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Rating: 
Summary: Best Japanese textbook i've seen so far
Review: For those of you who didn't have the chance to browse from a selection of Japanese language book, let me recommend this textbook to you.
There is a total of 24 lessons in Genki I & II. Genki I consist of 12 lessons.
Here's the sequence to which the lessons are structured
1. Dialogue
2. English translated dialogue
3. Vocabulary
4. Grammar
5. Practice
What I've found best about this textbook compared to other japanese textbook is in the organization. I sometimes stare at "Japanese for Busy People II" and get overwhelmed by the difficulty and the globs of unspaced words. It in turn become very discouraging to continue reading because it is not the vocabulary or the grammar that you'd be focusing on, it's finding what's important in that glob of paragraph that takes away your concentration.
Grammar:
(average of 6 grammar per lesson)
In "An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese", important grammars are bolded, spaced, and highlighted. The explaination in how to use the grammar are precise and neatly spaced along with an example or two to illustrate how to use it.
Vocabulary:
(Average of 50 words per lesson)
The vocabularies they teach in this textbook are basically the same as the ones in other textbooks. Useful in everyday conversation. But again I must stress that this textbook organized very efficiently.
1. Noun
2. i-adjective
3. na-adjective
4. u-verb
5. ru-verb
6. adverbs
For a beginner, you might not know the reason to distinguish between i-adj and na-adj. But it becomes very useful when you start studying grammar. Some textbooks out there also distinguishes the types of verb and adjectives, but some doesn't.
Practices:
(6-7 pages per lesson)
The practices in this textbook uses both pictures and words to test your recall ability. From the looks of the practices in all the japanese textbooks, they are not designed to be a self-study course. There is no accompanying answer-key along with the practices. I agree that the practice is designed so that you can figure it out by rereading the lesson, but personally, it bothers me because you cannot be sure at that moment whether your answer is correct or incorrect. In a way, it prevents me from putting it into my long term memory because my answers might be wrong. I'm sure my opinion can be argued.
Lastly, there is also a Genki Workbook (sold separately). Each lesson has around 8 pages of extra sheets to practice. Again, it has no answer key. The last page in every lesson is a listening assignment. Which means unless you have the CD (not provided within workbook), you cannot do that assignment. But it's still good if you want the extra 7 pages/lesson of practice in writing.
A little story to end this review
A boy went into a language bookstore and asks the store owner which japanese textbook is the best. The store owner replied: "Genki" - The End
I know, it's an awesome story.
Rating:
Summary: Great for self-learners
Review: I agree with the positive reviews of the book here. I especially like Genki's extensive use of Kanji (with Furigana) to allow me to slowly become accustomed to them. The grammar is taught very well, although I recommend Japanese Step by Step as a better technique or way-of-thinking about verb conjugation. 'Step by Step' uses a flow chart to conjugate the different verbs - the best way I've seen to teach it yet!
The point I'd like to add about this book is that I think it starts a tad too fast for someone who's just decided to learn or is starting from nothing. If you haven't started Japanese classes at the same time you will need a Preliminary study period before beginning with Genki. I did this by accident, and it suited me fine. I bought "Japanese For Young People Bk I" (yes and I have 2 Bachelor level degrees!) and finished it before I started Genki. I also started night-classes for 2 hours a week for about 2 months. By the end of that time, I was almost proficient with Katakana and Hiragana and could flip through the first 2 chapters of Genki - saying "I already know that". Importantly, though, I was able to start using Genki's Kana-only (after chapter 2) format with relative ease. Had I not used a preliminary study period, it would have been very slow going and just too daunting with all that Kanji.
So, if you've mastered Hiragana/Katakana more or less, and have a few weeks of vocabulary and speech introduction, then Genki is the best book around - and I looked at all of them, believe me!
I also think it's the best serious or all-round book I've seen. That is to say, it really does teach you how to write, read and listen, without favouring any particular interest group. Incidentally, my native Japanese teacher recommended this book to me - she used it to give out homework (from the studybook).
