Am I ready to start learning grammar?

At my current level should i start learning grammar, or should I wait until im a higher level?

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Personally I don’t think there’s a reason to wait to start.

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I started learning grammar before I knew any kanji. There’s no reason to wait!

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I would’ve suggested it before even starting WK! Get on it!

I think the grammar is necessary to help reinforce a lot of WK’s vocabulary too–both to distinguish between types of words and begin to make heads or tails of usage via the example sentences. (Even if you can’t read them fully, you can grab enough from context to help illustrate usage if you can understand some of the grammar surrounding the word.)

And yeah, most Japanese classes start on grammar before ever touching kanji.

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I agree with the posters below. While you are waiting for new lessons and reviews you have something productive to fill your time with. In my opinion the grammar is far more important that kanji. I know plenty of people who can communicate well but can’t really read much.

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WaniKani is not a prerequisite to anything.

You’re wasting precious grammar learning time by putting it off.

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Thanks. Do you have any recommendations of were to start learning?

Tae Kim and Genki (or other similar textbooks). The former for a more concise format, the latter for a more comprehensive more than grammar kind.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

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Thank you so much!! :grin:

grammar

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It’s almost a shame you didn’t ask sooner when your kanji load was super easy! :rofl: Definitely start now. Unless your accuracy currently is poor, your reviews will start slamming you once enlightened items come back (probably somewhere between level 17 to 24 if you’re going at a decent speed), so, like everyone else, I definitely recommend starting now while you’re only managing recent items.

Levels 10-25 also have a lot of “synonyms,” so learning some grammar can help you look up differences on E-Dicts (Japanese) or reading Hinative & Yahoo answers giving input on those.

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I just have one piece of advice: THE -TE FORM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE. DONT JUST GLOSS OVER IT LIKE I DID. I cannot stress this enough.

http://rcl.pliable.us/J-verbs.html

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Never too soon to start learning grammar.

If you are brand new to Japanese, I would recommend checking out the app LingoDeer. I really like the way this app approaches teaching grammar and it provides you with an easy way to practice vocabulary and grammar in bite-sized chunks.

A more in-depth grammar resource will be beneficial as you get further in your studies, but LingoDeer is a nice place to start. It also teaches katakana and hiragana, although you can pick up the kanas even easier using Tofugu’s mnemonic guides.

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As others have said, JUST DO IT!

Don’t spend so much time trying to find the absolute perfect methodology and resource. that will just end up wasting time that could have been spent laying the groundwork!

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I agree with the others that you should start grammar right away. Also, do all of your Wani Kanji reviews asap after they are available, and control your Wani Kani pace by regulating how many new reviews you do each day. For example, at my level I am only doing 5 new lessons a day. Not going too crazy with your Wani Kani speed will allow you to work on grammar, and working on that grammar will reinforce the lower levels of kanji you are learning.

For resources, I’d start with Tae Kim and, again, take it slowly. Maggie Sensei is also a decent site. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the Tae Kim explanations, but I like the ordering of the grammar points. More importantly, when you learn a new grammar point, do some google searches on that specific grammar point and enter into the wondrous rabbit hole of Japanese grammar websites. You’ll find tons of them and some of them will click with your style and level, and others won’t. Pretty soon, you’ll have more grammar references than you can shake a stick at, but you won’t know which grammar points to look up. Go back to Tae Kim, rinse, and repeat


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I’d second recommendations above for Genki or other foundational textbooks. As you advance, you can look for other apps, test-prep books, etc. to supplement them and help move into intermediate Japanese, but finishing foundational textbooks comes first.

I have some issues with how the Genki books present certain ideas, having started with them and now reflecting as an intermediate learner, but unfortunately they’re still probably the best around for a structured walk through the basics. Just keep it in the back of your mind that Japanese is a very different language from English, logic-wise.

I think should start to learn grammer first thing. Some simple grammer like from the first few chapters of genki. Knowing how to make some basic sentences is pretty important. Most Japanese classes or text books don’t seem to even start kanji until a few chapters in.

Yes you are ready after learning hiragana. Do not wait!

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not a popular opinion, but i started learning grammar at level 16 (i know by a fact that koichi himself says it’s not bad to wait to level 10 or even 20
 he sent mails to people saying such) the reason to wait is to ensure that you can breeze through your basic grammar textbook understanding any kanji.

I do not feel like i’ve lost time, i do not regret it so far. I’m actually happy to see the amount of stuff i understand. If i ever regret it i’ll let you know

what i think you should be doing is studying kana only vocabulary since you won’t find it here. if you want to study grammar i’d make the usual suggestions.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/

both free (bunpro only during may i believe), both really easy to follow, with great examples and furigana to ease the reading of unknown kanji.

whatever you choose, go for it

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Do yourself a favor and start right away, any time not having spent with learning about grammar is time wasted, in my opinion. Any day not started is a day prolonging the period it takes to master it.

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