I’m working my way through Genki 2, and I told myself that when I finished I would order the original Tobira & grammar exercise books. But I noticed that they JUST released the first book of their Genki-equivalent series,「とびら初級」, on July 1st of this year. Looks like it is currently only available as a hardcover release. They have a small companion website here: https://www.9640.jp/tobira-pilot/
The only chapter preview they have on the site though is from early on in the book…Ch 4 I think…and I’m really curious to see their approach vs Genki as the book progresses. Apparently the second part will be released in 2022. I’m thinking about taking the plunge and putting in an order. It’s probably not absolutely necessary…but you know, more learning resources are never a bad decision right?
I’m also interested to know if anyone here has tried it yet - this reddit post has a bunch of images from it, it looks really nice and I think it’s neat that they include pitch accent in the vocabulary lists
Oh, I don’t know why I didn’t think to check the reddit sub for this! Thanks for the link. I’m going to look through the album and table of contents now. I agree that the pitch accent references would be super helpful. I’ll let you know if I pull the trigger!
I’d disagree. It might not hurt your language learning, but I would think that spending your time differently would probably be more effective than going through a textbook which explains things you’ve already learnt through Genki 1 and 2
I understand what you’re saying, but I feel like refreshing all the grammar I’ve learned so far would only be helpful as I continue to dig into more reading. I’m currently reading a few manga/LN/books of varying difficulty because I’ve learned that I won’t keep trying to read something that I’m not interested in (even if the grammar level is appropriate for me). So I go more slowly with that. I also participate in a conversation class once a week, so it’s not like I’m slacking off in every other area of study.
I’ve only been studying Japanese for about two years (all self-study), but I’m much more confident with kanji than grammar. This is partly bc WK is amazing and makes things so easy, but it’s also because I need more focused, uninterrupted studying time for grammar and that is harder to for me to lock down in daily life. Additionally, I’ve found Genki to be such a slog to get through that it doesn’t really motivate me to keep going back. So I’m thinking that a different resource could help in that respect.
Hello! I have bought the new Tobira Beginning Japanese text book, and I haven’t had much time with it yet (I just got it this week lol) but from what I see compared to Genki I really love it! I completed Japanese from Zero Book 1 and just finished genki lesson 3 to tell you how Beginner I am.
The new Tobira looks very fresh and colorful, with lots of text and thorough grammar. There’s plenty of exercises integrated in the textbook, but to my understanding 2 workbooks will be released later on (It would have been helpful to release them altogether but it is what it is haha) and it promises lots of video lessons and other things on the website. Theres lots of QR codes scattered throughout the text for that purpose so it feels very modern. And there’s an adorable cat that pops up a lot lol.
I would think that if you’re looking to jump into Tobiras intermediate books and going to get a refresher text, this would be the one, especially since it should be easier to transition into the later texts. I feel like it’s always good to have something explained in a different way, (hence why I’m working from Genki but will also be using Tobira) but everyone learns differently.
Well, it sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind about whether to purchase the book or not Then go ahead, I’m not gonna stop you. I just wanted to provide my own opinion, but that doesn’t mean that yours is any less valid of course ^^
It seems really difficult to find a textbook that sets out in a coherent order anything above beginner though. It seems like once you’re done with Genki/other “introductory” texts, you kind of just have to search every grammar and stuff you come across. My memory is like a sieve so I take copious notes. It’s helping. In the less than 12 months I’ve been seriously self-studying, I feel like I’ve learned and understood more than 3 years in university XD
Then go ahead, I’m not gonna stop you. I just wanted to provide my own opinion, but that doesn’t mean that yours is any less valid of course ^^