What Book Did You Learn With?

[Jadrien24]

Well, I'm still not done learning, but currently I'm using Learn Japanese New College Text. I've really liked it so far, I feel like I've been learning a lot in a short amount of time. What book did everyone else learn with?

[rajs20]

Right now I'm using Genki and Japanese for Everyone side by side. Both are pretty good... actually they are really similar, both of them don't use romaji so they get you introduced to kana/kanji very quickly. They also have the format of dialogue + lots and lots of exercises to reinforce what you learn.

The problem with J4E is that it's a bit old, so the audio tapes for it are "out of print" so it's a bit difficult to find. I'd have to say I prefer J4E though, because:

1. Really cheap (at least, the textbook itself... audio is expensive)
2. Covers more material in less space (smaller font)
3. Answers in the back of the book (This is really useful if you're a self-learner, 'cause otherwise how do you know if you're right or wrong?)

Genki is pretty commonly used in courses though, so using Genki might be good because then you're likely to find lots of "supplemental material" geared towards genki. Like, vocab lists people put together for studying each chapter of Genki, whatnot..

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by Jadrien24

Well, I'm still not done learning, but currently I'm using Learn Japanese New College Text. I've really liked it so far, I feel like I've been learning a lot in a short amount of time. What book did everyone else learn with?

Same as you, but I only made it through Volume I and II, partway through III.

[Index]

皆の日本語
It's got really good exercises I reckon, plus logically presented.

[Jadrien24]

Originally Posted by mikecash

Same as you, but I only made it through Volume I and II, partway through III.

Really? Are you pretty much fluent yet (even after learning up to the third book?), or are you still learning through them?

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by Jadrien24

Really? Are you pretty much fluent yet (even after learning up to the third book?), or are you still learning through them?

My Japanese level is adequate to my needs. I stopped using the books sometime back in the late 80s.

[Matadon]

Originally Posted by Jadrien24

Well, I'm still not done learning, but currently I'm using Learn Japanese New College Text. I've really liked it so far, I feel like I've been learning a lot in a short amount of time. What book did everyone else learn with?

I hate those books. Used them for my first two semesters of college Japanese, and feel like I was mentally raped. They are almost totally Romaji, use out-of-date expressions, and have almost no kanji use whatsoever. I spent my Japanese 1A class translating the bloody dialogues into kana and kanji, and learned more trying to fix the mistakes from those books than I did from the books themselves.

[sketchytiger]

All the mangas I own in Japanese and "Japanese for Everyone"