The Books

Genki

Even though I just got a PDF of all the books I wanted, I still had to thoroughly search for it. Genki is an amazing series, which follows the story of an exchange student Mary and and a Japanese person Takeshi.  Every activity is discussed with detail, it makes a great practice, there are clearly explained grammar notes and it's new edition even bears culture notes which are a big help. the writing is made like a student's writing and all the illustrations are vivid. There is a great but huge vocabulary list and you practice it all further from the workbook. Personally, I like the culture notes in the second edition way better, because they explain not only the language but the culture of Japan, so if you are self studying, this may be the greatest book ever.

Minna no Nihongo

Minna no Nihongo, is a book for the more serious Japanese learners. There is great explanation, but it's all in japanese, you have to buy the English grammar guide for it and maybe lots of other books. It gets really confusing for me, midway because I am self studying and without a teacher, Minna no Nihongo is gliberrish for me, so many japanese words make me feel dizzy. However, Minna no Nihongo explains a lot and it is the ultimate guide for fluency for any person. One great drawback of Minna no Nihongo is that it need a lot more books than genki to teach us a lesson. Still, Minna no Nihongo is useful in many classes with teachers.

Basic Kanji Vol 1

Even if you buy the previous books or not, basic Kanji is the best way to learn kanji, It has pictures to make you understand, repetition and thoroughly explained concept. A bonus with The Basic Kanji book is that it tells you all you need to know about the stroke order. the exercises and practices are really great for anyone with the need of a Japanese language pie for desert. This book is a beginner's most handy resource, according to me. It is used by many exchange students over on YouTube, as it teaches Japanese Kanji in the easiest way ever! You'll be so thankful after using it, you'll buy Vol 2 as well! So chic, right? I definitely recommend Basik Kanji book Vol 1.

Getting Started

Learning Japanese is hard, learning every language is hard especially if you are self studying. You need lot's of resources, textbooks and notebooks. But if you are like me, lazy and living under the roof of your parents (tight on cash) you would probably not want to walk to your local bookstore in this heat and buy a notebook from there. You would do just what I did, tear a few used pages of a notebook you have partially used and use the leftover pages. 

                                        

Well, when I was 12, I got this passion to write book reviews, I wrote 3 and just like that my passion faded away and I left the book. And now I am putting the notebook to some use, saves money, saves paper .Classy , right? As of the textbooks and workbooks, the cheap one on Amazon wouldn't ship to Pakistan and the expensive ones would arrive after many months. If you know me, you know I am really impatient, so what I did was get some PDFs and print them out, easy as that. My dad will print my workbook and Basic Kanji Book. I will read my textbook from my computer. Until that is done, let's make a self study plan!

                                     

 A self study plan is something I use for motivation, for example, if I get unmotivated, I will turn back to this page and return to my motivated self, hopefully. Basically In a self study plan, you write why you want to study the thing, what are your goals and what resources would you choose. Choose your resources wisely. I chose my textbooks after a lot of browsing and searching. I am basically choosing Genki I an Integrated Course to Elementary Japanese second edition, due to it's positive reviews. I got the workbook's PDF which went along with it and the Basic Kanji Book Vol 1. :D My next post is going to have lots about the books.

                                     

Self Study and Dilemmas

When I just put up this blog, I had been studying Japanese for, perhaps 1 year to no avail. I had memorized Hiragana and was stuck on Katakana. Still am. The problem with me is that I loose motivation too quick and gain it as quick too. When there are no problems being inspired easily, there are A LOT of problems being inspired very easily. Because, that means, getting interested in something for two days, then giving up and moving forward. I searched the internet concerning this, and it advised me to tell other people about my goals and practice more. Eventually, I made this blog so I can kill two birds with one stone. I would be more motivated plus I may help someone study. I don't know much about my resources, but they are usually the best. So.. stick with me! :P