Genki 1 Third Edition: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 Textbook & Workbook Set

The workbook is absolutely essential- but unfortunately, the one that comes with this bundle doesn't have perforated pages, so you have to rip them to turn them in during class, or even just to work on a flat surface if you're doing self study. Look up other workbooks and search for perforated pages in the reviews. They don't rip out very easily without them.Additionally, the accompanying Kanji Look and Learn (workbook and textbook) is just as essential and seamlessly blends with the textbook chapters. It's a must. Therein, it's a much better kanji book than any other kanji resources I've found.That said, this text is maybe the best textbook I've used after 5 years of college. I used the first half of Genki I with a class, and continued self study with a tutor. It worked excellently for both. That said, you'll need to be motivated for self study- this isn't Duolingo, you're gonna have to put yourself to work for many hours a week if not daily on text book exercises, workbook exercises, kanji and kana studies and a whole lot of vocab that's going to be dumped on you (I ended up with many hundreds of flashcards).The text does an incredible job of incremental progress while working in concepts from previous chapters to give you a sense of progress and some much needed review. Exercises give you a good diversity of the uses for the grammar you've learned thus far and incrementally introducing kana, vocab, kanji, numbers, ect. The simple story and characters the book follows are effective and undistracting. The text breaks chapters into a dialogue you come to understand by the end of the chapter, a vocab list, description of grammar points corresponding to sections of exercises, the exercises themselves and then cultural notes and useful tables of things like dates, additional vocab, Japan's rather complex way of counting things, ect. Not to mention the huge library of audio in the free app for vocab, dialogues, listening exercises and, again, additional things like numbers.Without Genki for self study, I'd be totally lost. I would also recommend A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and a Genkouyoushi notebook for kana/kanji practice.An edit for those self-studying without a tutor: I should've mentioned that the exercises are, unsurprisingly, designed for conversation (about half of them or more, I'd guess) and require a partner or a class (class exercises can often be reduced to a two person exercise- I've done every exercise with my tutor). Most of these can be worked into a solo endeavor, but some do require another person- in my case, a tutor, but some probably won't work very well solo.

I like this textbook so far, I haven’t finished it yet but the lessons have been helpful for the most part. Using this textbook in combination with other apps/resources has come in handy. :)

My 11 year old likes this

My daughter has been using the Japanese from Zero series for a year and found it difficult. She recently switched to this Genki book. She likes it a lot. It's more intuitive and allows one to think in terms of conversational Japanese.

I have a lot, I mean A LOT of books for learning Japanese. I really like this one because of all the extras it has. Plus it doesn't shove kanji down your throat from day one.It offers a website to practice stuff and has audio too (freebies)100% recommend this for someone who is interested in Japanese.My japanese teacher also uses this book.Only downside is there are a lot of partner practice sections so if you don't have a teacher/friend to help out it can be a little discouraging having to do both parts.

It's a fine textbook, and probably a good basis to have if you're new, but for self-learning purposes I think it is a bit overhyped. It's geared towards a classroom/instructor setting. If you do want to practice writing Japanese the workbook is good for that. I would say this isn't necessary if you just practice/study some good anki decks, which are free.

I am about halfway through. I am really enjoying this book. It is not easy, makes you use your brain.

Wonderful, very beginner friendly!