Does anyone have thoughts on the Japanese from Zero series? I checked out the YouTube playlist and the videos seem great, but I decided that if I really wanted to improve I should get some actual textbooks.
The series has good reviews on Amazon, but I’m not sure if it’s worth paying ~40 dollars per textbook.
Has anyone used the series? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you think you can get to N1 level by using the 5 books?
Thanks 
If you haven’t already, check out the website. You can do the first three lessons from each primary course free. I know it’s not the same thing as using a book, but give it a try.
Also, not sure where you are in the world, but check out your local library. Some libraries have both paper and digital collections.
The kindle edition is $9.99 (I know, not the same as paper).
I think that if you pick up Genki 1 and it seems too overwhelming, you can try JFZ book 1 and then maybe 2. But after that maybe you can branch off to ShinKanzen Master N4 or even Genki 2 if you feel comfortable. I haven’t tried all the books but from my understanding, they may take you up to N3 level very slowly if that’s your preference.
I used the first three books of Japanese from Zero. They were good at the beginning, but decreased in quality. Also, they are very slow and use an incremental approach to kana that many would find frustrating.
As far as how far all five books would take you, I’d guess partway through N3. They are very slow books.
It’s an okay series, but I would recommend the following instead:
Tobira Beginning Japanese
https://tobirabeginning.9640.jp/introduction/series/
Sample: PDF
Genki
https://genki3.japantimes.co.jp/en/intro/
Sample: Above link has sample screenshots
Minna no Nihongo
https://www.3anet.co.jp/np/list.html?series_id=1
Sample: Web
They’re all good beginner level series. Having owned all of these, I prefer Tobira. It’s modern, colorful, and has better grammar explanations.
I kind of like the fact that it moves slowly, because I find myself rushing and going through other textbooks (ones that my library has) way too fast, and then getting overwhelmed, but yeah if it isn’t that good maybe best not to bother…
I’ll check out Genki though, because it seems like most people who use it recommend it.
I’m looking at Genki on Amazon right now and it’s being sold for $38, but it says list price is $98… is there a reason that it’s that expensive (since I’m not buying it now I’m worried that it’ll go back to being that expensive) or is Amazon just being weird?
Also, is it one of those textbooks that gives you so much vocabulary that you get overwhelmed? Because I’m really bad at memorizing when it comes to that, and then I go way too far ahead and find myself not remembering any of the words. I mean it’s probably just a self discipline issue lol
you will get to N4 by using the 5 books. They are for busy people who can’t dedicate more than 15-30 minutes a day for Japanese. If you’re serious about learning (you’re on WK so I assume you are) go with MNN (Minna no Nihongo) or if you are somewhere inbetween JFZ or MNN go to Genki.
I use Genki, it’s pretty good! But I did watch a lot of George’s (JFZ author) videos when I was literally very beginner level and found them super helpful. I got the textbook but found it a bit annoying cos I knew the kana and didn’t want to read romaji.
Do you know anki? You can download a vocab deck with which you can review the genki vocab. I used it, pretty helpful… but tbh now I just kinda don’t stress it about the vocab pages in genki. If it’s really useful, you’ll come to remember it in time.
I unfortunately can’t use anki because I only have chromebooks that are too old to download anything… but I found the website mochi.cards which I use (it’s actually really good and underrated lol)
Yeah, I’ll probably use Genki or Minna no Nihongo. Any idea which one’s better?
Ah no! What about on your phone? Honestly though you don’t need anki that much. Yeah other sites like that have flashcards, bunpro as well for example.
Hmm I’ve never used minna no nihongo, but I heard it’s all in Japanese…? That seemed too intimidating for me, even now if I’m being honest. There’s a ton of resources for genki, like a guy on YouTube called TokiniAndy who essentially teaches the lessons. Just makes it easy and quite fun using genki. Probably the same for MNN as well though tbh, just I haven’t been searching.
Overall, the sooner you pull the trigger and order one the sooner you can start becoming 日本語上手 
I picked Panorama after browsing through many self-learning books in the big Maruzen store in Osaka, and I really like it. It starts from zero and quickly picks up the pace, so it’s probably best to complement it with other learning tools to allow the concepts more time to sink in. It has very good explanations of the grammar targeted at adults starting language learning from scratch, the explanations are so good that I believe even Cure Dolly would have approved them. 
Every concept and every word are introduced gradually. I like the meticulous cross-references between the grammar part, the practice part and the website. You can listen to every one of the example sentences online and there are further listening comprehension exercises.
I’ve currently at 40% of the book and I’m very happy with it.
Regarding Japanese from Zero, I don’t like how they use progressive kana in the books (hiragana in book 1, katakana in book 2). If you use the website instead of the books, you can turn that off, making it a much better resource.
I like how they go slower and give more examples.
Their video series is really great, but there aren’t videos for all 5 books yet (it’s somewhere in book 4 currently), so you can only go so far with the videos.
It’s good for when Genki is too overwhelming for you.
I really liked the series. I completed books 1-5 which will take you to N4 level with a handful of N3 grammar points thrown in. At the time I chose this series I didn’t know the Japanese learning communities view was generally that it is too slow and I’m glad that was the case as I really enjoyed the books and the youtube series too (although I agree in retrospect that the kana introduction is painfully slow).
The grammar explanations were great and stuck well enough and I transitioned onto Quartet after finishing book 5 without issue. However, as with anything, just depends of what style works for you. The website is great and allows you to check out the first couple of lessons of each book and you can also customise your kana/kanji preference too.
Good luck with your studies!
I use MNN but Genki seems more popular, so you’ll find more in the way of supporting videos and materials like Genki Exercises - 3rd Edition | Genki Study Resources.
The main books are Japanese only, but they sell companion Translation and Grammar Notes guides in 14 different languages.
I had tried and failed to use genki repeatedly, the only way I found success this year was by starting and going through Japanese from zero 1. One of the main things I think it gave me was the confidence to believe that I could learn Japanese and that it wasnt “impossibly hard.”
The biggest thing for me is audio instructions, so watching the videos on YouTube to help solidify points was really key for me. After taking a month to finish jfz 1, I moved onto Genki and had a much smoother transition. I also watched Tokini Andy’s videos as well.
Right now as a grammar SRS, I read through Tobira Beginner 1, which is a fantastic book- probably my favorite Japanese beginner textbook. That said, the readings are harder than genki and more complex, and there is at least 30% more grammar in Tobira 1 over even Genki. As much as I like Tobira 1 at this stage (where N5 grammar is mostly review and refresh), I’m not sure how helpful an absolute beginner would find it. The videos though are fantastic for Tobira 1 as well.
So overall, I wouldn’t be so hard on jfz because whatever starts you on grammar is better than trying to really hammer it down and feeling discouraged early on. If you want to try genki, give it a good try, but if you really struggle with it, then try jfz. You can always do the first book or two and then switch over.
If I could redo my whole routine, I wouldn’t. I really felt jfz gave me a great foundation and confidence for Japanese grammar, and once I started Genki I felt much more “on level” to learn.
TBH I found Genki boring and that’s why I bought JFZ 1 (about 2 years ago now) and then slowly slogged through Genki 1 but then I proceeded to SKM N4. Someone recommended Tobira Beginning Japanese and I do think it’s similar to Genki from a review I’ve seen but more colorful and maybe more engaging.
I made a new topic for recommendations on textbooks, so if you guys have any of those then post them there: https://community.wanikani.com/t/anyone-have-any-textbook-recommendations/
Thanks
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