Book 5 is planned by the end of years, so maybe you should make it your goal to finish book 4 before then. I know I’ve made that mine.
Really?! Wow, great news! =D
I will definitely try! These books are rather quick and easy, when you have a bit of time to spare and the energy to do it =)
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hi toyger!! (your username is super cute)
your collection is super super impressive! like, whoa!!! i’m envious!
i have about 5 different physical japanese books, that’s it : P barely nothing compared to your assembly! (assuming you don’t count my 80gbs of digital stuff i’ve collected for 2 years…)
i totally understand the attention thing, as i also have ADHD- not the same as ADD, but highly similar! it’s hard to keep my attention on one thing for so long- wanikani has definitely been keeping me on track since i bought it, though!
do you also find learning japanese has given your life some balance? that’s the case for me, even if i’m pretty slow at learning!
wish you the best in your studies : D !!!
(btw, do you have a discord? you seem really cool and i’d love to chat with you!!)
I love your collection Toyger. You have it so neat and complete! Enjoyed your writeups on it all too.
I too, am a collector, but I’m only a few months in my Japanese studies. Still, I bought every Japanese grammar book I could find on Amazon. I got so excited every week, getting packages. Now I don’t see anything left to buy. Funny thing is, I use mostly web-based learning resources like WaniKani/iKnow/NihongoMaster/KaniWani, they keep me very busy. But I still love having my books!
It’s funny seeing those Japanese From Zero books in white, I have the newer ones and they’re all in color. I am just starting to buy the Japanese Graded Readers, I have 0 and 1. Other than those, I don’t have any readers yet, as I can barely read at this point.
How come I didn’t see any of the Genki books?
Haha, yeah, I’ve heard a lot of people use them Genki books, but I just haven’t picked them up yet, since I have so many others I’m not sure if I should do yet another kind. It sounded like it could be extra hard for self studying though, on reviews.
I like the good old Zero books in white. They have sayings on the front that I really love, which I miss on the new versions.
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Yeah the author has stated a couple of times on his youtube channel that he is trying to finish it up this year. He even has temporarily stopped one of his video series in order to focus on the book better.
From what I’ve heard, Japanese from Zero 1-4 is roughly the equivalent of Genki 1 & 2. I have tried both but I find Genki to be very dry and boring. Many of the exercises are clearly based on a classroom environment. The layout of the book also isn’t the best, it’s not terrible but I do find it a little ugly.
Truthfully I don’t understand why Genki is so popular, certainly not bad but their are better and cheaper books available (like Zero). You will find many people who tell you how brilliant it is and try to shut down any other book (I’ve had people try do that with me on these forums) but I think that’s just buyers bias, though you can make up your own mind if I’m the same with Zero.
One problem with the two series is that they are hard to move between. Genki likes to use technical terms which makes it hard to move to or from Zero which tries to use more relateable terms. Plus the order in which concepts are introduced is completely different.
That is exactly the impression I’ve gotten of the Genki books, and the reason I have stayed away. I’ll gladly do two books for one, cause the Zero books are fun, interesting and well designed. Simply put, they keep it interesting while still challenging you enough to learn. I do understand the bias, cause I’m the same with Zero 
Of all the books I’ve tried, the Zero series win by far. I haven’t tried Genki, but it doesn’t really sound like the kind that works on attention deficit people like me =P
I am tempted to try it though, collector as I am, since so many do love it. But honestly don’t think it is the one for me.
Updated with a good bulk of books and new mangas I’ve acquired thanks to WaniKani Book Clubs =)
I can’t help you with a translation, but I’m intrigued - do you not feel you learn through reading these books? I have them as well, and follow the suggestion not to look things up. So far I’ve always been able to infer the meaning of any words I haven’t recognised from the context and the illustrations.
I find it a really effective way of learning, actually, as I remember new words much better if I made the connection myself, and there are never more than a few new words for me per book, which is just right for retention.
