Osamu Mizutani

By the time I had to use this textbook, I had already been studying Japanese for two years. That may be why I had such a big problem with it; it was so wildly inappropriate for sannensei that we all hated it.

First off, the book uses virtually no kana, which makes it terribly difficult to read aloud. The sample dialogue at the beginning of each chapter and one sample sentence for each grammar point is it, and beyond that you have to suffer through extensive use of very dated romaji. There are poorly constructed exercises, no vocabulary lists, a barely cobbled-together glossary, no kanji, and no appendices.

Altogether, an incredibly frustrating experience. Just use Genki if you've got a choice.… (más)