I started learning Japanese about 8 years ago. During this time I have taken looong breaks. Years worth. In total I’ve probably spent maybe 2 years in total. Despite that I’m still about N5-N4 level. But I really want to give this a proper go. I never studied from textbooks before. Mostly because I can’t keep focusing on them. My motivation goes rock bottom with textbooks. I’ve been preferring audio files with people speaking but I’m going to try them out anyway. I bought a few books to try. I can never study at home so tomorrow I plan on going into town and sitting in a starbucks or something and giving it a go.
My question is how do you all study from these books? Do you just go through the book filling in the blanks or do you sit on each question and do something like write out more examples? If that’s the case how do you do more examples because unless you understand the point perfectly then you might be learning bad habbits or wrong answers in general?
I realize this probably seems common sense to most of you, but for someone that has never done learning via textbooks this is confusing to me. I even went through university and got my degree mostly without using textbooks. But again I really want to give learning this a serious go again. I’m fed up being stuck at this same level.
5 comments
For N3 and N2, I recommend Quartet. Quartet bases itself around the chapter’s readings.
There are questions for before you read, and then after reading, you go onto the after-reading questions. When you’ve finished the readings, there is the newly introduced grammar. Both the reading and grammar have corresponding pages in the workbook.
After the grammar is the writing section, usually in theme with the readings. You’re given the task to write using the reading strategies and grammar used in the chapter.
After that are one or two dialogues. Pre-dialogue questions (What kinds of questions do you ask when meeting someone new?), then you listen and answer some questions. Afterwords you make your own dialogue and practice it.
Finally comes the listening section.
It’s better to use a tutor or class with this book, but I think you can do it in your own too.
I’m also around N4/N5 and have been trying to study for a while. I recently starting taking it seriously and got a few books.
In terms of textbooks I really think you should find one written in a style that works for you. I have Japanese from zero 1 and 2 but I found the Minna No Nihongo books to be better for me. They’re straight to the point and the exercise workbooks are only in Japanese. I use these for vocabulary and grammar. I then attend classes once a week for pronunciation and have audio language exchange on an app like HelloTalk or hilokal.
Textbooks usually come with instructions on how they’re meant to be completed
Unfortunately like you said, there might be misunderstandings and bad habits forming, so textbooks I’d advice getting a teacher if it’s feasible for you. This will also help with motivation and give your learning some structure.
In my opinion, textbooks are most useful for the beginner (N5+N4) level and become less useful afterwards, especially should your main goal be to just read/watch Japanese content (N3+ grammar is pretty easy to just Google). If you don’t like textbooks then I wouldn’t start with them now that you (presumably) have the basics down. If I was you I would get N4-N3 graded readers with grammar explanations and start reading + mining them for vocab (Satori Reader is a great option for that). Then move on to easy native content.
Otherwise, as others have already stated, all the popular textbooks come with instructions in the front on how to best use them. Don’t skip those and you will be fine. Textbook authors are not trying to make using their books a mystery that only a few can solve. They explicitly tell you what to do. Also, search for supplementary content on the publisher’s website and on Google. Some have extra exercises online. Some have video series on YouTube. And also look for a vocab deck for your textbook on Anki.
Join a class using a decent book or the book you want to learn from. Some people complain the classes are slow, but nothing stops you from learning more in your free time and jumping ahead later. It solves all motivation problems – there is a group of interesting people that you meet up with every week to go through stuff! Plus you get speaking practice and the context tips from the instructor – so valuable.
Look for local Japan/[your city/country] societies, they put more heart into the lessons in my experience. I live in a small town and do an online one from a society in the next city.
In terms of your other questions about actually using the books. Wow, amazing that you got a university degree without the textbooks, that would not have been possible for me. Basically, open the book, read it, write notes consolidating what you learned. Make flashcards for new vocab. Buy the accompanying workbook and answer key. Do the exercises, check the answer key and make corrections, use langcorrect for free form writing corrections, listen to the accompanying audio, shadow the audio. Check off each page with a pencil as you do it and move on. No need for perfection, stuff in language learning gets repeated, so as long as you’re feeling challenged but not overwhelmed just keep moving forward. When you forget stuff, use your notes or the book as a reference to refresh. It’s not more complicated than that. I think most people’s issue is motivation to open it in the first place, which is why I suggested a group class.