I haven’t tried tobira, but realistically you won’t be in either that long, and they probably cover the same introductory material.
Genki. The workbooks for Tobira aren’t even released yet.
They seem to be extremely similar. But because Genki has been around for a long time, you can now find a lot of [additional resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/ux8v7k/any_good_supplementary_resourceapp_that_pairs/) for it that can help you get through the books. I would consider this to be the most important aspect for many, since these books are primarily meant for classroom study and going through them by yourself can be difficult. Maybe in 5+ years the Tobira books will have a similar ecosystem built around them, but as it stands right now I think it is an easy decision.
Both have more or less the same content, from what I’ve seen, so it should really only depend on your personal preference. It does seem like Tobira has more exercises, but the workbooks haven’t been released yet.
I have both Genki I and Tobira Beginnning Japanese.
I found Tobira better and clearer in the grammar explanations (the videos are really nice) but due to the lack of publically available Flashcards and online exercises studying was much more time consuming. The font is also much smaller and the text blocks longer than in Genki, some people are put off by that.
I feel that Genki is a bit more approachable than Tobira, I didn’t finish it yet but I think the Tobira Beginning Japanese Textbook has more vocabulary. In terms of grammar points and topics they are very similar, so it comes down to your personal preference and time.
All beginner textbooks have advantages and drawbacks; there’s not really one that’s superior over the rest. The important thing is that you internalize the basic grammar and get a basis in vocabulary, and use that to move on to the next stage. Whether you do that with Genki, Tobira, Nakama, Yokoso, Minna no Nihongo, etc. doesn’t really matter.
I am using the Tobira Beginning book and really enjoy it. I chose Tobira because I wanted to to go straight into the Intermediate Tobira textbook after finishing the beginning books, and I read that there is a gap going from Genki 2. And I couldn’t find a definitive “this is how to bridge that gap” post.
The accompanied videos are great and give a bit of a “remote learning” vibe. I love that the pitch accents are marked in the vocab sections.
10 comments
I really loved genki. You should give it a try!
Genki for sure
Tobira is the better system
I haven’t tried tobira, but realistically you won’t be in either that long, and they probably cover the same introductory material.
Genki. The workbooks for Tobira aren’t even released yet.
They seem to be extremely similar. But because Genki has been around for a long time, you can now find a lot of [additional resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/ux8v7k/any_good_supplementary_resourceapp_that_pairs/) for it that can help you get through the books. I would consider this to be the most important aspect for many, since these books are primarily meant for classroom study and going through them by yourself can be difficult. Maybe in 5+ years the Tobira books will have a similar ecosystem built around them, but as it stands right now I think it is an easy decision.
Both have more or less the same content, from what I’ve seen, so it should really only depend on your personal preference. It does seem like Tobira has more exercises, but the workbooks haven’t been released yet.
I have both Genki I and Tobira Beginnning Japanese.
I found Tobira better and clearer in the grammar explanations (the videos are really nice) but due to the lack of publically available Flashcards and online exercises studying was much more time consuming. The font is also much smaller and the text blocks longer than in Genki, some people are put off by that.
I feel that Genki is a bit more approachable than Tobira, I didn’t finish it yet but I think the Tobira Beginning Japanese Textbook has more vocabulary. In terms of grammar points and topics they are very similar, so it comes down to your personal preference and time.
All beginner textbooks have advantages and drawbacks; there’s not really one that’s superior over the rest. The important thing is that you internalize the basic grammar and get a basis in vocabulary, and use that to move on to the next stage. Whether you do that with Genki, Tobira, Nakama, Yokoso, Minna no Nihongo, etc. doesn’t really matter.
I am using the Tobira Beginning book and really enjoy it. I chose Tobira because I wanted to to go straight into the Intermediate Tobira textbook after finishing the beginning books, and I read that there is a gap going from Genki 2. And I couldn’t find a definitive “this is how to bridge that gap” post.
The accompanied videos are great and give a bit of a “remote learning” vibe. I love that the pitch accents are marked in the vocab sections.