I’m sure this has been asked plenty of times before, and I have poked around some other threads related to this topic, but I’m level 10 now and I’m ready to get back onto learning grammar. I’ve tried bunpro out multiple times, but i feel it just piles on top of my wanikani reviews, which I’ve already spent some time mentally adjusting to and finding a groove. However, when I consider a textbook I realize I would have to find a way to mentally put aside even more time to begin doing that daily as well, which it can be very hard for me, as I struggle to either start a routine or change a routine.
Regardless, I would appreciate either a methodology to approach bunpro from a purely grammar standpoint without doing too little or too much, or textbook recommendations that focus mostly on grammar. I’ve peeked at Genki already but I feel there is probably something out there that caters better to what I’m looking for.
Of course, any tips on this matter in general are appreciated too, Thanks!
The thing that really helped Bunpro work for me was reading. After a certain point, you get a little sense of “ok, I don’t understand this sentence because of X” and then can figure out if X is “the words” or “the nuance” or “the grammar pattern”. If it’s “the grammar pattern” you can search that pattern, either on Google or in Bunpro and read a little about it.
Here’s a little about why I suggest this. idk what you’re like, but I’m very mathematically minded, so I really want grammar to be this perfect chemistry equation type thing for making meaning, but I don’t really use my native English that way. So leading with reading as a way to try and see what’s out there grammarwise and then using Bunpro to help improve comprehensibility is more my speed than just gobbling up more SRS.
I personally like the TRY! Series of books. They focus hard on Grammar (not much on vocab or coherent story) but are tailored mostly to the JLPT levels. I have not used the lower levels, but you could take a look here: Amazon.co.jp: TRY! 日本語能力試験 N5 文法から伸ばす日本語 改訂版 eBook : ABK 公益財団法人 アジア学生文化協会: Japanese Books they also have a digital edition.
It’s an all-in-one book, starting with a scene in which the grammar is used, small grammar explanation, mini exercises and some “example tests” every few chapters that have listening questions as well.
I think I understand what you’re saying and I believe I’m similar in the sense I want it to work like an equation. In reality I know its usually a nuance because thats just how language works, I probably just need to find some reading material like you suggested.
I’ll give these a look, I had set my bunpro onto the tae kim path at one point but I realized it was probably better to just use the actual source material rather than thru bunpro. Thank you!
The big thing is finding a resource that gives you the information in a way that you can understand and meshes with your learning style. Bunpro seems to be great for a lot of people, but after 3 months I bailed out in frustration. The grammar lessons are very bare bones and academic. The correct information is there, but they don’t really “teach” or talk about how all the grammar points you’re seeing work together in an understandable way. And the SRS review prompts are super frustrating since they require you to distinguish between very subtle nuances of meaning and translation. I got to the point where I dreaded using it every day.
Lately I’ve been using MaruMori and I like it much better. The tone of the lessons does tend to overcompensate in the other direction by being overly chatty and casual, and some of the pretty and cute graphics can kind of get in the way (there are ways you can mostly avoid it though), but I’m finding I’m actually understanding grammar that I never really got from Bunpro. Their lessons explain what is going on in the sentences rather than just stating the technical mechanics. Also I find the exercises and training tools much easier to use. You can connect your WaniKani account for learned kanji (I don’t use MaruMori for kanji learning at all) and that will manage furigana for you. You can choose to do vocabulary SRS or not separately.
I also really like the grammar pages in Tofugu much more that Tae Kim. I don’t much care for video lessons as I like to jump back and re-read information as I go along. But again, everyone has a different learning style and process.
You probably wouldn’t like a textbook. Just use Bunpro, but only use it for grammar. They have grammar decks from N5-N1 that are only grammar and won’t teach any vocab. Don’t treat it like Wanikani by doing lots of lessons everyday but limit your lessons so that you’re not taking on too much. I think with grammar, you don’t want to move forward until you are comfortable with what you’ve already learned since the lessons build off of each other, which is a bit different to how learning vocab works. Just go slow with it and treat it a bit differently to Wanikani.
It may not be the approach you’re looking for, but it could be another resource if you need one.
Also, how are you wanting to study grammar? Do you want to study a new grammar point each day? Or are you looking to learn something specific and focus on that grammar point for a little while before learning something new?
If my Bunpro ignorance is messing this up, someone please tell me.
I tried Bunpro and couldn’t handle it, just didn’t click for me. I also tried and hated Genki books. I tried Bunpo (yes, “Bunpo”), I liked it better than Bunpro but still didn’t stick with it.
What I HAVE stuck to (4/5 done) is Migaku Academy 1, which I think is EXCELLENT! Plus when doing more examples of the grammar it pulls in some vocab which overlaps with WK some and I like that. What I like most about Migaku is how it builds on itself and you actually have to use the previous grammar in later examples. It’s well crafted, and I only a small handful per day (4) so it’s not overwhelming with the reviews for me. There are about 2000 cards, so my schedule of 4 per day takes 500 days, which is a pretty slow pace, but I like it. Others do it more like 10/day, too much for me, but it would get you through faster (not sure that’s a good thing though, overload!)
I’m reading a lot of good suggestions and wish to add my 2c. I have used the みんなのにほんご book a lot, and liked it a lot, much much more than げんき. I found that I wasn’t internalizing the lessons sufficiently and was unhappy that as diligently as I worked on the exercises and all that, I was unable to sufficiently recall previous lessons very well. So in and of itself, that speaks in support of something like Bunpro.
I have also been working with Pimsleur for quite some time. I really like it, but here again, the lessons weren’t sticking well enough for me. That was very disappointing as Pimsleur claims that just doing lessons will be enough. Maybe it is for some but I have my doubts.
Now, I do want to learn how to read Japanese and that’s a reason why I’ve returned to WK after being away for over a year. I also very much want to develop a capacity to converse in Japanese. To that end, as I go through the Pimsleur lessons I write down (in kana) everything they teach. Like attending a lecture if you will.
Then, I write short scripts using all of that and more that I’ve learned as kind of rehearsals of conversations I might actually have when being in Japan. I make plenty of errors in doing this, both grammatically and “spelling” (if you will) in kana. I run my drafts through ChatGPT with which I interactively improve the draft and learn from my mistakes.
As I progress further in Pimsleur and from other sources I add to those scripts, enhancing them with better and more interesting vocabulary and grammar.
It’s appealing, I think, to have an app such as WK, Bunpro, and Pimsleur to follow on the premise that if we do it religiously our fluency will grow. Unfortunately, these days I’m recalling being in school and all the exercises we had to do such as writing papers and doing problem sets. Without having a teacher to assign such work we need to do it ourselves.