Genki Textbooks Make Japanese a Breeze

The Genki Japanese textbook series are my personal favorite for first and second-year Japanese language textbooks. Many other very good textbooks have a flaw that isn't big but that can become a recurring nuisance. Not the case here--both Genki I and Genki II Japanese textbooks are clear and well-organized.

Textbooks

The exercise instructions aren't confusing. That's partly because they include some English instructions. Many textbooks try to "immerse" you by having instructions for class exercises all in Japanese. That's great in theory, but I've made a fool of myself far too many times because I didn't totally understand the instructions.

In the Genki Japanese textbooks, vocabulary sections are also clear and organized. Many books just throw a bunch of words on a page for you to sort out and memorize yourself. Here, they break up all the vocabulary into several types of verbs, as well as nouns and adjectives

Also very handy is the verb conjugation chart at the back of the book. If you've covered the material and just blanked out on how to change a verb around, it is incredibly handy.

One trick I've found with this book is after you've studied for a chapter kanji quiz, just go into the next reading passage you'll be doing and write down the kanji pronunciations next to all the kanji you just learned that show up in the reading. That way, when you are trying to understand the meaning of the passage in class, you don't have to fumble around trying to remember how to pronounce the kanji.

Last I checked, the Genki Japanese textbook series doesn't go beyond second year Japanese. That's unfortunate, because Genki I and Genki II make your first two years of learning Japanese easy and a pleasure to do.

Genki Textbooks Make Japanese a Breeze

See Also : Totally Textbooks