Hopefully this is the correct place for this post, but I am heading to Japan in June 2024. I would like to know more than just a few key phrases of Japanese, but I am not sure how meaningful it will be for me to start the Genki textbooks if I live in the states and probably won’t make it over to Japan much.
I am also looking at the Japanese from Zero book on Amazon. I realize it is not recommended here specifically, but i wanted to see if anyone had experience with this book, and if this might be the better option to get me up and running quicker with less of a foundation?
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I actually think JFZ is one of the better options if you’re a completely fresh beginner (otherwise the extra slow introduction of kana will be irritating) and you want to study by yourself. The author also has a ton of supplementary videos on his youtube.
Of course Genki also isn’t a bad choice.
As for whether it’s worth it, that depends on how much time you’re willing to put in. If you’re looking for something you can do for an hour every weekend, learning Japanese probably isn’t it and you wouldn’t get much out of any textbook in 1.5 years. But if you’re serious about learning then a textbook is a great place to start.