this book can work—regardless of setting. You don’t need a university classroom or a full teacher’s package to make it useful.
For teachers like me—working independently and often without institutional support—the book is a mixed bag. Some sections are excellent: the reading passages, vocabulary map, and grammar-based exercises are consistent, flexible, and easy to adapt. Others, like the Conversation and Column sections, feel disconnected or overly reliant on Japanese scaffolding.
Still, I’ve found ways to make it work. By selectively using the strongest components and repurposing others, I’ve built a reliable homework and classroom flow that suits my students. The textbook doesn’t hold your hand, and it doesn’t pretend to be a one-size-fits-all solution. But if you’re willing to adapt, it offers a solid foundation—especially for teachers who value cultural nuance and student-centered learning.
Would I recommend it? Yes—with caveats. Know your context. Know your students. And be ready to skip, tweak, and supplement as needed.
If you’ve used Guess What!? – Intercultural Surprises – in your own classroom, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Which sections worked for you? Which ones didn’t? Did you find creative ways to adapt the material—or did you run into the same roadblocks I did? Drop your experiences, tips, or critiques in the comments below. Let’s build a resource that goes beyond the textbook.
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