Textbooks/language material for teenagers?

[GraceyLike]

Sorry ;D. I was just wondering if anyone could reccomend any textbooks for teenagers? I asked aobut Japanese for Young People, but appereantly it's useless without the teachers book, which needs to be bought seperatley.
So, if anyone could reccomend any textbooks or language material suitable for teenagers (although techincally I'm not wuite a teenager, I'm 12).
Thank you =]

[piepiepie75]

Well, I'm almost 19 now, so it's hard for me to quite get in a 12 year old's shoes again.

The only textbook series I've bought thus far is Japanese for Busy People, and I don't see why a teenager would have problems with the way the book is set up. It reminds me a lot of the English workbooks I used to do in 8th grade.

I'd say go to your local Barnes and Nobel's or Borders and check out some of the textbooks there. I bought my Japanese for Busy People I and II at B&N's, so you shouldn't have trouble finding it. They've got a whole bunch of Japanese learning materials at my local major bookstores, so I'm sure you'll have no problem getting something that's right for you .

[somenube]

Look up Minna no nihongo. It is very popular. I have been using Genki but it is kinda hard for teenagers because it was designed for college students.

[Wakannai]

The only real difference I've seen in the "teen" textbooks is the lessons are shorter and the book has a lower info density. Probably, because it assumes that you will have a lot of other classes so it squeezes in less info. The only other difference seems to be a more "everyday" style of grammar, where the adult courses seem more targeted towards business people, diplomats, transfer students, or whatever.

Thus, If the OP is self-study, there is no reason not to go with a course not written specifically for teens.

[Wakannai]

The only real difference I've seen in the "teen" textbooks is the lessons are shorter and the book has a lower info density. Probably, because it assumes that you will have a lot of other classes so it squeezes in less info. The only other difference seems to be a more "everyday" style of grammar, where the adult courses seem more targeted towards business people, diplomats, transfer students, or whatever.

Thus, If the OP is self-study, there is no reason not to go with a course not written specifically for teens.

Personally, I think Colloquial Japanese would be a great book for a 12 year old. It would be nice if it had more exercises though. But it is designed for the self-study and the more everyday style is good. Just keep your eye out for the typos, because that book did have a few too many.

[HarajukuxBoy]

When I was 13, I'm 14 now, I bought Japanese For Busy People as my first textbook. I would highly recommend that one, because it presents the material is a fun, and easy to learn fashion. It has a lot of practice parts to it as well. I have Genki 1 now, and it's really good also. But many teens may find it overwhelmingly difficult to follow through without a friend or teacher to help every now and again.

[Musiflare]

I began using Genki I when I was 15, and it worked well for me then. Plus, if for some reason you get disinterested with a really formulaic approach, Genki is relatively unique in its pictures and example questions. I distinctly remember one of the audio examples in the workbook involve telling someone not to kill themselves, just to list an example.

[GraceyLike]

Thank you all =]. I'll investigate Japanese For Busy People, because I've seen 2 Waterstones near me stock it, and 1 Oxfam stock Books 1 and 2 for £20 :].
Could you please tell me what Minna no nihongo is like? I've flicked through Japanese for Busy people at local book stores and it seems pretty good .
So would you see that Genki should be used for people about 15/16?
Ermm, does Japanese for Busy people have Grammar lessons in it?
Thank you very much D

[Musiflare]

So would you see that Genki should be used for people about 15/16?

I wouldn't say it's necessarily created for people 15/16, as several words from the first few chapters deal with college scenarios (IE: Hi, nice to meet you, what's your major?). I'm in Genki II right now, and I really haven't seen anything that you would exclusively call "collegey" since early in the first book.

[piepiepie75]

Ermm, does Japanese for Busy people have Grammar lessons in it?
Thank you very much D

Of course . At the beginning of each lesson, they give you a short Japanese conversation to read and pluck out certain grammar points from there. Then they give you some new vocab, and you go off to do the exercises which usually consist of writing example sentences based on the grammar used in the conversation while using the new vocab.

[GraceyLike]

Oohh . Thank you soo much. I ordered Japanese for Busy people out of my library to see what it's like =D. So do you suggest, when I hit 14ish I should start using Genki?
Sorry to ask another question, but does anyone know any resources for learning the Kanji? D=

[piepiepie75]

Well, if you like JFBP1, JFBP2 teaches you about all the Kanji you need for JLPT4.

[GraceyLike]

Well, yesdterday I bought Japanese for Busy people at my local Waterstones for £18. About a hour later I returned + refunded it, because I'm probably going to buy off the internet £6 cheaper. Or I might get Minna no Nihongo. That looks quite good
I did buy a book on Japanese grammar though, and it seems quite good =]

[piepiepie75]

Yeah, be careful when buying books from bookstores. I bought JFBP 1+2 plus a huge kanji book for ~$100 at B&N. Afterwards, I went to write an online review for them and found I could've got them all for around $70 .

[sushi4ever]

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