Study Guide
Self-studying with Genki is fairly straightforward, but this guide will aim to give you a general idea of what path to take while studying with the Genki textbooks. Firstly, if you have not yet memorized the Hiragana and Katakana, please read the section below about the Japanese Writing System, otherwise jump to the Study Routine section.
Japanese Writing System
It is imperative that you memorize the Hiragana and Katakana as you'll be using them daily in your studies. You can review the Japanese Writing System on page 20 of Genki I (p.24 for the 2nd Edition), then practice memorizing a column or two each day with the Hiragana and Katakana exercises here. Tofugu's guides for Hiragana and Katakana are also quite helpful if you're having difficulty memorizing the kana, thanks to their mnemonics. Memorizing the kana should take anywhere from 1-2 weeks or longer depending on the person, so just take your time and don't rush it.
Once you have the Hiragana and Katakana memorized, you can practice by learning some common greetings in the あいさつ section on page 30 of Genki I (p.34 for the 2nd Edition). You can also practice these greetings here. Once you feel you're ready, we can move onto Lesson 1 of Genki. Please see the section below for info on how to tackle each lesson.
Study Routine
Below is a list of things to do each lesson.
- Memorize the Vocabulary for the current lesson. You can do this with either the Anki decks or the vocabulary exercises under each lesson on this website (ex. Lesson 1). If using the latter method, please see this page for tips on memorizing vocabulary.
- Read the Dialogue and Grammar Points for the current lesson. Once you finish the workbook exercises for this lesson (Step 4), you can go back and read the dialogue once more to see how well you understand it now compared to when you first read it.
- Do the Practice Exercises and, if something is unclear, go back and re-read the grammar point for the current exercise. Practice exercises on this website can be done in either multiple choice or written format*. (*written is only available for the 3rd edition resources.)
- Do the Workbook Exercises for the grammar you just practiced. Workbook exercises are in written format only to help you get accustomed to writing in Japanese. Please see this page if you don't know how to type in Japanese.
- Do the Reading and Writing Section. This section is accessible in the back of the textbooks, after the grammar section, and is used to help teach you about kanji as well as improve your reading comprehension with bite-sized reading exercises. Additionally, if you'd like to expand your vocab, you can memorize all the new words introduced in the kanji section's kanji-compounds. This can also aid with memorizing kanji readings and meanings.
Note: You can do this section first before steps 2-4 for Lessons 1 and 2, because they provide you with extra practice for the Hiragana and Katakana, which some people may still be struggling with. - Do the Reading and Writing Workbook Exercises. These will help to further improve your reading ability as well as listening comprehension.
- Repeat the Steps Above for each Lesson until you finish Genki I & II.
That's everything! On average it can take about 1-2 weeks to complete a lesson, but this varies from person to person. So, take your time and ensure that you properly understand the contents of each lesson! Even if it's just a little each day, as long as you try to study daily you'll slowly but surely come to better understand the language. Keep at it and best of luck on your studies!