Hey everyone, I realized that I have a couple gaps in my studies so far. I understand basic grammar but I realize there are times where in midst of
consuming content grammar goes over my head. Whether it be audio, video or text. I recently picked up “A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar” to bridge the gap but I’m curious to see if there’s anything else I could be doing to close the gap.
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I’ll just go ahead and throw some of the popular picks at you. Many of which I’ve used myself.
Sites: Bunpro
Books: Genki, Minna no Nihongo, Tobira
Youtube: Cure Dolly, Japanese Ammo with Misa, Game Gengo
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The Bunpo app has grammar separated by JLPT level. Satori Reader is another good app. It has stories, and each word or phrase in a sentence can be added their own space repetition review system. You can change the level of hiragana vs kanji shown by your level in WaniKani. It also gives really in depth explanations. The first two chapters of every story are free, but you do have to pay after that. However, that’s still a decent amount of learning before you make the decision. The Kanji Study app also has graded reading sets and examples. I’ve also been using it to practice stroke order for writing.
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Thanks I’ll give it a try
I appreciate this, thanks
As someone who has gone through DOJG, 日本語表現文型辞典 is better. You can compare the amount of entries each has. 文型一覧表 (neocities.org)
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BunPro turns grammar into a chore really quick so I recommend textbooks generally with some exercises attached.
I’ve tried several, everything has its flaw so I would learn from as many sources as possible.
Genki is a book designed for classroom environments so it’s a bit weird for self study, but its a nice base especially if you have a friend or someone who can explain some parts to you.
Japanese from Zero is pretty detailed across 5 books and they just released a new version of their website, but it’s pretty slow, like it is written for grade schoolers. They have a nice supplemental Youtube series as well.
The bunpo app is great for practicing typing Japanese with a mobile keyboard, but I found it is more of a supplemental source as it often quizzed me on things it hadn’t taught.
Then there are a bunch of Youtubers who are really good for hearing someone speak Japanese, but their accuracy and teaching ability varies.
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Pure number of entries is not the only interesting metric, though. The Do*JG don’t cover absolutely everything usually listed as “grammar”, but what they do cover is dealt with at some length and detail; and the things they don’t cover are usually the kind of thing you can get away with looking up online.
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It’s too half baked in the sense that they don’t provide enough information and there just isn’t enough volume. Yeah they do offer some explanation but it is by no means a one stop shop, so you’re going to have to look at additional resources anyway, so in which case why not just use itazura/other book I mentioned?
Plus the ordering is absolutely idiotic between the beginner, intermediate, and advanced, and only serves to confuse learners.
I know some people swear by the DoJG, but to me it is a nightmare scenario for grammar learning. You can easily look up these points online. Without some sort of goal or order to the book, I think its pretty much useless to learners and if you are done with text books you can just find the grammar you are looking for on YouTube or Jisho.
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It’s a reference book, not a textbook. It’s not trying to be your only resource. As usual, there are multiple paths you can take and different resources you can use, but for me personally I found the series very useful as a learner and it’s still the first reference I check if I want to refresh my memory about some bit of grammar (and if I had to watch a youtube video to remind myself about something I’d get pretty frustrated pretty quickly).
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Yes, I know its a reference book. Point being the situation in which I would use DoJG, it would be faster and more reliable to just search online.
I have personally benefited a lot from doing Satori Reader. It is a paid subscription service, but I think it is worth it as Brain is a guru at explaining grammar inside the articles. He has helped fill some holes in my knowledge and make connections that I would have thought of normally. They do have a free tier with some articles available (here is an example) plus they have their own Grammar in a Nutshell series, which I haven’t used much. Best of all, Brain is a fast responder to comments and right long and helpful replies.
Passive knowledge can only get you so far. Practicing some writing will help enforce whatever grammar points you have already learned and make it less a chore. Yeah, it will be slow and tiring at first but you’ll pick it up with time. There are some website where people can help correct mistakes in your writing.
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