For me it’s just a case of me being stubborn… I just think I’ve almost finished so there’s no way I can stop now after all the time I’ve spent on it ~ I tend to not finish my books so I’m proud of myself for getting this far. I’ve felt like I haven’t got anywhere with my Japanese for years but much as it can feel like a chore at times I can see some improvements as I reread the main text, that on it’s own is enough to keep me going…
I’m sure someone else can give better advice than me, I’m half a sleep most of the time (more like all the time) .
Not from a tutor but I’ve heard 中級から上級への日本語 is something for after Tobira. I might look into it myself at some point.
Thanks for the information and sharing your experience! I was telling myself the same thing, you know? ‘Hey, you bought this, and you can finish chapters pretty quickly anyway, so why not just get to the end of it? You’re almost done anyway.’ It’s just that I don’t have a lot of time normally – the only reason I’m able to agonise over this now is that I’m having a term break right now – so I’m just asking myself if this is really the best way to use my time studying Japanese. I mean, there are definitely a few structures that are more difficult towards the end of the textbook, so I could go learn those, but there isn’t a high enough ‘density’ of new knowledge for me. I know I’ll probably spend about 10 minutes reading each text, whereas 10 minutes spent on an anime might challenge me and teach me more.
I took a quick look at the textbook on Amazon. Looks interesting, but in terms of difficulty and what’s taught… I don’t know, I don’t think it’s a lot more difficult than Tobira? Chapter 1 seems to be just a step tiny above Tobira’s articles. I’m sure it gets harder, and the relatively large number of chapters means that it’s easier for them to make it progressive, but I’m just not sure if it’s going to be all that beneficial or efficient…
Here’s the textbook my friend recommended me. He was assigned this textbook as an advanced student of Japanese in our equivalent of the end of high school (I was studying advanced French at that time):
If you compare the first chapter (click on the image of the book’s cover for a preview) to Tobira, you can very clearly see a jump in difficulty. Even with all my kanji knowledge as a Chinese speaker, there are at least two or three terms I can’t understand without help per sentence: enough to give me plenty of new knowledge to acquire, but not enough to disrupt the flow of reading. Also, important structures and vocabulary are explained immediately below the text with translations in English, Chinese and Korean. It’s very direct.
Finally, I’m just going to say – even though this could just be institutional bias – one is published by the University of Tokyo, and the other by the Japan Times. I can’t speak for who has better pedagogy, but one institution clearly has more academic authority than the other.
In any case, when we eventually move on to advanced Japanese study, each of us should choose material that best suits him or her, but I’m just putting this out here in case you want an alternative that might be at once more challenging and more efficient. (Plus, it costs less than the textbook that you mentioned, even if it’s not as recent.)
I’ve got a very young child who hasn’t started school yet so I learnt time is a well missed luxury! I’ve had to stop a lot of books because of lack of time which has been hard on me but you do really have to think what is the most important book/online programme right now - what will benefit the most for me? For me I had to pick WK and Tobira ~ Tobira is ok for me right now as my level is extremely mixed - some of it’s easy but it’s helping me patch up the big gaps. For your case I think I would move on to a more advance book or you could risk getting demotivated - it does sound like you’re more than ready for it!
I’ve self taught myself for a long time and I really wasted my first few years going over easy stuff when I was taking JLPT N5 and it ended up far too easy for me ~ I don’t regret taking N5 but I regret not moving on to harder books a lot earlier so don’t make the same mistake.
Thanks for the mention of that book - I haven’t came across it! I would say this one looks more better so I would go for what your friend suggested.
And if you haven’t quite reached chapter 13 yet, that’s OK. As I have said many times before, I want this study group to be a resource both now and later. If you’re still catching up and reach chapter 13 in a couple of months, that’s OK too! I know I’m going to work through the book a couple of times, both on my own and with a teacher, and I’ll use the threads as I go. The threads will close a year after the last reply, so no need to hurry!
Below is the 2020’s schedule of The Tobira Study group. I was wondering if there are people who would like to start a 2021 Tobira Study Group. Perhaps, we could use the same threads? So every year the collective wisdom gets better?
I organized this and set up all the threads last year, but I don’t really want to lead the group this year too. Would one of you be willing to organize this year?
I would be willing to organize but I really think it will be better if someone else could step in as a co-organizor. My second son will be born, in mid July so my life will get very hectic them and another helping hand would be appreciated.
I’m willing to help as a co-organizer if there isn’t someone else, but I’ve never done this before on forums so I may be lacking Otherwise though, the summer months when your schedule becomes hectic is a pretty flexible time for me so I would definitely be able to step up and assist then.
We already have the threads from last year so it should’t be too difficult! Just decide on a schedule and bump up last year’s thread from each chapter.
がんばって皆、i hope i will join in a couple of month when i finish the 5 JFZs and the two Genkis. i am almost there. that said do your best, we will reach fluency <3
Otherwise though, the summer months when your schedule becomes hectic is a pretty flexible time for me so I would definitely be able to step up and assist then.