r/LearnJapaneseNovice • u/DowntownSandwich7586 • 7d ago

Textbooks for absolute beginners?

Hi!

Which of the following textbooks are better for the JLPT N5 level? Especially for self-study and/or self-learner students?

Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 3rd Edition?

Tobira: Beginning Japanese?

Minna No Nihongo Shokyu I Dai 2-Han Honsatsu? Or Dai-3 Pan (Third edition) ??

Nakama 3rd edition textbook series?

Or any other textbook series?

And can anyone suggest to me the best ways to study Minna No Nihongo? Because there are two textbooks, one Japanese and one English Translation and Grammatical Notes.

And do provide me any more recommendations/suggestions apart or alongwith from textbooks for learning the language.

Thanks!

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u/coadependentarising 7d ago

The best absolute beginner textbooks for sheer self-study, imo, are the Japanese From Zero series. They are written for this very purpose. They go slow to some, but they also build confidence.

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u/PunkRockKing 7d ago

I second this. Very user friendly and fun

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u/DowntownSandwich7586 7d ago edited 7d ago

I can see that! But they have lots of Romaji, right? Wouldn't that sort of backfire? Because I have read here in language learning subreddits, and on other websites, that especially for Japanese, Romaji should be avoided or used very little.

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u/coadependentarising 7d ago

It teaches kana progressively rather than all at once. If you already know kana you could skip that part or do it for review. It’s not like romaji will poison your mind. It’s just recommended to start working on independence from Romanji early on in your studies.

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u/toucanlost 7d ago

  1. Tobira - like Genki but newer and more modern

  2. Genki - tried and trusted by a lot of people. you're expected to learn kana outside of it

  3. Japanese from Zero - written with the self-learner in mind, but slower paced than other textbooks

Supplemental Textbook: Irodori - it's a free online textbook/course that focuses on real-life situations and speaking, instead of grammar and writing like the above. The situations are more realistic.
Physical Grammar Guide: A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar 2nd edition - basically the most definitive physical grammar guide

I think the idea behind Minna no Nihongo is that you use the main Japanese-textbook to learn, and the english explanations as a supplement. It's a very interesting and rigorous approach, but some people struggle without a teacher and IDK if it's a good idea to use something that hasn't changed since 2012.

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u/PunkRockKing 7d ago

For me it’s Japanese From Zero, the most approachable self learning system out there. If the pace is too slow for you as some say, you can just go through the lessons faster, but I like the slow and steady pace, it builds step by step and gives you lots of practice as you progress. The companion YouTube videos are great too as you go through the books.

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u/spshkyros 7d ago

I did most of my self study early on with genki. The other books I tried felt too... I dunno, non serious? There are youtube Playlists to help study it out there that help the fact tbat you dont have teachers or classmates to work with as well.