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginners book
Review: I am a student in Canada and our university uses this text as the only book for our introductory course to Japanese. This book contains everything that you need to get a firm grip on the language. It has many basic grammar rules that will get you into the feel of Japanese quick and fairly painless. There are over 150 kanji (Chinese symbol words) that this book will teach. Starting this class I knew about 6 words in Japanese and none of the rules for grammar, but I am happy to say that after 8 months of hard study I passed the course with flying colours. To get all the potential out of this book you will have to do the work, preferably with a study group. All the lessons are chopped down into bite sized pieces so that you can absorb it easily, but each lesson is called on in future lessons... This text is a great way to start you way into this beautiful language.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for beginning students!
Review: I am currently in a college course which uses this as our sole text book, and it is extremely useful. With lessons in class paired with the book's chapters, new concepts are picked up comfortably, and are then used throughout the rest of the chapters, providing a cumulative effect that really lets you feel like you are making progress. Also included are kanji in the back of the book for each chapter, allowing you to fill out your reading/writing skills as you see fit. All in all, a wonderful text!
Rating:
Summary: Definitive resource
Review: I have purchased Genki I and Genki II (and the workbooks). I am very pleased with the books. They provide the student with invaluable information, and present the material in a logical order. I have used other college texts in the past, but they pale in comparison with this series. If you are looking for an excellent introduction to the Japanese language, look no further.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful, to the point and easy to use
Review: My first-year Japanese college course uses Genki as its textbook, and it has proven to be a very helpful guide. I've had experience with Nakama, which was decent but a bit too disorganized with too much thrown around at once. The Jorden book, simply titled Japanese, is so dated that it is painful and contains no kana in the normal text of the book.Genki gives the user the vocab they are likely to need, along with just enough kanji (which are tied to the vocab in the lesson). Everything is laid out simply yet concisely, and genki is by far the best book I've ever used. It is currently being used by the first year students at Indiana University. What I love the most, other than its organization, is its use of kanji and kana. Virtually every word in Japanese in the book is in kana, with no romaji. Kanji (along with kana subscript) are used frequently. This has helped boost my reading speed greatly.
Rating:
Summary: The first Japanese book you should buy
Review: My Japanese teacher used this book in our classes and it was an excellent choice. It can easily be used for self-study, especially if used with the CDs. Each lesson starts out with a dialog and is followed by a vocabulary list, grammar explanations, and vocabulary/grammar practice. The grammar is explained very clearly and the practice exercises are very useful for remembering what is being taught. One drawback: no answers are given. The vocabulary lists are not always comprehensive but they give lots of useful vocabulary. Several topics are covered including shopping, talking about family, travel, daily routines, and health. The book also includes lessons on Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji. I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 4) after 5 months studying with this book and passed. The Kanji included was very useful as were the grammar points and vocabulary. If you can, I recommend getting the CDs and the workbook. The CDs are excellent. You can practice pronunciation with the dialogs and vocabulary lists and the CDs also include listening exercises for the text and workbook. The workbook covers more grammar and vocabulary as well as Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana practice. This is the best Japanese textbook I've encountered. It is well organized and relevant. I give it 5 stars without hesitation!
Rating:
Summary: The first Japanese book you should buy
Review: My Japanese teacher used this book in our classes and it was an excellent choice. It can easily be used for self-study, especially if used with the CDs. Each lesson starts out with a dialog and is followed by a vocabulary list, grammar explanations, and vocabulary/grammar practice. The grammar is explained very clearly and the practice exercises are very useful for remembering what is being taught. One drawback: no answers are given. The vocabulary lists are not always comprehensive but they give lots of useful vocabulary. Several topics are covered including shopping, talking about family, travel, daily routines, and health. The book also includes lessons on Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji. I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 4) after 5 months studying with this book and passed. The Kanji included was very useful as were the grammar points and vocabulary. If you can, I recommend getting the CDs and the workbook. The CDs are excellent. You can practice pronunciation with the dialogs and vocabulary lists and the CDs also include listening exercises for the text and workbook. The workbook covers more grammar and vocabulary as well as Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana practice. This is the best Japanese textbook I've encountered. It is well organized and relevant. I give it 5 stars without hesitation!
Rating:
Summary: Best book to learn japanese!
Review: This book really helps me learning Japanese from the very beggining. if ure looking for a best Japanese book, this book should fit you.highly recommended!
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