Minna no Nihongo みんなの日本語

Japanese Language
#1

Hey guys! This is my first post, so I hope I’m not doing anything wrong.

Does anyone here use みんなの日本語? I’m planning on getting the Beginner I for self-study. I like that the main book is all in Japanese because I learn better when immersed (as much as possible) in the language.

Do you think みんなの日本語 is a good series? Should I use it?

I was also wondering what the Beginner I book covers. I’m not a complete beginner, so I’m not sure if I should go for the first or second book in the series. Any general explanation as to what each book covers would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance!

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#2

Welcome,

I definitely advice to read these 2 links :
http://rtkwiki.koohii.com/wiki/Comparison_of_Japanese_Textbooks_Table

https://community.wanikani.com/search?q=minna%20no%20nihongo

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#3

After completing the first beginner book, I felt very well prepared for JLPT N5. The books being all in kana and kanji really helped with test speed - I think I completed the first two sections in about half the allotted time.

Ultimately, I find it really difficult to stick with any text book. All are dry to the point of being tough to follow through with. I never did complete the second of the shoukyuu books - I did also pass N4 the following year, but it was much more challenging. I had two years gap and now I’m going to take N3 on Sunday. I’m not where I’d like to be to be honest and I really should probably pound through the second book even though it is technically below the JLPT level I’m at… it never hurts to solidify older material.

The books are very good for trying to build patterns, but one of the challenges with any resource I’ve encountered it the ability to retain those patterns.

Many will say the books are better for paired study, but I think they can be quite effective for self study. In short, I would recommend the first book, but I might be inclined to wait to order subsequent books and make sure it works for you.

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#4

Definitely do not skip the first book! I know people who were able to pass N5 by chapter 19 of the book, and book 2 covers pretty much all of N4.

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#5

Yeah. We used the book in school after the first one you should be able to pass n5 after the second one n4. Cant tell how well it works for self study but it was great in classroom environment.

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#6

I’m using this with my tutor and it works really well in that kind of scenario. We work through the main textbook in my class and then I do the exercises from the 標準問題集 and 書いて覚える文型練習帳 books from homework. I also have the English translation which gives you a list of vocabulary for each chapter, a translation of the dialogue and sample sentences and then an English explanation of the grammar. If you’re going to use it as self-study then I would definitely want to buy all the books in the set, not just the main textbook. I do really like the way it’s laid out though and having clear learning goals (vocab and grammar) for each chapter. I’m on chapter 20 at the moment and planning to move onto book 2 when I’ve finished it.

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#7

Very roughly speaking, if you’re using them for JLPT preparation:

みんなの日本語初級I: preparation for N5
みんなの日本語初級II: preparation for N4
みんなの日本語中級I&II: preparation for N3

I don’t know if みんなの日本語 has books higher than 中級. I heard that for N2 and N1 preparation, people use other books like Nihongo Sou Matome or Tobira.

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#8

I searched amazon for both みんなの日本語 高級 and みんなの日本語 上級 and didn’t see anything from the series, so I would assume intermediate is the highest level.

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#9

My classroom is currently on chapter 17/30 in 中級II. After this we will be moving on to their book series aimed at foreign students looking to enter university in Japan. So listening will be Japanese lectures on various subjects, if I understood correctly. Also reading a lot?

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#10

I think Tobira is intermediate level (N3), more or less equivalent to みんなの日本語中級 1 and 2.

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#11

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