I apologise for being absent from the site, and if this post is not of interest to every reader of my blog, but since I have now reached a strong intermediate stage in my Japanese-learning journey (yes, after years of study), I thought I would share some traditional learning resources which I found useful in my beginner stage of learning Japanese. I know that language immersion and listening to podcasts, Japanese YouTube, etc. is popular nowadays and very important, but here I will talk about some books that I personally found useful in my language-learning journey, and which I believe don’t get enough attention or promotion on the Internet.

First, I believe that the very best introductory textbook on the market for a Japanese learner is Minna no Nihongo (Books 1 and 2). This is the most thorough, the most detailed textbook for a beginner you can get. It may appear daunting at first since the textbook is in Japanese, but there is separate book you can buy that would explain the grammar in your native language and also translate everything in the text. What makes it so great is that it presents the material in the most logical and progressive manner with no big jumps or chaotic presentation of topics. This is very important for learning Japanese in particular – that there is logical, step-by-step progression in the presentation of grammar. Minna no Nihongo is also more detailed and provides much more words and grammar explanations than the Genki I and II textbooks, its main competitor. Moreover, the Minna no Ningono textbook has separate booklets available to practise each core skill – listening, kanji, writing, grammar and reading. For kanji (a hieroglyphical system that is part of the Japanese writing system), I also highly recommend the Kanji Look and Learn book, together with its workbook.

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