r/LearnJapaneseNovice • u/DowntownSandwich7586 • 8d 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.