I have the main textbook and the English translation and grammar notes book, but I’m unclear on how these two books should be used together. Am I meant to read one lesson in the English notes and then the same lesson in the Japanese textbook, or something else? The translation notes book didn’t seem to provide any guidance on this.
2 comments
Kind of, yes.
I’d say MNN is hard to use as a beginner, especially if you’re self studying. I’ve used it with a teacher and still struggle sometimes as the Japanese one doesn’t always have the clearest instructions.
The English book will explain the point of the lesson, grammar etc.. then the Japanese one will have activities based on those points.
I’d reccomend maybe downloading a genki pdf or something and using that and supplement with YouTube (tokini andy is great) and you can probably pick up MNN easier.
MNN also goes more in depth than genki I feel, it covers some N4 stuff before the end.
MNN is dense and fast-paced. It is designed for class use so there are “group” exercises and some missing content that the teacher provides (e.g. conjugation exercises, counter tables, etc). There are some bonus tables at the back of the book. So MNN is not perfect for self-study IMHO (but many other beginner textbooks have the same problem).
If I were you for each chapter, I might study the vocab & grammar points in English. The deeper you learn these the better.
Next, the textbook chapters are broken into examples and exercises. Skim the examples, then reread and analyse everything in each sentence. Skimming is not enough (some of our teachers wanted us to memorise all the example sentence, which is the other extreme). Regardless, you should have a strong grasp of all the vocabulary, all the conjugations, particles, grammar.
There are separate audio files which are available online free of charge (I think). They are excellent and you should be utilising them.
Then, you can tackle the exercises. There may be an answer key for some exercises at the back of some editions but this was not always included.
After a few weeks, schools tend to add a separate kanji book. That is a different kettle of fish and you will need to decide if you want to learn to write or just read kanji, I suppose.
Also, there are a lot of supplementary MNN books. They are expensive and the additional audio ones are great IMHO. Some of the supplementary books require a teacher to correct your answers. I’m not sure I would get too distracted by these.
[https://www.3anet.co.jp/np/en/list.html?q=Minna+no+Nihongo](https://www.3anet.co.jp/np/en/list.html?q=Minna+no+Nihongo)
Although these don’t track MNN, these beginner exercises might be helpful
https://sethclydesdale.github.io/genki-study-resources/lessons-3rd/