Genki 1 Third Edition: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 Textbook & Workbook Set

The workbook is absolutely essential- but unfortunately, the one that comes with this bundle doesn't have perforated pages, so you have to rip them to turn them in during class, or even just to work on a flat surface if you're doing self study. Look up other workbooks and search for perforated pages in the reviews. They don't rip out very easily without them. Additionally, the accompanying Kanji Look and Learn (workbook and textbook) is just as essential and seamlessly blends with the textbook chapters. It's a must. Therein, it's a much better kanji book than any other kanji resources I've found. That said, this text is maybe the best textbook I've used after 5 years of college. I used the first half of Genki I with a class, and continued self study with a tutor. It worked excellently for both. That said, you'll need to be motivated for self study- this isn't Duolingo, you're gonna have to put yourself to work for many hours a week if not daily on text book exercises, workbook exercises, kanji and kana studies and a whole lot of vocab that's going to be dumped on you (I ended up with many hundreds of flashcards). The text does an incredible job of incremental progress while working in concepts from previous chapters to give you a sense of progress and some much needed review. Exercises give you a good diversity of the uses for the grammar you've learned thus far and incrementally introducing kana, vocab, kanji, numbers, ect. The simple story and characters the book follows are effective and undistracting. The text breaks chapters into a dialogue you come to understand by the end of the chapter, a vocab list, description of grammar points corresponding to sections of exercises, the exercises themselves and then cultural notes and useful tables of things like dates, additional vocab, Japan's rather complex way of counting things, ect. Not to mention the huge library of audio in the free app for vocab, dialogues, listening exercises and, again, additional things like numbers. Without Genki for self study, I'd be totally lost. I would also recommend A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and a Genkouyoushi notebook for kana/kanji practice. An edit for those self-studying without a tutor: I should've mentioned that the exercises are, unsurprisingly, designed for conversation (about half of them or more, I'd guess) and require a partner or a class (class exercises can often be reduced to a two person exercise- I've done every exercise with my tutor). Most of these can be worked into a solo endeavor, but some do require another person- in my case, a tutor, but some probably won't work very well solo.

This is amazing. I use it to study Japanese on preply.com with my tutor and it’s very clear and helpful.

I have a lot, I mean A LOT of books for learning Japanese. I really like this one because of all the extras it has. Plus it doesn't shove kanji down your throat from day one. It offers a website to practice stuff and has audio too (freebies) 100% recommend this for someone who is interested in Japanese. My japanese teacher also uses this book. Only downside is there are a lot of partner practice sections so if you don't have a teacher/friend to help out it can be a little discouraging having to do both parts.

I currently take Japanese lessons every Sunday and my tutor recommended I buy this textbook so we could use it. Overall, I feel it is a very thorough textbook. I personally like that it starts you out in Japanese right away. While it was difficult when I started, being forced to write and answer the workbook in Japanese has greatly improved my writing and reading abilities. I will say this textbook would probably be difficult outside of a classroom since it is best to have a teacher to answer questions that may come up. Otherwise, I think it is a great textbook and workbook set!

I like this textbook so far, I haven’t finished it yet but the lessons have been helpful for the most part. Using this textbook in combination with other apps/resources has come in handy. :)

Good for beginners I'm still learning how to use this. The audio is just ok.

My 11 year old likes this

The book teaches a variety of vocabulary and help with Japanese Grammar in sentences. There are other apps you could use to learn hiragana and katakana which would help if you could understand the work in worksheet

Arrived on time. Books are easy to understand, very informative

tudo certo!

Ich bin mit dem Buch und seinem Inhalt zufrieden

en ufak bir hasar bile yoktu, paketleme güzeldi.

Really great text and workbook for beginners learning Japanese. This is much better than the Nakama 1 that some universities use and I found this one easier to use and follow. I found the Nakama 1 a bit rigid and academic in scope and the Genki to be less intimidating to use and work through, being easier to get through on your own if you don't have an instructor and are trying to tackle learning Japanese on your own. Highly recommended.