Job Discussion Forums

[flyingkiwi]

I am just about to finish Yookoso, an Invitation to contemporary Japanese and am looking to either:

1. get the next Yookoso book: continuing with contemporary Japanese or

2. get another type of textbook. Of course, it would have to be of an intermediate level. I have already done the beginner stuff.

Has anyone seen the Yookoso books in Kinokuniya or other bookstores in Japan?

And what textbook do your study from and/or recommend?

[Wintermute]

Never heard of Yokoso before. I started as a beginner with zero knowledge of the language but I have improved to become an advanced speaker (2 kyuu, going for 1 kyuu next year). My textbooks were -

Genki (for the complete beginner, introduces the basics)
Genki 2 (more of the same but the difficulty level is naturally higher)

If you complete both books and learn the kanji associated with them you should be a low intermediate (about 3 kyuu level).

An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese

The book is easy initially but becomes difficult quickly, only for the dedicated intermediate learner. Some people I know complained that it was a little too dry but I loved it, a good balance of vocab, reading and grammar practice. If you complete this book you should be middle-to-high intermediate (almost-but-not-quite-2 kyuu).

Beyond that I moved on test preparation material (mainly kanji and reading books). There are more textbooks after this but these are the essentials IMO. Other people swear by the Minna no Nihongo series of books but I never learned with them.

Edit - Read now that you think you are ready for intermediate coursework. I recommend you check out Genki 2 quickly though. Even though it is technically for beginners it has a lot of grammar in it that you may have missed as it is a very dense book and it is a little more comprehensive than other books.

[flyingkiwi]

Okay thanks for the info.

I might see if I can get the second Yookoso book somewhere as it just follows on from the first book. If I buy another textbook I may be repeating stuff.

Yookoso has reading, writing, speaking and listening, four elements of communication in one book, so I recommend it. It will set you back about ichi man yen though.

How much are the genki books?

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I did the Genki I, II Integrated Approach textbook routine outlined by a previous poster. My Genki II is marked at 3000Y but I wouldn't be surprised if it were more now.

As well as the Integrated Approach book, I use A Dicitonary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar, and a range of smaller books on individual parts of the language (a book specifically on particles is really helpful, for me. I have "All aAbout Particles A Handbook of Japanese Function Words" by Naoko Chino- 1800Y) and of course a learners kanji dictionary.

But if you limit your language learning to just textbooks, especially in the country that uses the language, then the amount your language improves will probably also be fairly limited.

[flyingkiwi]

Of course you talk to people too. I try to speak as much Japanese in the office as I can. But, I just haven't got the vocabulary at the moment to carry off a decent conversation.

If you just buried your nose in a textbook then it would be pointless really.

[ReedNZ]

What do others think of the "Japanese for Busy People" series?
I've heard alot of varied opinions on this series.
I am also looking for a good series of books to use to develop my Japanese which is currently at a beginner level. I am travelling to Japan March 2008 for anywhere up to a year and would like to continue studying throughout my time there.
Is the "Genki" series one of the better paths to go down?

Thanks for your help.
ReedNZ

[alexrocks]

Books can be good for building reading and writing skills, and after learning the kana I recommend Basic Kanji Volumes 1 and 2. I found them to have a very effective and engaging approach to learning kanji which has you apply the lesson points to practical, everyday situations in Japan when you are required to read Japanese. The books also helped my conversation skills by widening the range of my vocabulary.

Unfortunately, the next book in the series, Intermediate Kanji Volume 1, is awful because it completely removed everything about the previous books which was fun. So instead I've been continuing to improve my reading skills with comics and books, and by using games and other software for the Nintendo DS, such as Kanji Kentei and interactive novels such as Jigoku Shoujo (based on an anime I really like). While learning a language is necessarily boring at times, I try to keep that to a minimum. And that reminds that I have also worked on grammar with JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) texts, which are kind of boring. However, you can get motivated to do them if you sign up to take the test.

Final note: I hate flashcards, they bore the hell out of me, but if you're into them I recommend http://www.speedanki.com/.