Recommended Books for Japanese beginners

[Arsudar]

For many Japanese beginners, it may be difficult to find the right book to learn Japanese. So in here, I would like to introduce some of the commonly used books here:

1 - Minna no Nihongo


Minna no Nihongo is quite popular for Japanese beginners. It includes 2 series (Minna no Nihongo I and Minna no Nihongo II) and has total of 50 lessons and learners can be able to finish N4 by completing the two series. Each serie has several books to serve different tasks (Main book Honsatsu, English translation, Exercise books,...)

2 - Basic Kanji Book


The Minna no Nihongo provides Kanji book, however, Minna no Nihongo Kanji book is not quite a best source to Kanji studying. In this case, Basic Kanji Book is a more suitable book for learning Kanji alphabet. Basic Kanji Book comes with 2 volumes and they will teach about 750 kanji words in total (250 in volume 1 and 500 in volume). For people who already learned kanji in volume 1, it is best to keep continue studying in volume 2.

3 - Shin Nihongo no Kiso 2


Beside Minna no Nihongo, Shin Nihongo no Kiso is also another popular Japanese study books for beginners from N5 to N4. Shin Nihongo no Kiso also provides from lesson 26 to lesson 50, and similar to Minna no Nihongo, learners will be able finish N4 level after completing lesson 50. The formats of both Shin Nihongo no Kiso 2 and Minna no Nihongo 2 are quite resemble to each other and they are easy to follow so it really benefits for learners.

Here are just some of the recommended books to begin learning Japanese, besides these ones there are several good books such as Genki, Nihongo Challenge, .etc.. Have fun and good luck in learning Japanese!

[MioAkiyama]

Nice post.

How about Manga comics? They come in all different levels targeted at different age groups, it's a fantastic place to "get to grips" and understand methods of applying Kanji characters.