Tae Kim is not a textbook… it is a reference guide.
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+1 for imabi. It’s very, very thorough and there are loads of example sentences. I’ve been copying them down and get a lot of practice using kanji I’ve learned here and reviewing my imabi writing makes for great kanji practice as well. If you’re willing to give it the time it’s an excellent free resource imo.
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It’s still a resource in line with what OP requested, so I don’t think the distinction really matters. 
I don’t really got how something non-Genki can be in line with the request, how can you study together in a Genki study group without the book?
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Well it does if it isn’t an alternative. Genki has a workbook, exercises, audio, dialog to study, etc… Tae Kim has none of that.
Tae Kim isn’t a bad resource, it just isn’t what a lot of people have touted it to be. I think the concise and simple explanations should be used to augment study and I have read it cover-to-cover.
@acm2010 I suppose. I was thinking of OP keeping up with the grammar points and discussing those, not looking for a way to do the exercises with the group and all that. Not much else anyone can suggest though if the OP wants what you’re suggesting. The only viable options are to buy Genki new, buy Genki used, or do things we can’t discuss here.
@lsh3rd As I said earlier in this post to acm2010, I was thinking more about discussing grammar points than doing exercises. But yeah, your points are valid. I also used Tae Kim’s guide as a supplement after using Japanese From Zero, and I agree that going straight into Tae Kim without using something with exercises is not ideal.
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ah i didn’t realize it wasn’t a group tied to an in person group
Hi! I used Genki I and II in college. 
We didn’t have the best instruction, but it was definitely useful for me in building some foundation. Of course, I self-studied a lot, but I didn’t really explore the possibilities of all the resources online and so forth until much later. I’m sorry you can’t get a hold of the textbook right now, but maybe at least someone is kind enough to post the grammar points so you can look them up if not scan some of the information for you?
Personally, I haven’t looked into any of them, so I can’t attest to how good they are, but from a quick Google search, it seems like the Genki dialogues or conversations may be on YouTube/fan postings on YouTube.
(Of course, be careful if they’re not officially made… Never know what you’ll find out there…)
Also, this seems to be a good supplement to the texts, might want to explore some of this:
Also, something I actually used, and I personally like:
^ It’s a website that has original dialogues not found in the Genki text but follows the lessons and you can choose the slower speed or more natural speed. It’s supposed to be a supplement, but at least you can still practice and learn while following the similar points covered in the Genki textbook.
Good luck! ^^ Hope things work out for you.
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Japanese is the fifth foreign language I’ve attempted to learn (over a period of 30 odd years). The Genki textbooks are the best textbooks I’ve used so far. If you are really serious about learning Japanese then investing in them is probably worthwhile. Early birthday or Christmas present for a relative that could afford a copy?
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Here’s a YouTube channel that goes over every practice lesson in the Genki textbooks. Focus on building a vocabulary for right now. Get to level 10, then move to these lessons combined with Japanese Ammo as noted by @JavaSparrow.
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Apologies for the double post. Here’s a link to The Japan Times’ Genki Syllabus. Maybe compare that to the information available from Tae Kim’s Guide and you can create an equivalent experience. Just going through Genki’s first lesson, it seems like it’s mostly available from Tae Kim as well. Example:
Genki Lesson 1//Tae Kim’s Guide
Numbers (1-100)//Numbers 1-100
Time//Telling Time
Telephone Numbers//??
The particle の//Noun Properties
XはYです//State of Beingand Topic Particles
Questions sentences//The Question Marker
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So how do you like JFZ? I don’t hear many people commenting on it… The price is reasonable and it might be the answer the OP is looking for. George’s videos are really great and I like his personality a lot. If the book is as good as his videos, it has potential.
I thought of suggesting it, but because I have no experience with it, I can’t make a recommendation. I don’t think it would do me much good to add to my library, which is already overflowing with underutilized materials. Plus I need to work on N3 and I don’t think his series goes that far.
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The series is good overall. I used it as a complete beginner. However it has this weird thing about slowly introducing hiragana throughout book one and katakana throughout book two. So it may be awkward for someone that already knows them.
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I know this thread’s basically petered out, but I wanted to second (or third?) the recommendation for Japanese Ammo on Youtube. I don’t have any textbooks and was having trouble wrapping my head around Tae Kim’s lessons, and so far these have been the most helpful Youtube videos for me.
I can only speak for the very basic stuff though, since that’s as far as I’ve gone.
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Thanks~ Several ppl have recommended that but I haven’t tried it yet til now XD so I guess I should watch it now (*´∀` *)
Also I decided few days ago ago that I won’t buy any textbooks for now… But idk maybe some time in the future?
The link you posted for the Genki syllabus seems to be broken for me. I didn’t even know this was a thing!
Can someone link it again?
Unspeakable things. Sounds kinky.
#50ShadesOfAgainstCommunityGuidelines.
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Weirdly enough I still can’t access that page. Tried on multiple browsers, always get the 404 error 
