Hi! I’ve never learned a language before, and have always wanted to learn Japanese. I am finally deciding to do so, and was wondering what the best type of book would be for someone who has no prior knowledge on the language.
I’ve seen different types of books, such as:
\- Japanese from zero (American author)
\- Genji (Japanese Textbook)
Would it be wise to purchase something such as Japanese from zero, a Japanese textbook, or something else?
Any guidance is greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.
3 comments
Most people have no prior knowledge of the Japanese language, therefore you can go check the wiki and beginner’s guide of this sub without an issue, all conveniently located in… well, exact location depends on what device you’re using, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.
The starters guide ([https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide/](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide/)) will give you all the info you need.
I can recommend the Japanese from Zero books, along with their complementary Youtube series.
take my advice with some trepidation as a near-complete beginner myself, but this is what i’ve done/been doing:
-use tofugu to learn the kana. their method is almost scarily effective, i learned them all in a day and a half
-use wanikani to start learning radicals, kanji, and vocab. i’ve just started using torii SRS as well, as ive seen quite a few people say that the kanji and vocab it teaches is much more commonly used than what wanikani teaches.
-this last one is an aspect i haven’t fully dived into, but it’s been ordered and is on its way to me: genki 1 with the workbook. i can’t speak on its efficacy for myself just now, but it was a step i felt i had to take.
-there is a sample test for JLPT N5 (and probably the other levels too) that i’m going to quiz myself on when i get to that level.
good luck!