What studying aids do you use?, Page 2

Just wondering what textbooks people are using, any websites they find useful (apart from tanoshiijapanese that is, haha), or any other applications / games that they would recommend for learning Japanese.

For me my main learning resource has been from the textbook Japanese for Busy People.  I've found this series of books to be fairly good in a class situation, its strong points are the group activities and listening tasks, which more comprehensive and challenging then the other textbooks I've used. The downside for it is that its grammar explanations aren't very good.  So if you are using this book, you need a good sensei (which fortunately I've had), or you need to use another textbook in conjuction with it.  The other thing it lacks is a strong kanji program.

The other textbook series that I've used extensively is Genki, An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese.  The grammar explanations are excellent, and it has a solid set of listening activities, vocabulary sections, and introduction to the basic kanji you will learn.  My feeling using it was that the group exercises were too controlled and didn't challenge the student as much as Japanese for Busy people did.

For Kanji, I've been learning from the Basic Kanji Book series (actually I'm  just starting the intermediate books in this series now).  Its very comprehensive in that you learn a lot of vocabulary, and the Kanji are grouped in a logical manner, making it easier to learn.  There are a lot of exercies for you to practice with too, that progressively get more and more challenging.

There is video series, Japanese Basic I and Japanese Basic II from the Japanese Foundation that I've watched too.  If you are just starting and am not enrolled in a class, give them a look up.  They are very good for a beginner, and while they are no substitute for learning in a class situation which is a lot more interactive, you get good explanations of the grammar expressions they use, and the skits involving Yan are quite amusing.

The new video series by the Japanese Foundation 「エリンが朝鮮　にほんごできます」Erin's Challenge - I can speak Japanese, you can access from the website http://www.erin.ne.jp/.  This series is a lot more difficult than the Japanese Basic I and II series, as the whole episode is in Japanese, with no english explanations.  So definitely not for a beginner self-learner.  If you are a self-learner, wait till you have a bit of experience before you start this series, as it can be quite daunting to be thrown in the deep end with no english explanations.  If you are learning in a class, or have a bit of experience, give it a try.  The website has a lot of interactive exercises, and the skits in the video are quite fun and challenging.

Actually there is a lot more resources, games, ipad apps that I've looked at.  I'll add them in a bit later.

The aids I have is Genki and a book called Breaking Into Japanese Literature which offers a custom dictionary with both englisn and japanese text, as well, non-manga literature exposure. Japanese literature seems to not exist at all in US mainstream. I also have a book with english and japanese of a variety of Japanese folktales. Mostly to expose myself to culture and simple Kanji\vocabulary\ideals.

Otherwise, I have manga books purely in japanese that I will document by transcribing and labling every kanji through the use of http://kanji.sljfaq.org/radicals.html?r=1 - this site and http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C .

It's a bit rough way of studying, but this is the only way I do not get bored. I love genki, but I struggle continuing forward because of boredom.

I also watch variety comedy shows (Gaki no Tsukai is my favorite) with subtitles on youtube and try to pick up words the best I can. As well, japanese bloggers have helped me with finding materials and websites, or just do lessons on their own such as Gimmiaflakeman\Tomoko duo that'll read news, break down the vocabulary, and put it into english.

I suppose I don't have any traditional means of aids, but as long as I'm having fun, I think that is the motivation for me to keep learning. More japanese I learn, the more fun I can have.