Genki II

This is the best of many, many Japanese books that I've had. It lays everything out in an orderly fashion, and has quite a bit of supporting examples and illustrations and exercises to drive home the lessons. Those lessons are well-sized for someone who's crashing through this difficult language, and I've found the examples and illustrative explanations refreshingly sophisticated. I had taken classes in groups or in one:one situations for about three and a half years the first time I lived in Japan (which was a five year span all in). But I think I've learned more in the six months I've been studying with this book than I did in all that time.