Useful Textbooks?

[Sachi]

Sumimasen, I'm sure there's already a thread about this, but.. Could I get a direct answer? Are there any really fantastic Nihongo textbooks out there that I could learn a lot from? Any printed source you found useful? (NOT saying this site isn't useful; I mean for when I don't have a computer around or internet service ) It would be a big help, arigatou!

[Qbe]

There are numerous threads about textbooks, and you'll find positive opinions about almost any book out there. Different textbooks have different approaches which appeal to different people. Some love the "Japanese for Busy People" series; I can't see why. I like Japanese for Everyone. Others like the "Genki" series. The best approach, if you can do it, is to take a look at a number of books (see what books your library has) and see what appeals to you.

[Infidel]

Better to say what your learning priorities are and I can recommend according to them. Do you just want to speak, speak and read, or is just reading enough for you? Do you want a comprehensive course that still focuses on literacy or a comprehensive course that takes a more casual approach to literacy? Do you want a course that focuses on the mechanics of Japanese or would you rather learn the structures intuitively? There is lots of variety in the courses and simply asking for a fantastic one, when most people have only used one course, isn't going to get any real useful answers.

[Sachi]

Thanks for the tips. I want to be able to speak AND read. I'm looking for a book that's pretty easy to understand, and is something I could get a lot out of. Grammatical points clear and understandable (such as, "use this particle when talking about THIS", then have examples, ect.). With detailed grammer lessons, wide vocab, and use of Hirigana/Katakana instead of romanji. Is there anything like that (or close to?)?

[Infidel]

Since you want detailed grammar I'd suggest Genki. Be sure to get the workbooks as well as the CDs.

If budget is an issue, wouldn't suprise me, you might be satisfied with Colloquial Japanese. The explainations are pretty good but there are some annoying spelling errors, although they are easy to catch.

[jinksys]

I have Japanese for Busy People, Genki 1, and colloquial Japanese and even though colloquial Japanese has a few spelling errors I would still buy it again! Colloquial Japanese + Pimsleur = two thumbs up. Don't worry about the spelling errors, since the book must be doing something right for you to notice them.

[Sachi]

Ok. I'll have to check those out. arigatou, everyone ^.^

[CajunCoder]

I'm looking into getting Genki. It seems to cover a lot of usefull kanji and vocab, and I'd like to be able to read japanese, so it seems to be a good way to go. http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sheaa/proje ... _main.html is a site for people who are using genki, so you can look at a lot of the content there.

[ebo123]

I would recomend Japanese for Everyone. It shows grammar notes(and gives examples), along with vocabulary and phrases. You start learning Kanji in the first lesson (27 lessons). Also, it has VERY few uses of romaji.

[AngelTyrael]

Just to toss it out there, I've worked with both Nakama and Genki, and I greatly prefer Genki. Nakama is very textbook-ish, and it doesn't answer the obvious questions you may have as well as Genki does. Furthermore, Genki's a bit goofy, which might sound like a bad thing, but seeing a picture of a guy who wants to jump off a roof is more memorable than a simple manga.

[Shin]

Sorry for using this thread, but it is perfect for my question.

Well I search also for a textbook to continue my learning, as learning without a sort of plan is useless. My priority would be to understand and read roughly (the main content and so) text messages (games, mangas and texts in general). I have read the description of genki and japanese for busy people, but I don't know if they are more talking-orientated. I have Japanese in Mangaland1 (the german version) and a few specialisied books. Although I'm german, englisch textbooks shouldn't cause any problems.

I know that I won't probably understand the games and mangs to 100 % but so that I can understand what is going on would be great.

Thanks in advance

[hlover100]

Once you have an idea as to what you want or want to look for general material, you can find many new and used books for discounted prices at http://www.abebooks.com I've found some that are normally $10 plus for $3 or $4.

[Sachi]

Well, thanks everyone! I did end up getting Genki I, the workbook, and the CDs. they've been great ^^ I really have learned a lot, and fast. So, thanks everyone ^^ And anyone looking for a good extbook, it's what I have to recommend (well... it's all I HAVE so far, but it's been great and I'm extremely happy ith it XD)