For some reason, people who know I study languages and that I’m particularly passionate about Japanese, always ask me what’s better: Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese or Pimsleur. Another question I often get is, “Is Minna no Nihongo better than Genki?” I’ve never read the Minna no Nihongo books, so I can’t answer that. However, I decided to do an article on Genki vs. Pimsleur.
To be realistic, comparing these two is like comparing apples to oranges. They’re both really good, and I encourage people to use both of them, actually. I agree with Avatar’s Uncle Iroh when he explains to Zuko that wisdom comes from many places, and that if you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Same with language learning. If you rely on only one source, you’re never going to be fluent. That’s why I review so many different sources.
So now the question becomes, “Which one should I start with?” I still maintain that everyone should start with Power Japanese, but between these two, I’d ask you, “What’s your ultimate goal?” They both teach Japanese, but the goals for each are different, and this should be apparent just by the two different styles of learning. It depends on what you want to do that will decide that.
If your goal is to go to Japan as a tourist, or perhaps briefly on business, then Pimsleur is the way to go. The goal of Pimsleur is to teach you Japanese roughly the same way you learned your native tongue. The goal of Pimsleur is to be able to speak Japanese naturally, and it excels at that. Instead of teaching you grammar, writing, and all that other stuff you didn’t learn about your own language until your school years, it will focus on getting you to take part in conversation. Even if you don’t know exactly what a word means, you’ll know how to use it.
However, because it doesn’t teach you the why behind what you’re behind taught to say, and because it doesn’t explain written Japanese, you’ll never be 100% fluent with Pimsleur. If you’re going to be in Japan temporarily, or if you’re not a language nerd like me, then Pimsleur on its own is a great starting point. If you learn by textbook alone, then actually speaking Japanese will throw you for a loop, unless you’ve learned with Pimsleur!
If your goal is fluency, then I recommend starting with Genki and using Pimsleur as a supplement. Genki teaches all that boring stuff, such as grammar, but you’ll have a better understanding of how Japanese sentence structure works, and you’ll have a better grasp on written Japanese. Not to mention, if you’re looking to pass the JLPT, Genki is definitely the way to go. It will walk you through the first 300 kanji, which is a must for that beginner’s test.
The problem with Genki is that even with the audio tapes, if you buy the expensive version, it will be harder to actually speak one-on-one with a native speaker compared to if you studied with Pimsleur. Genki will give you a larger vocabulary, knowledge of written Japanese, and extensive lessons on grammar, but it can’t train your ear to hear how Japanese is actually spoken, so if you’re just going to travel to Japan, Genki is not the way to go.
Price is also a consideration, as Pimsleur is way more expensive than Genki. As far as audio tapes go, Pimsleur is the best I’ve come across, and as far as textbooks go, Genki is probably the best in that regard as well, so it’s not like one’s quality is infinitely better than the other’s.
In the end, I can’t make the decision for you, so I encourage you to read my full review for each product, as well as my other reviews, before you make your decision. Heck, read about them beyond the confines of this blog, as others probably have different opinion. Remember, don’t take your wisdom solely from one source!
If you really want it, my person recommendation for beginners (if your goal is fluency) would go as such: Power Japanese (for the kana), Genki (for a good introduction into Japanese as a whole), and then Pimsleur (for spoken Japanese). This is what worked for me, but it may not be what works for you. How you study is up to you, and only you can decide how you learn best. And maybe your goal isn’t fluency! In that case, I really can’t help you out! In my opinion, both of these resources are great first stepping stones, although you should be aware that the goals of each method are a bit different.
To be realistic, comparing these two is like comparing apples to oranges. They’re both really good, and I encourage people to use both of them, actually. I agree with Avatar’s Uncle Iroh when he explains to Zuko that wisdom comes from many places, and that if you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Same with language learning. If you rely on only one source, you’re never going to be fluent. That’s why I review so many different sources.
So now the question becomes, “Which one should I start with?” I still maintain that everyone should start with Power Japanese, but between these two, I’d ask you, “What’s your ultimate goal?” They both teach Japanese, but the goals for each are different, and this should be apparent just by the two different styles of learning. It depends on what you want to do that will decide that.
If your goal is to go to Japan as a tourist, or perhaps briefly on business, then Pimsleur is the way to go. The goal of Pimsleur is to teach you Japanese roughly the same way you learned your native tongue. The goal of Pimsleur is to be able to speak Japanese naturally, and it excels at that. Instead of teaching you grammar, writing, and all that other stuff you didn’t learn about your own language until your school years, it will focus on getting you to take part in conversation. Even if you don’t know exactly what a word means, you’ll know how to use it.
However, because it doesn’t teach you the why behind what you’re behind taught to say, and because it doesn’t explain written Japanese, you’ll never be 100% fluent with Pimsleur. If you’re going to be in Japan temporarily, or if you’re not a language nerd like me, then Pimsleur on its own is a great starting point. If you learn by textbook alone, then actually speaking Japanese will throw you for a loop, unless you’ve learned with Pimsleur!
If your goal is fluency, then I recommend starting with Genki and using Pimsleur as a supplement. Genki teaches all that boring stuff, such as grammar, but you’ll have a better understanding of how Japanese sentence structure works, and you’ll have a better grasp on written Japanese. Not to mention, if you’re looking to pass the JLPT, Genki is definitely the way to go. It will walk you through the first 300 kanji, which is a must for that beginner’s test.
The problem with Genki is that even with the audio tapes, if you buy the expensive version, it will be harder to actually speak one-on-one with a native speaker compared to if you studied with Pimsleur. Genki will give you a larger vocabulary, knowledge of written Japanese, and extensive lessons on grammar, but it can’t train your ear to hear how Japanese is actually spoken, so if you’re just going to travel to Japan, Genki is not the way to go.
Price is also a consideration, as Pimsleur is way more expensive than Genki. As far as audio tapes go, Pimsleur is the best I’ve come across, and as far as textbooks go, Genki is probably the best in that regard as well, so it’s not like one’s quality is infinitely better than the other’s.
In the end, I can’t make the decision for you, so I encourage you to read my full review for each product, as well as my other reviews, before you make your decision. Heck, read about them beyond the confines of this blog, as others probably have different opinion. Remember, don’t take your wisdom solely from one source!
If you really want it, my person recommendation for beginners (if your goal is fluency) would go as such: Power Japanese (for the kana), Genki (for a good introduction into Japanese as a whole), and then Pimsleur (for spoken Japanese). This is what worked for me, but it may not be what works for you. How you study is up to you, and only you can decide how you learn best. And maybe your goal isn’t fluency! In that case, I really can’t help you out! In my opinion, both of these resources are great first stepping stones, although you should be aware that the goals of each method are a bit different.
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