Genki I and II

[HarajukuxBoy]

Lately, I've been hearing so much about how good Genki books are, for beginners of course.I really want to get it, but do you think it's worth my money? Are there any other books that are just as good, or even better than Genki? All the book stores in my area don't have the books,so where can I get them from? (where can I go for the cheapest price)
~どもありがとうございます

 

[Goldiegirl]

I have Genki 1 and like it a lot. I've spent a lot on many other books and they are ok, but usually just for learning conversation and not writing or grammar. I would say it's worth it. A new study partner of mine is using this book as well and he likes it too! I learned hiragana so far. Oh I read somewhere that it is a good book for those learning on there own and I know that the only local school here that offers Japanese uses the book as well. We both have the workbook and cd's.

 

[shikyo]

I've got both the 1, 2, the workbooks and cds and are at the end of the 2nd book. All I can say is they're the best language books I've worked with (counting I've used 3 different for spanish, tons for english and tons for swedish). Imo they were worth every yen.

 

[The7thSamurai]

I used both of them and thought they were excellent. By the end of number 2 I was able to have quite good conversations in Japanese.

 

[Haruspex]

Although I only possess Genki 1, i believe that Ultimate Japanese is quite a bit better. Genki has loads of unnecessary illustrations and such. Also my belief is that something thats too flashy is just distracting. I've tried Ultimate Japanese, Minna no Nihongo, Genki and Japanese for Busy People so far, and i find the first to be the best. But still, Genki 1 is quite good, i have to admit it, whichever of the two you buy, it will pay out.

 

[HarajukuxBoy]

Now one more question, do I need the Genki I workbook as well? Does it really matter? Do you recommend I get the work book?

 

[orochi]

The workbook would help. If you are seriousl about learning, you will spend the time and money.

 

[Mcspi]

Thanks for the thread I am going to get the books.

 

[HarajukuxBoy]

Ya I the books came in the mail a week ago, and Im studying my butt off! Lol.

 

[bakaKanadajin]

I like Minna no Nihongo personally. A lot of my beginner material comes from these books, among others.

 

[bachir]

genki ?

I have Genki 1 and like it a lot. I've spent a lot on many other books and they are ok, but usually just for learning conversation and not writing or grammar. I would say it's worth it. A new study partner of mine is using this book as well and he likes it too! I learned hiragana so far. Oh I read somewhere that it is a good book for those learning on there own and I know that the only local school here that offers Japanese uses the book as well. We both have the workbook and cd's.

Hi there !
i just wanted to confirm that genki is (in my opinion) much better than "minna no nihongo" (i used this latter to learn the very first time when i didn't know anything, not even kana=hiragana+katakana ).
i find Genki more "intuitive" in a way, because the lessons are well structured and at the end of each one there are different activities (attractive most of the time).
Whereas in "minna no nihongo" i felt like every rule and notice are given in...let's say in bloc. this may make you overloaded with information. it is nonetheless quite useful and instructive.
I'd like to add that i found a pleasure in flipping through "genki 1". this one gives also the opportunity to learn 145 kanji quite E A S I L Y thanks to the well-thought (and quite different) activities at the end of each 14 set of kanji.
with these modest and indicative points about the books, it will help new nihongo learners to start their beloved language (well that is the case for me )

 

[Haruspex]

Any integrated study book is good for a start, but when you finished them you'll probably have to purchase books that deal with one field alone, so the best is to have grammar, speaking, kanji&vocabulary separated.

 

[Tomii515]

I just got Genki 1 & the workbook for Christmas today :'D
I love it.
Definitly worth it.

 

[kairu]

Get it cheap?

You can find it on Amazon for about $30 used. I just looked into it and I might buy it myself next month if I don't make it into this class...

Also, you can buy the workbook for $20something, but you might want to buy it new instead of used and in good condition =p

I don't know for how much it retails, but $60 (figuring in shipping haha) sounds pretty reasonable to me for a textbook and workbook

 

[HarajukuxBoy]

Yeah, I got the books a few months ago, and I ended up paying $60, which is reasonable.

 

[kairu]

Oh, haha, I just read that (up above) .

We'll see how things go; I might do the same thing here shortly, which is exciting! Learning exclusively online might start to hurt my eyes soon

 

[FDDreamer]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to ask a couple of questions about these books to see if they are right for me!

I work full time and have a long commute home which means private tuition is not an option (I simply wouldn't have time to see my family otherwise!) but I do have some time on the train which I could use for studying.

So, I'd like to find the best resource to use. I've heard these books are very good, but I am a complete beginner with no experience whatsoever - are they designed for someone like me? Also, can anyone explain the difference between the workbook and the textbook? Sorry if that's a really silly question!!

Finally, I have seen Genki II for sale at about £270 (nearly $530!) with the CDs...is this really worth the extra £240 ($470) or are the books sufficient?

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Kind regards,

Adrian

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

I have a suggestion that as of yet I haven't seen mentioned. Now, I can't compare because the only other textbook I've used is "Nakama" and I've glanced through "Youkoso!" and "Genki." Anyway, my suggestion is "Introduction to Modern Japanese" published by Cambridge University. It has a different organization from most other textbooks - for one you start with all three writing systems, so you have to know Hiragana and Katakana before you use it. Each chapter is centered around a passage, which gets progressively more difficult. There are 50 lessons, and it's designed so that each lesson can be completed in a week though you may want to take longer than that. So, basically 1 year to complete the whole thing - but again, I suggest you take as long as you need. It covers everything necessary for daily conversation and explains a lot of the idiomatic expressions you will encounter. If you get the supplementary workbook, which I suggest you do, you will have plenty of lessons to reinforce everything. You have to have the discipline to study on your own, though. Every week.