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 Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:11 pm
Since no one recommended it, there is also Minna Nihongo, the Japanese college I went to used that for the lower level classes ^^
If any one wants to know the grammar/vocab books that I used that were completely in Japanese feel free to message me.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:29 pm
After reading this thread and reviews on amazon, I'm convinced that I should get the genki books. But is it really worth $80 for the first book and workbook? I'm a teenager that's too young to get a job, but I can afford it if it's good enough. Knowledge is priceless. If anyone could PM me confirming that the Genki books are really really good or post here, that would help. Thanks whee
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:06 pm
My old high school uses Adventures in Japanese.
Textbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Japanese-1-Hiromi-Peterson/dp/0887275494/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214363128&sr=8-3
Work Book:
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Japanese-Workbook-Level/dp/0887274501/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214363076&sr=8-1
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:09 pm
I bought Genki and I'm using it right now... it's definitely the best textbook I've ever used! I'm in love with it xd
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:06 am
I know this thread is kind of old, so forgive me for bringing it up again. I just recently was given Genki II (book and workbook) on the study abroad I'm doing, and I think it is downright dreadful. I don't know about genki I, mind, but Genki II's explanations and examples are terrible. Compared with Nakama II, the textbook I used for second year Japanese at my university, Genki II is just sad. The groupings of grammar, vocabulary, and kanji in the chapters often seem random and don't make sense, while in Nakama they went with a theme for each chapter with grammar, vocab etc that related to that topic and flowed well. The grammar explanations in Nakama are also FAR superior. Genki II seems like it was written for purely use in the classroom- assuming that the instructor would further explain the grammar. For self study, I highly discourage purchasing the Genki II textbook. The workbook, though, is fine. It has useful exercises that I found to be quite nice, and I believe it comes with the answers on a sheet so you can check your own if you are self-learning.
The only good thing I could see about Genki II is that it comes in softcover and hardcover, so if you don't have that much money, you can get the cheaper softcover version and save money (that's why my study abroad program is using it- because it's cheaper). However, if you are serious about studying Japanese and have gotten past a first level textbook, I would suggest Nakama II over Genki II (there might be something better out there, but those are the only two I've used). They both teach the same grammar and alot of the same kanji, but Nakama just explains things SO much better and puts it all together nicely.
Hope that helps!
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Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 2:40 pm
My community college's Japanese classes wants us to use the "Integrated Course in Elem Japanese: Genki (V1)" books. I haven't looked into those books yet, so I don't know how good they are.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:53 pm
All of the afore mentioned textbooks are ones that I also recommend myself, however, sentence structure and other conversational such things are obviously not something one can learn effectually by only busting out a book in one's free time.
Obviously such topics, as you mentioned, take an incredible amount of time and concentration to master but if you want a quick rundown of simple stuff, I can recommend something.
"JAPANESE in 10 minutes a day" is the all-around all star of basic language foundation vocab.
http://www.bbks.com/languages/japanese.aspx
And that book is designed to "bust out in your free time" with games, stickers and all around fun stuff to excite your mind with mrgreen
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:12 am
The textbook that we used in school was "Minna no Nihongo" it has 50 chapters. It has two volumes for the beginner and intermediate level.
I was wondering if some of you would want to recommend books for studying kanji? I have some difficulty memorizing it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:36 am
I mainly use the guide over at www.guidetojapanese.org but I do have a few books. I bought the Japanese in mangaland series... and... well... to put it bluntly it sucks lol. They do not teach through manga from which they claim, it's more like a text book which is fine but not what the advertise... and they're not a very good text book to boot.
The other series I have and would highly recommend is Elementary Japanese by Yoko Hasegawa. You can pick it up over at amazon for pretty cheap (I think I got volume one for 30 and volume 2 for 40, but I don't remember exactly) being as they only have a hardcover version it can be pretty expensive in say a book store. Anyway, personally I thought the explanations in this book were either on par or better than what I saw in the Genki books. Although this book can be a bit well boring at times since it was intended for a college classroom most of the activities are speaking with a partner so unless you have someone to practice with or like talking to yourself there isn't much to do for practice in this book. However it still has a very nice reading section at the end of every chapter and a nice CD with audio for every chapter. It also has an ample amount of example sentences. Even though this book was intended for the classroom it was set up with the self taught student in mind and was superb when I was at the lower levels. One down fall to the series is that it has no workbook, which I think many self taught student would benefit from.
