When I first started learning Japanese, years ago, far before Genki was even published I cut my teeth on a book very similar to Japanese for Dummies, but it was less for conversational Japanese and more for reading. I thought the review was quite good, and could also be for someone who might have a passing interest in the language as you mentioned. If they want more then they could always dive deeper.
mashpushblock couldn’t agree more. It’s a great and inexpensive starting point until someone wants to jump deeper. Then I have options for those as well haha
Can someone recommend me the best Japanese learning book for beginners, I don’t want to know how to write and read yet I want to learn how to talk first obviously.
@@ricwelbre2270 theres a program called “Japanese” it’s free for like the first 7 chapters or so but every chapter has tons of lessons in it so it’s very useful & I’ve learned a lot from it , there are better ways to learn but here’s one of em
I think the books (for most languages) are useful for Beginners. The phonetic pronunciations are useful for those working on stress, pronunciation, or vowel reduction. I think it's useful to have that as a beginner. You could try to read the characters, and if you get stumped as to the sound, you look at the sound bit. It's really basic, and can only help for so long, but is useful.
I don't know if you're still wondering, but I can vouch for the niceness of the Dummies books on language. I know the German All in One is pretty good and I plan to buy it, and the Russian ones are great too. I'd say buy it, since it will be a centre for good info, especially because of how wildly spoken the language is ♡
When I first started learning Japanese, before Genki, I used Japanese Demystified and have great memories of it but honestly don't know if it's actually any good, haha.
I’m currently using Japanese demystified to learn Japanese, despite saying you weren’t sure if it was any good, but did you find that you learnt Japanese?
@@aeryngale6124 I wouldn't say so. I ended up talking classes in university using genki and I think my experience with Japanese demystified gave me a leg up but I don't think I could have learned using only that book.
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Thanks for this video, i was about to order this book online but i had doubts so i download a free pdf first, then i found this video.. For now I'll scan the pdf first before buying the physical copy.. Why i wanna buy the physical copy? Because reading through my phone strains my eyes.. 😭
yeahhh I impulse buyed this and I really don’t think it’s right for me. The lack of Kana and Furigana really just confuses me. It definitely feels like it’s for tourists, or people who aren’t really looking to *learn* Japanese. I really should’ve read more before I bought it, not for me.
Just starts learning japan again , forgot everything and my class are 2 lesson faster . Any suggestions should i do to catch up , chad ? Or just burn the school down
If you're starting from nothing and don't wanna spend money on a book try Japanesepod101! It's a website and podcast that's free and I started with it. Really good starting resource
The GNU public license means your allowed to redistribute(And even sell) as long as any modifications/improvements you make are also published with the GPL.... no need to bypass the license really
I found it to be the best resource I used at that level. Just make sure to get the work book as well so you can really drill the ideas and grammar into your head. Another thing worth noting is that a lot of other content creators use a similar vocab and sequence of introducing grammar so you can go that route if you want, or you can use them to reinforce your learning (which is what I did). Last thing worth noting is right after learning the hiragana and katakana characters (if you haven't already) you should start learning the kanji, there's no way around it and its by far the hardest part of learning Japanese. I'd recommend remembering the kanji text books but they certainly aren't needed.
I am using the Genki textbook now in community college. I am in my third quarter of Japanese. My teacher said Genki is not a self-teaching textbook. One will need a native Japanese speaking tutor to explain the subtle detail. The Kanji is overwhelming for a new student. I recommend this book, "Learn Japanese: New College Text volume 1" by John Young (Author), Kimiko Nakajima-Okano (Author). I have used both books and "Learn Japanese" is much cheaper.
A lot of universities in the US use Genki as their starting Japanese books. While it is meant to be used in a class, I do think that it is one of the more self-study friendly textbooks out there. Like someone said, get the workbook for more work. Also, get the answer key so that the questions can be corrected. They also have a Genki website with resources. You may or may not want to wait though because there is a new edition (3rd edition) that is supposed to be coming out soon (maybe even this month I think). But, If I remember correctly, the workbook and the answer key are scheduled for later in the year. So, the second edition already has all 3 books available. Some supplementary books might also be Kanji Look and Learn and A dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. They are both put out by the same company as Genki. The Kanji one includes all the Kanji in Genki 1 and 2, plus extras for a little over 500 kanji I believe the final count is. Plus, that one also includes more, and different vocabulary words than Genki. For the price, Genki is a pretty descent starter book for a self study person I think. Is it the best? I don't know. But for someone just getting into Japanese, I think it is fine. Most of the introductory books cover (more or less) the same material. It is mostly a matter of some cover a bit more or less than others, and how they format and explain the information.
Daniel Stout always look forward to a familiar face in my comments stout!! Be looking out for a patreon update for this May’s trip! I’m getting every the exact titles they want for manga club :D
