Making Japanese Studies Easier

So you are just starting out in your Japanese studies and need a textbook, what do you choose? For most of us the choice will come down to two books: Genki and Minna No Nihongo. Both are fine places to start, but lets look at Minna No Nihongo.

Minna No Nihongo is great for beginners. The series offers the most essential words and grammar that anyone will need to survive in Japan while at the same time touching on some more advanced Japanese. It does a terrific job of introducing Japanese to beginners and stretches on to intermediate Japanese. It is a great series of textbooks that is challenging and rewarding for really fair price.

Part of what makes Minna special is that it starts you off running with no English. This is not a textbook for just casual learners, you will have to be serious about your Japanese to make this textbook work for you. If you have an existing knowledge of hiragana and katakana and also have a drive to learn, then this is the textbook you will want to use.

If you are not sold on Minna, you should check out our review for:

Categories: Beginner, N4, N5 :This textbook is cheaper than some alternatives, on average about $30. Great base of grammar and vocab for beginners. The series even stretches into intermediate Japanese. The monolingual text forces learners to master reading Hiragana, Katakana, and basic Kanji :The monolingual text can make the books unapproachable to casual learners. It is a series, so you will have to buy several books to get the same amount of info that can be found in textbooks like Genki. Minna No Nihongo is a great introduction to the language, but can be intense for beginners. The books are written in Japanese which is better in the long run, but can be