Not sure where to go

[wachuwamekil]

So I was thinking how awesome it would be to learn Japanese, I have a personal goal of understanding written Japanese (hopefully). But no real time table for having it done, it is all self-study.

I have managed to learn all of the Hiragana, and Katakana that was a snap (with the help of "Remembering the Kana" by James W. Heisig). Anyone struggling to recall the Kana get this book it is awesome. I think it took about 2 weeks to memorize both sets. I have been doing drills with an iPhone app that helps me with recall so that should not be a problem.

I was ready to take it to the next level and after some research I thought that 'Japanese for Everyone' would be a good next step. Well I have had the book for about 3 or 4 weeks now, and am not even half way into Chapter 1. I know a lot of self-study is discipline, but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around what is considered a good pace to go through this book?

For example if I were to take a college course and use this book, what pace would the class be done at? Would it be a lesson a week. Just trying to figure out how best to structure my self-study at this point. I am willing and able to spend an hour a day on material. Given that what would be a good goal for completing a lesson in 'Japanese for Everyone'? Or should I just scrap this book and pick up the Genki course.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Thx,

Ryan

[clay]

Hi Ryan,

I was ready to take it to the next level and after some research I thought that 'Japanese for Everyone' would be a good next step. Well I have had the book for about 3 or 4 weeks now, and am not even half way into Chapter 1. I know a lot of self-study is discipline, but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around what is considered a good pace to go through this book?

I used the original edition and liked it a lot, BUT I did feel like it covered too much too quickly. I think of it as a great book for the highly, highly motivated. I'm not sure if they spaced things out better in the new edition.

Genki seems to be the most popular textbook series, but before spending money, you may want to try JFE a bit longer. If after a few weeks you don't feel like you are making much progress, then you can consider buying Genki or something else. I think the biggest mistake I made was feeling like I needed a new textbook to make further progress. But there are better (and cheaper) ways to keep up motivation.