Even though the subs are localized, you can understand it just fine via english like Kazzeon is saying.
Listen to the sentence in japanese while reading the english sentence. Words that you can pick out that you dont know, simply type in your dictionary and voila, memorize them as needed.
Oh, hey. I used Minna no Nihongo to learn and I use Minna no Nihongo to teach.
It’s the book my school used, but I never had a problem with it.
We also didn’t have translations, except from the vocabulary and some grammar at the end, so everything was in Japanese, but with a teacher it doesn’t matter that much. For self-studying you’d probably benefit from it unless you just look up the grammar and vocab elsewhere.
It’s a pretty straight-forward book.
Sentence patterns, example sentences, a conversation (story), some practice with the topics that were introduced by the previous sections, a lot of simple exercises, then some shorter conversation exercises, some audio exercises, and more simple exercises to finish it off. Rinse and repeat for each lesson.
The vocabulary is a little dated, I don’t know if it’s been updated, but it’s not really a problem, as things haven’t changed that much.
I haven’t used Genki other than giving it a quick look over, but iirc it goes a bit more on the conversation path, while MnN is a lot more focused on repetition and comprehension.
I feel that even without a teacher, MnN wouldn’t be so hard, especially because most sentences are pretty simple, there’s a lot of images and examples, and the vocab is also relatively simple, and can always be looked up easily, especially if you just find a list of it online.
It’s a lot like a textbook, and doing homework, so maybe if that’s not your type of thing, something else could be good. But then you’d probably be looking into more dynamic learning rather than a textbook. Or maybe something like learning Japanese with manga (it’s a book, but I don’t know the exact name).
Do you have any specific questions?
Yes! I mean comparing what you hear with the English subs and piecing words out little by little. 
I’ll have a look into MnN then, I like how you describe it.
About learning japanese with Manga, a japanese teacher that I met and who used to live in Japan told me it was not a good idea since it’s more familiar language, and not everyday language. Do you have any opinion on that?
You mean formal language?
Because that’s most textbooks, I think.
With that title, I would expect more informal/everyday language from that one. Since that’s what manga uses most of the time.
Nihongo Quest N5, Shujinkou, and Koe are all Japanese language learning games that are in development. Crystal Hunters is a manga that teaches Japanese. MaruMori.io I feel is a really good resource for grammar.
Welcome, just keep doing your reviews everyday. As long as you have a system, you will progress.
I’d suggest writing your own notes and mnemonics in the notes section, it’ll help a lot if you personalise your cards a little bit. Putting kanji on paper isn’t too practical in my humble opinion since kanji are very complicated and time consuming. Too much effort for little reward.
congrats on first post!
Welcome! Sounds like me 1.5 year ago when I first started. Now I’m level 20 and finished Genki I. Still not ready to start reading, but I think it’s like going to the gym - the only way to become “better prepared” for the gym is actually going to the gym! So my advice to you, and me, is to read more!
Loving the recommendations in this thread, btw, as I’m still in the same boat as you, despite being further along the path. Good luck!
Oh hey! I remember this game from when I started learning Japanese like 10 years ago. Nice to see they finally made it to alpha. lol
It DOES look much much better than it did 10 years ago though, so I’ll give them that.
Another week in, and I’m really enjoying wk, it’s kind of addictive to say the least! And because I don’t have enough, early this week I ordered the Minna no Nihongo textbook/workbook/translation and grammar Book.
I should receive it next week, I cannot wait to start! It is so rewarding to recognize one or two words in a whole anime épisode 
My goal for the next 6 months is to reach JLPT N4 level (meaning WaniKani level 27 ans and finishing Minna no Nihongo first two Books). Wish me luck, I’m not sure it’s feasable.
But as someone famous once said: do or do not, there is no try!
If you have Disney+, everything on it includes every language they’ve dubbed it in. For the majority of their movies Japanese is an option; I’ve been using that to test my understanding. Since the animated ones are meant for families, including kids, they don’t typically use complex language so I find that I can understand a fair amount; definitely not everything as I’m only level twelve on WaniKani, but it’s enough to tell what’s going on. They have a lot of the newer animated TV series dubbed too. Whether there’s Japanese subtitles available too depends on what you’re watching it on (not all TVs support non-Latin characters). Note that I’ve also been studying the grammar separately, and am on N4 stuff now; if it were vocabulary alone I’m sure I wouldn’t understand as much.
That’s a good idea ! I could read japanese subtiles when the kids are watching Miraculous
Thanks for the advice!
Yeah the developer made an announcement last month about the game coming out beginning of next year, so I’m pretty excited about that!
This is probably not a super popular method, but I am the type of person who learns best when writing the thing down, even if I never see it again after writing. I make a flashcard for each new Kanji, vocab, radical. Then I flip to the back and do the reading and a mnemonic if particularly difficult. Writing the mnemonic has been especially helpful for me. I should note that I don’t actively review using these and that I only really use them post-creation if I’m having a REALLY difficult time with that Kanji or vocab.
Some people really focus on reading/writing the example sentences as well.
Something else I find helpful is seeing that Kanji out in the wild. Music is a great way to get that exposure without necessarily needing to understand each and every word. Then I read the lyrics with it and it helps immensely with recognition. But you don’t need to be able to read every Kanji to do this either! I’ve always loved Japanese music, so when I’ve listened pre-learning to now, I feel my level of understanding grow more and more. I also don’t have the translated lyrics so when I see a grammar point I’m learning or something it’s like unlocking a piece of the puzzle 
Last but not least, I second watching shows in Japanese. I love Terrace House, really anything reality tv so I can see how people talk semi-naturally. I don’t understand most of it because I have Japanese subtitles and Japanese audio, but for me, (probably because my brain is lazy sometimes) if I have English subs on - I will just read those and listen to the tones rather than actually listen.
Do you think kamesame is a good companion to WaniKani? Besides recognizing kanjis and vocabulary, it also proposes the opposite (to translate english to japanese), which I find to be a good complement.
Any experience with kamesame?
I think English → JP can be a good complement to train recall for speaking. If that’s important to you, then Kamesame can be helpful.
Nihingo con teppei is so good. This is such a wonderful list of resources.
The other podcast I would recommend is MasaSensei. I am quite sure she follows the minnanohongo textbook so it is a good companion for studying grammar.
ありがとうございました。
For anyone interested, I also bought the Japanese From Zero book 1, and I feel like it’s the perfect companion when starting wanikani. Some will say it’s slower than Genki or MnN, but it’s the perfect rythm for me since there’s already a lot to learn with WK. Plus, George Trombley (the author of JPZ) has free youtube videos for each lesson in the book, he’s a very good teacher.
My goal in 5 months is to have reach wanikani JLPT N4 level (lvl 27 I believe), and to have finished all 5 books from the JPZ series (and maybe the Kanji from zero books too), so I can try and pass the JLPT N4 exam. 1 month since I started this journey, and I love it so far!
Hi @yohdu
Nice to stumble into your post while I am looking for (my own) self-encouragement.
I am still on level 2 --and yes, it is kind of additive --and I am in my early fifties 
Just wondering, you mentioned about JLPT N4 --when did you take N5 ? on which level you did you do the test ?
I am thinking to prepare myself for those tests.