I read the old posts about genki and everyone recommended it, but when I checked the amazon reviews. I saw few people say that they lived there in japan and say the book is bad and the grammer is so repetitive and other things just talk bad about a book.
I just started few day ago using Youtube. And I wonder if genki will help me study better because I prefer books.
I also hesitation about the price. It’s really expensive for me. It’s like 112$ in my amazon.
Just want to make sure if genki worth it with that price or should I look for another book
(And I apologize for the mods because my question is so repetitive. I just want the people advice)
11 comments
I used Genki throughout my high school/college Japanese classes. It’s great for total beginners as most of the concepts are explained in English with an English perspective, so the concepts should be easy to understand. Its real value comes with a little guidance from a teacher who can help transition that English understanding to a Japanese one. It’s difficult to use if you are self studying but there are good videos like Tokini Andy to provide some guidance for self study
You don’t strictly need the book, to be sure. You do need the grammar that Genki teaches though. They are all common and all unavoidable unless you not only stay away from Japan, but also swear off all Japanese media.
I have both Genki and Nakama. Nakama was used at my local college, but I got Genki based on overwhelming recommendations online. Having made it through both at level 2 (in addition to the entire Pimsleur course, and still working through JapanesePod101), I think you’d be fine with either if you’re dedicated. I definitely thinking having a verbal component is essential for your pronunciation. Personally, I think Pimsleur did wonders for my pronunciation more than the lab/audio exercises in Genki and Nakama. Pimsleur, however, is strictly audio… it offers no grammar or kana/kanji instruction.
Genki is great. You can find the PDFs of the first and second editions of the textbook and workbook quite easily. The audio for the second edition is free through their OtoNavi app.
Don’t buy textbooks if you can’t comfortably afford them. After learning hiragana and katakana, you can start watching [Andy’s videos on the books](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA_RcUI8km1NMhiEebcbqdlcHv_2ngbO2), [practice concepts here](https://sethclydesdale.github.io/genki-study-resources/lessons-3rd/), and use Genki Anki decks to learn the vocabulary.
Alternatively, you don’t need a textbook to learn Japanese. You can read a grammar primer like [Sakubi](https://sakubi.neocities.org/) and work through [the loop](https://morg.systems/58465ab9).
it’s the most popular teaching book series and for good reason; not everyone writing a random amazon review is going to be reviewing them as an educator
of course it’s not perfect for emulating native japanese, that’s way too much to expect of any beginner book; initial lessons are more about getting people moving in the direction of being able to wrap their head around the grammar. they can’t just dive into the intricasies of common speech – other book series don’t, either, imho
it’s repetitive because it reuses material to provide opportunity to reinforce it over time, which is a positive from an educational standpoint
in any case, you can find free pdfs of them online if you look for them
Textbooks are good for beginners due to being structured, but the grammar (Not just in Genki, but most beginner textbooks) that is taught is often incorrect. Particles, in particular, are something that English-native L2 Japanese speakers tend to struggle with due to the way in which they are taught in textbooks and apps.
You can use a textbook if you want to, but you’re eventually going to have to relearn a lot of basic grammar from a monolingual resource.
I use Tobira Beginning Japanese 1 with grammar videos. Japanese Ammo, Cure Dolly, and Tokini Andy. I honestly HATED Genki. I used it in University and then for self study, my opinion didn’t change Tokini Andy helped but switching to Tobira was the best choice I made. The Grammar is better explained with longer explanations as you get further into the book, though there are people who don’t particularly like that. Tobira is also more dense than genki and I prefer the layout significantly more. If you’d like, I can show pictures of the differences because I do still have Genki. Both books aren’t made with self studiers in mind and I couldn’t say which one has more classroom activities.
The downside to Tobira is that it came out in 2021 (later in the year I believe) so there isn’t a lot of supplemental material people have made (ie Anki decks, people like Tokini Andy, websites, etc) but considering there’s overlap in the material between both books you can use Genki materials with Tobira so I don’t believe it’s really that big of a deal that Tobira is new.
So I guess my answer, Genki may be popular but I think it does have plenty of issues though many are explained away by Tokini Andy. I would still choose Tobira every time. I got Genki used for $35 and still feel like I wasted that money. Sorry for this wall of text!
The trick is to buy a used copy of Genki second Edition rather than a new third edition
Scrap Genki and use the Kanzen Master series instead (完全マスター). I suggest the grammar and reading books the most. The grammar books especially cover all the basic grammar points you’ll need to get around in Japanese and there’s great resources online to supplement any unclear explanations (日本語の森 is a great resource on YouTube I used extensively). Until N3 grammar explanations are in English. After which they are in Japanese.
As stated already, genki isn’t a bad source; especially for a beginner. I recommend just jumping in and seeing if it clicks with you. There are going to be naysayers on any and everything.
That being said, you can find pdfs of genki, and the accompanying audio in mp3 formats. In fact, here is a link where you can get both genki 2nd ed books, along with the workbooks, answer keys and audio files:
https://www.reddit.com/r/textbooklinks/comments/wp4nz8/genki_textbook_volume_1_3rd_edition_multilingual/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
I would also recommend using Tae Kim’s Japanese grammar guide. I found it useful to break the patterns of trying to translate from English to Japanese in my head, and to start thinking in Japanese.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.guidetojapanese.org/grammar_guide.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiws7ve3aj9AhVB7WEKHTJmDpsQFnoECD8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3o_8kJ7r8_HMxLkqdyM2v4
I think it is important to find what works for you, as there are a ton of resources out there, but hope this helps you. Good luck on your learning journey!