Genki Japan Blog はじめまして。

When I reviewed TextFugu for a second time , I mentioned Gakuu and how TextFugu members could get 80% off. Well, I decided to give it a go and see what to make of it. What I discovered is a goldmine for sentence mining, and a great way to understand the way the Japanese talk, especially when things aren't nice and clear like they are in textbooks. My first impression was that it was TextFugu for intermediate and advanced students, and what I found was something different, and almost better. It won't overshadow TextFugu, which will continue to grow into its own advanced material, but is excellent as a suppliment for a textbook, or an amazing find if you're an input person. Output people, I'm afraid this might not be your cup of tea. Apparently the Gakuranman, as he studied Japanese through textbooks, discovered that they just weren't doing it for him the way they were when he was a beginner. Basically, they didn't seem to be teaching "real world" Japan...

Disclaimer: I still stand by what I said in my post about TextFugu vs. AJATT, that these two things cannot be compared, and this second look doesn't change that. TextFugu is a product of the academic method; namely, it is more step-by-step and focused than anything from the other methods. That said, if you're doing things the AJATT way and are looking for a good textbook to supplement or solidify your learnings, please look elsewhere are TextFugu is too large a commitment financially speaking to use as a suppliment for AJATT or any other input or output method. So, some time has gone by and TextFugu has grown bigger and better, and I think it warrants a second look. Last time I reviewed it , TextFugu was a smaller site with infrequent and, seemingly, inconsistent updates; now it is a sprawling site full of good information and I can fully endorse it. Anyone who wishes to learn primarily by textbook ( input and output people , this is probably not for you), TextFugu is a great...

Long enough title for you? Okay, so after a bit of research, I noticed that there's a lot of keywords out there for "Textfugu vs. AJATT" and the very fact that those two are together in a search query makes me want to facepalm (I also made the mistake of mentioning AJATT in my review post), so I'm going to explain the various ways to learn a langauge, as they're all different, so maybe you'll have an idea as to how you'd like to try learning. This stuff will all be compiled in a lengthier, much more detailed book I'm writing, but for now let's just get a few things straight. Firstly, there's many different methods out there for learning a language, but they all basically can be simplified down to four categories: academic, input, output, or a mix of those three. That's it, and while everyone can claim that their method is different or better than all the others out there, you can always guarantee it will fall predominately into one of the f...

Update: For everyone coming here looking for a review of TextFugu, this post is out of date. It was written when TextFugu was in its infancy, and is a first-impression review. A more accurate and up-to-date review is here. Textfugu makes the incredibly bold statement, “Best way to teach yourself Japanese, guaranteed.” I’ve been meaning to review Textfugu for a while, as Koichi is a hardworking guy who endlessly promotes the Japanese language. He’s a very successful marketer, has a vibrant personality, and is actually dedicated to your success, not his. Well, I wouldn’t wager he’s that selfless, but you get the idea. So, what do I make of his product? It’s a mixed bag, but I’m going to spoil the review by saying I’m glad I bought it. However, that doesn’t mean that Textfugu isn’t without its flaws, so here’s my complete review. Oh, but before that, I’m going to offer a disclaimer. Namely, Textfugu doesn’t yet offer lessons for my level, so a lot of this is the hypothetical if-I-was-st...

Like Nerdy Goodness: Trials, Tribulations, and Musings of a Nerd before it, Genki will be adding a 'categories' page to it. Again, I'm too lazy to go adding a bunch of code, so I'm just going to put up links to my old posts here. Gadgets Wii U? Japanese Invent Spider Man Robot Sauce-Dispensing Chopsticks Culture Valentine's Day in Japan The Secret to Living as Long as the Japanese News Easiest Way to Help Quake Victims Ever! Stupid People on the Internet and Disaster .PDF Massive 8.9 Earthquake in Japan More News About North Korea N. Korean Missle Launch and the Big Brother of Japan British Man Attempts to Defraud a Japanese Bank Obama Masks Invoke Huge Sales in Japan J-Pop Makes a New Year's Resolution? Language Learning Tools The Best Flashcard Program Ever: Anki Gakuu JapanesePod101.com Reading in Japanese All Japanese All the Time TextFugu: A Second Look LingQ Textfugu Japanese-Online Japanese Video Tapes Genki vs. Pimsleur Pimsleur Japanese Japanese the Ma...