Should I restart my Genki Books again?

Hey everyone! So I have been learning Japanese on and off for a while now but as I am living in Japan I thought I’d give it a go and study it properly.

So I have gone through both Genki textbooks, but I feel that I did not go through it properly. I didn’t use the audio (as I didn’t have a CD player, I have the audio online now) and I felt that I rushed through the books. I also didn’t do some of the exercises from the workbook or textbook. However, if I was to go back to Genki 1, I feel that some parts (especially the beginning) would be too basic.

I’m at the point in my Japanese studies where I use Graded Readers (currently on level 2) for reading and Bunpro for Grammar, which both have been a big help. But should I go back as extra practice? To reinforce my listening skills which are the worst. Or should I move on to Tobira which I have purchased. I feel that I am maybe between JLPT N4 and the very beginning of JLPT N3, just some sentence readings and speaking that might be basic I struggle with. Thanks!

Hope it made sense!

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I can’t help you on your decision, alas, but: where did you get the online audio for Genki? A friend gifted me with her copy from when she was still in school, but she didn’t have the CD anymore so I don’t have the audio at all and I’ve been wondering where to find it, since their website seems to just have instructions on how to unpack the files.

When I take a longer break from studying with the Genki books, I always go back a few chapters and just read through the dialogue in the beginning and take a quick look at the excercises - meaning, that I do about three to five of them and only say the answer out loud. If I feel certain about my answers I turn to the next ones.
As soon as I come upon some excercises I’m not so sure about, I’ll revise these. Maybe you can try something similar to see what you already know pretty well and where you have to study a bit more?

Edit: Maybe I should say that I didn’t work my way through the end of the books, yet.

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Here is a link to the audio. I’m assuming that it’s legal because it’s on a university website, but if it’s not I’ll take this down.

Honestly, I’d recommend going back and doing a quick review of the material in Genki. If you’re struggling with any grammar points, then focus on those points specifically. If you’re at at least an N4 level, I don’t think you should completely restart the Genki books, since that’d be a bit of a waste.

I would recommend moving forward with Tobira, especially if you’ve already been doing some reading. I have Tobira, although I haven’t started it yet, and it’s definitely a big jump from Genki. If you feel Tobira is a bit too difficult, you could check out An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese. It’s basically in between Genki and Tobira, although it covers a lot of the same material Toria does, but it’s a lot easier to use than Tobira and you could use it to help you transition between textbooks. You can get some used copies pretty affordably too, and it has a workbook which is useful.

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I decided to do something like that in the end, thanks!

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I went through Genki 1 and started going through Genki 2 just after I posted this. Turns out that I’m not as bad as I thought I was! Apart from the grammar points I know I struggle on I didn’t find a problem. It’s just my listening that I need to work on improving which is why I thought I was struggling. Do you have any tips? Or should I just keep listening?

An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese? I have heard of it. Do you recommend that I use that one and go through it first and then do Tobira? Or the other way round since I have Tobira.

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Thank you very much! :smiley:

Quite frankly, I didn’t like Tobira that much. For me, the sheer grammar info and just the condensed material per chapter was too overwhelming for me. I shelved the textbook (which costs a lot BTW (-_-メ)) and I was thinking of getting Integrated Japanese. But again, each man is his own universe so I don’t know how you’ll respond to Tobira.

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I have just got the Genki 1 books to self study, what is the best way to work through this? Just front to back and do every exercise in order untill your done?
Bunpo looks good but i think i would prefer a bit more explanation and written work to do to learn it. Unfortunately i dont have the time to do tje sheer volume of work and apps that many people seem to be using to learn, so hopefully WK and now genki will cut it for a while. I will kist spend what time i can, maybe 30 minutes few times a week on Genki
Is there anyrhing else that would help with Very limited time?

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