Best Japanese Learning Books? (besides textbooks that don’t teach real Japanese)

6 comments

1. It’s a misconception that textbooks don’t teach “real” Japanese. Yes, textbooks can be a bit stilted and usually formal, but you need to have roots to make your tree grow. Learn the grammar and layout of the language first, then get creative and more liberal. Language learning takes time, everybody is out here trying to skip ahead, which ends up damaging their actual ability down the line.

2. japanese children books.

3. i speak like a native because i spent so many years learning the formal language out of textbooks. it’s important to have a strong foundation going into this language, without it it’s easy to be rude or completely misunderstood. the other commenter’s right tho, if you’re adamant not to learn through textbooks, kid’s books are the way to go

4. Making Sense of Japanese by Jay Rubin. It’s a quick read and probably most effective for high elementary or early intermediate learners. It’s less instructive and more a collection of observations and essays.

5. [Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japanese](https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar) is a good place to start. In your free time, reading Manga with Furigana is really good as the panels provide more context over just the words on the page.

6. Sent a PM