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I feel the book clubs and just reading more has made a huge difference!
I’m at a level where I don’t pick up “new” words that much, but notice words I was supposed to know but never recognize cause I’m not used to spotting them in the wild or don’t know them strongly enough. I notice I pick up more and more of my passive knowledge and put it in to a more active one. Sometimes I see a word without furigana that I feel I should know, but don’t quite remember, continue without looking it up and a page later I recall it after all, reading and meaning! Sometimes seeing it a few time help trigger that latent memory of it. So I love the reading without stopping method =)
My reading speed has gone way up! My understanding too! I’m still only a novice in reading and only pick up the main idea but miss out on all the finer details, so I rely on the translations or book clubs comments still. But I notice a difference from one week to another =)
I still have a long way to go, but I can tell that I’m getting somewhere =)
Edit: I see now you refer specifically to the Graded Readers. Honestly, after picking up “real” books I stopped reading them. I have been wanting to go back to reading them though. Now, a year later, I should be able to breeze through them in no time! A year ago I only did one tiny book a day before “meltdown”
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Haha, yep, sorry - I should have made that more clear in what I wrote myself. Totally agree with what you originally wrote though!
I definitely think that if you can read real books then that’s better in basically every way, because it’s ‘authentic’. I read the graded readers because for me they’re an easy read, so it really helps to consolidate my understanding and I find it easier to keep reading them (it can be a bit of a grind to get through native materials).
I doubt I’ll get all the levels, because at the rate the difficulty is increasing I’m sure Level 4 must be harder than actual books / manga you can pick up, but you would probably have a better idea of that than me!
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I started reading them from the bottom, and only got to level 2 before starting native material =P
But since they come with audio CD’s I’ve been thinking of starting them up again and use them for listening practice as well
But they are just so expensive! I bought them all as a set when the site that sold them had a sale =P
I bet there are better and more affordable material for the higher levels
But have you tried the iPad versions? I LOVE those! If anything, my favorite Japanese “book” is actually those Graded Readers for iPad, one about a grasshopper and one about why bats don’t fly during the day. They are lvl 0 and 1 I believe, but I just enjoy those so much! <3
There you can read along, and get a tiny little flashcard session near the end.
When it comes to the original questions, in those two I DID pick up new vocab! <3
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Yes! I’ve read all of Level 1 and am reading Level 2 - it’s already starting to hit a level where it feels just as hard as some of the easy books I have. But they use repetition a lot more than normal books, which I think is really helpful.
I’m going back through Level 1 with the CD at the moment - using it both for listening and then shadowing. I think the CD makes it really worthwhile. I totally agree that they’re super expensive, but they are both well written and illustrated, and the CD makes them a pretty flexible resource. I really doubt I’ll buy the higher levels (the whole set looks so good on your shelf though!).
I haven’t tried the iPad versions! I really want to now though - I didn’t know you got flashcards! I seriously don’t want to buy another copy though.
The hoarder who’s guesthouse I’ve semi-inherited hoards bed bases, picture frames, 50 gallon oil drums, and books on microwave cookery. I am thoroughly jealous of your hoarding.
Had a look at those Graded Reader books and with shipping to the UK it worked out at £35 a book… until I get some proper money coming in there’s no way I could get one!
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Oh really? I’ve been managing to get them at about £20 - £25 (also in the UK). That’s still super expensive, but not quite that bad!
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Just did some fact checking and I’ve overblown it- they’re £15 each on CDJapan, with shipping anywhere from £5-20 depending on what you go for.
But everything is too much when you have no money 
← World’s Tiniest Violin
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Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! Um, um, have a tomato? 
It might not help with your Japanese studies, but is highly nutritious and delicious
Yeah, that’s much more what I’d expect to pay
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Spent all day updating. I got so much more now, lol! And still have a good number of new items on the way too! 
Will try updating as I get new stuff instead of doing a bulk update
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