Hope that was helpful to at least one person ^_^ if you have any questions feel free to ask, or PM me.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:44 am
In high school, we used the Adventures in Japanese books. In college, we used Genki. AiJ is good also for cultural items too, as in is included. Volumes 1 and 2 are for Beginners and Intermediate and volume 3 is for advanced. Genki is also really decent (except for the fact occasionally really simple vocab shows up again in later chapters as vocab for those chapters. Other than that, it's a good book). I am currently studying for JLPT so the complete master series is what I am studying for grammar and such, I have the kanji powerbook for all levels for JLPT (one of the most handiest books I have ever seen for studying EVERYTHING pertaining to kanji, but it's not beginner/intermediate friendly because it's completely in Japanese). I'd suggest these sites for other study: JGram: It is a really handy site for studying grammar forms pertaining for the JLPT, but even if you're not studying for the test, you can still use it to learn other forms. Level 4 is basic and level 1 is Advanced (i.e. native level). It also has it in romaji so you can see the forms. The downside is that the examples are in Japanese and no romaji is given (even at level 4). My suggestion is using rikaichan to figure out words you don't know. Have a good grasp on kana before going here. Most examples are user-submitted though, but it gives english translations for complex grammar forms. http://jgram.org/index.phpKanji Practice: Although it has only 350 kanji to practice, it gives on and kun readings, and alternative forms of the kanji in print. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/ Renshuu.org: This has Kanji/Vocab lists for levels 1-4 of JLPT, all genki lessons and kanji, and all the lessons from "Japanese for Busy People". An all around great site for studying (and it should, with the name renshuu [practice]). http://renshuu.org/
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
Amaureahin I know this thread is kind of old, so forgive me for bringing it up again. I just recently was given Genki II (book and workbook) on the study abroad I'm doing, and I think it is downright dreadful. I don't know about genki I, mind, but Genki II's explanations and examples are terrible. Compared with Nakama II, the textbook I used for second year Japanese at my university, Genki II is just sad. The groupings of grammar, vocabulary, and kanji in the chapters often seem random and don't make sense, while in Nakama they went with a theme for each chapter with grammar, vocab etc that related to that topic and flowed well. The grammar explanations in Nakama are also FAR superior. Genki II seems like it was written for purely use in the classroom- assuming that the instructor would further explain the grammar. For self study, I highly discourage purchasing the Genki II textbook. The workbook, though, is fine. It has useful exercises that I found to be quite nice, and I believe it comes with the answers on a sheet so you can check your own if you are self-learning.
The only good thing I could see about Genki II is that it comes in softcover and hardcover, so if you don't have that much money, you can get the cheaper softcover version and save money (that's why my study abroad program is using it- because it's cheaper). However, if you are serious about studying Japanese and have gotten past a first level textbook, I would suggest Nakama II over Genki II (there might be something better out there, but those are the only two I've used). They both teach the same grammar and alot of the same kanji, but Nakama just explains things SO much better and puts it all together nicely.
Hope that helps!
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:47 pm
My high school uses Adventures in Japanese... although this year we haven't been using them at all, or even brought them home >_<. I liked them, they had cute pictures to go along with words. It was nice. I wanted to try volumes 2 and 3 but no. Our teacher is just so slow and childish with her lessons. Ugh. Yes, I know! obake ga imasu! Yeah, there's a ghost. I know how to there something exists by now. Tell me something new!
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:32 pm
I don't have any japanese classes.
But a ton of people recommend Genki for beginners.
I thought it was pretty good.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 12:42 am
I've used Kimono and Yookoso! (I think that was the name) in high school.
Here in Japan, I've already gone through books I and II of Minna no Nihongo. Minna no Nihongo is widely used in Japanese-teaching schools in Japan; this is the second school I've used it in. It's written entirely in Japanese, but also has translations in a second book available in a large variety of languages.
Now, in intermediate level, we're using New Approach, but that book is impossible to self-study with.
I highly recommend the GENKI books for self-study, as well as Japanese for Busy People (I've seen copies of it in the teacher's room resource cabinet).
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:22 pm
I have used both the Kimono and Adventures in Japanese Series. In my opinion Adventures is better. Kimono is a bit slow moving and kinda cluttered for me. Adventures is more neatly and strategically organized in my opinion. Mainly because the chapter's were assigned a specific theme, sample conversation, vocab, sentence structure explanation, and optional things that relate to it but aren't the main focus. Both were REALLY easy to self-study from too.
The only difference between them really is that Kimono focus's on developing your speaking abilities while, Adventures puts more emphasis on grammar and writing.
I still highly recommend Adventures though.
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