Shin Nihongo no Kiso

The Shin Nihongo no Kiso series of Japanese textbooks was very important in helping me successfully learn Japanese. The first book Shin Nihongo no Kiso I enables the beginner or new learner to master the basics and make simple sentences and conversation. The second book Shin Nihongo no Kiso II is for the more advanced with more advanced conversations based on real life daily situations.

Here is a breakdown of the two books

Shin Nihongo no Kiso I
100 hours study time, 25 lessons, 800 vocab items, and 75 sentence patterns

Shin Nihongo no Kiso II
100 hours study time, 25 lessons, 680 vocab items, and 64 sentence patterns

The series starts with the Shin Nihongo no Kiso Main Textbook with seperate English Translation and Grammatical notes available. The main textbook is all in Japanese, which is a great way to immerse yourself in the language, but I highly recommend getting English Translation and Grammatical notes as they really helped me. The English Translation lists the vocabulary for each chapter in romaji, kana and English as well as an English translation of the sentence patterns and example sentences from each chapter. The Grammatical Notes in English explain in detail the grammatical points and structures for each chapter with lots of examples to help you with correct usage.

I have found that my grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure and reading and writing improved dramatically using this book. It was also a great aid in studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

Read more about How to Learn Japanese

The Secrets Of Speaking Japanese Fluently

How to Learn Japanese

Japanese is not too difficult to learn but It does take a lot of motivation and practice to successfully learn the language. The best way to learn Japanese is by taking a class, enrolling in a course or investing in a good textbook. If you can't take classes then the self-study method with the correct resources is a good way.

The best way to learn Japanese is through a variety of methods. You need to work on your grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Its best to think of these as separate categories and focus on each specific category as these require different methods and techniques.

Start by learning the basics through grammar. These books really helped me:

• Shin Nihongo no Kiso I & II

• An Introduction to Modern Japanese by Osamu Mizutani & Nobuko Mizutani

• Japanese Demystified by Eriko Sato a self-teaching guide

These books cover both polite Japanese, which is extremely important to learn in order to speak Japanese effectively and causal Japanese, which is great for everyday conversations.

I also recommend trying to learn a certain amount of vocab or kanji each day as this helps you build up your vocab and kanji ability. I tried to learn 5 kanji per day or about 20 a week and did the same with vocab. 

Watching Japanese anime or any Japanese TV program is a good idea for improving your listening skills and also your vocabulary. Keep a notebook and jot down any new words you hear. Then look them up and find out the meaning.

The Secrets Of Speaking Japanese Fluently

How to Speak Japanese Fluently