Is Genki textbook good way to learn Japanese?

[hitotsz]

What are the best resources for learning Japanese if not Genki?

[KyleGoetz]

The "big 3" textbooks are
1. Minna no Nihongo
2. Genki
3. Yookoso! (I can personally vouch that this was the basis of the two years of my foundational Japanese, and I have ended up speaking it quite well)

There are great online dictionaries, with Jim Breen's WWWJDic (simple word lookups) and ALC's Eijiro (usage examples) being the best IMO.

Then you've got Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese and Yookoso.com.

To practice speaking and listening, Skype.

Then to do flashcards for kanji, you should pair Kanji in Context (book) with Anki (computerized flashcard program). For reference, I'm knocking out about 60 kanji per week with approximately 85% retention using that combination). I've been at this pace for a couple months now.

[Hatredcopter]

Genki was the first textbook I used like 5 or 6 years ago. It's a common textbook for university Japanese classes, and I would recommend it. It's usually taught in conjunction with a class, but I believe you could still learn from it by yourself if you're a good independent learner. You should probably get the workbook that accompanies it, it's only another $10 or so.

[MissHoneyBeeee]

I also want to find a book for learning! Do you think I could get the one's you guys have mentioned at any sort of book store or a specific one?

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by MissHoneyBeeee

I also want to find a book for learning! Do you think I could get the one's you guys have mentioned at any sort of book store or a specific one?

Yes, but Kanji in Context is out of print, so you should try to buy it at Amazon Japan. It's hands down the best kanji book on the market. It's leaps and bounds better than anything out there I've ever seen in a decade.

[Caerula]

I´ve recently found a publisher with lots of jepanese language excercises and some free (audio) downloads.

Try White Rabbit Press – Japanese Kanji and Kana Flashcards, Tokyo Realtime Audio Tours and more…

There are for example books for reading in different levels of difficulties. (level 0 (0-400 Characters per story with Kana-Translation ) to level 4 (with 5000-10000 Characters per story)

But I´m not able to recommend a specific course book

[Kai13]

I too think that minna no nihongo is better than genki. I started with genki, came to college (MNN) and I find it more complete than genki. Comparing the first volume of both series. Minna no nihongo explains some stuff genki doens't. small stuff, but important.

I like both nevertheless

[SceptileMaster]

I like genki. I personally vouch for it. I don't like みんなの日本語 because of the way verb conjugation was taught. Teaching you verbs from their ます kind of form first then teaching you to conjugate them from that doesn't make much sense but I suppose the important thing is being able to speak it at the end of the road no matter how you got there. However, I have never used so Yookoso so I can't say anything about it.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by SceptileMaster

I like genki. I personally vouch for it. I don't like みんなの日本語 because of the way verb conjugation was taught. Teaching you verbs from their ます kind of form first then teaching you to conjugate them from that doesn't make much sense but I suppose the important thing is being able to speak it at the end of the road no matter how you got there. However, I have never used so Yookoso so I can't say anything about it.

Yookoso! also teaches ます form first. It was my biggest gripe, but it didn't hinder me in learning the language as far as I can tell. The biggest hindrance is all books lack of emphasis on learnings loads of kanji early on. It is the biggest hindrance because you eventually hit a point where you know all the major grammar, but nowhere near enough kanji or vocab to read even a newspaper article.

If you want my opinion, Japanese courses should be structured like this: Know about 500 your first year. Know 1000 your second year. Know 2000 your third year. Enjoy reading any newspaper article you want with little difficulty.

Obviously it works you hard, at a pace of 10/week your first two years, but it's very doable with even only an hour of kanji study a day during the week.

I'm doing a lot more than that with about 85% retention right now.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by Kai13

I too think that minna no nihongo is better than genki. I started with genki, came to college (MNN) and I find it more complete than genki. Comparing the first volume of both series. Minna no nihongo explains some stuff genki doens't. small stuff, but important.

I like both nevertheless

I did the other way round, started with Minna and then moved onto Genki, and I preferred Genki! I think for a complete beginner, Minna can be very heavy going, particularly if you are self-studying. I found Genki clearer, but as you said, not quite as complete as Minna. Minna goes more into the technical breakdown of the grammar where as Genki just says "do it like this". Still,when I find myself struggling to remember exactly how to use a grammar point, I tend to refer back to Genki than Minna.

Both provide a good grounding though. I think it just depends more on your personality as a learner as to which you find best for you.