Genki II

A book review.

Genki II

An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese

by Eri Banno, Yoko Ikeda, Yutaka Ohno, Chikako Shinagawa, and Kyoko Tokashiki

published: 1999

ISBN: 9784789014434

genre: Language

reviewed:2020.10.13

👍🏼 recommended

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.

Bonus comment, 2025.03.01

I have now finished this book at last. This is the Japanese textbook I was using with a teacher in one one classes for the past four years. It is very well laid out, enabling you to move from an introductory explanation to a few examples and then some practices. There are sections on grammar, vocabulary, culture (for setting), and of course kanji. This is the most effective book I've used for instructor-led studies -- and I have tried several.

Strongly recommended; but get the workbook as well.