Genki I (Third Edition) Textbook – An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 Textbook

One of the questions we get asked at J-List a lot is, "I want to start learning Japanese, what book do you recommend?" Most textbooks are entirely dry, uninteresting, and cannot follow a student's pace, leaving students frustrated. However, a new series by The Japan Times has recently taken Japanese language for foreigners by storm, and comes highly recommended by anyone who has taken it -- Genki, An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese.

The book is divided into sections on grammar/vocabulary and reading, and covers various topics for each of the chapters, starting with hiragana. Each lesson has: 1) a dialogue introducing vocabulary and grammar in a situation the student may find familiar; 2) a list of the vocabulary with hiragana, katakana, kanji and English meaning; 3) grammar with full explanations in English; 4) interesting usage notes; 5) several pages of practice questions designed to be fun and interesting incorporating dialogue skills, writing skills, and thinking skills; 6) additional vocabulary.

Each lesson also has a complementary lesson in hiragana/katakana/kanji, with reading and writing exercises. The separate workbook has more writing exercises and kanji writing practice. This is simply the recommended textbook for anyone beginning Japanese up to 3rd level in the JLPT.

THIS BOOK: This book is textbook I (Third Edition), starting from no knowledge to knowing hiragana, katakana and the first 145 kanji. Romanization of Japanese is used in the first two lessons to help students unfamiliar with hiragana and katakana, but soon tries to ween the student off romanization (which we recommend)

Comes with access to audio segments for use with the textbook, by downloading the iOS or Android app!