Best book/audiobook to learn Japanese

[japanstudent]

I would like to know your opinion on which book or audiobook...or even software...which is best to teach me Japanese. Right now, I am concentrating on speaking Japanese only, and not reading or writing it...So please tell me books which teach me how to speak it, and not how to write it, although I do not mind if their is both...

Post your opinion on the best book/audiobook/software which will teach me how to speak Japanese!

Thank You

 

[kameron]

Pimsleur's tapes are okay for learning phrases, but they're waaay too expensive and do not teach you grammar. If you can afford to pay a tutor then do that, I would not recommend a book to learn how to just speak Japanese.

Edit:
The best books (or tools) for learning Japanese are:
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar - The Japan Times
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar - The Japan Times
A Dictionary of Japanese Particles - Sue A. Kawashima

But the above are only helpful if you are active in self-study, e.g. reading newspapers, studying for the JLPT, writing essays, etc. and they do not include lessons so you have to devise your own plan.

To be honest textbooks really irritate me (hence why I only have dictionaries), I've heard that the Genki series is all right though.

 

[karin]

Try it out!

Konnichiwa, japanstudent!
I am Japanese and living in USA. And I always recommend people here who seriously wants to learn Japanese and are thinking about going to Japan this course

StudyJapaneseNow.com (I'm still new so I can't post direct link...sorry)

It's got all kind of goodies: Especially its interactive audio course is very useful and helped some of my friends who just spent a month in Tokyo(They had a blast over there!). They offer free 6-Day course, so if you are interested, it won't hurt to try just the mini course. And if you do so let me know what you think!
Or the best way is date Japanese girls! That's how my husband learned Japanese. But funny thing is his Japanese is very feminine! So maybe it might not be the best way!
Ganbatte, japanstudent! :emoji_punch: