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japanese grammar resources - ferrets - 2014-09-12
hello, i've been having trouble finding a japanese grammar workbook that can work for me. (online resources are welcome too, i really like books though) i saw "A guide to japanese grammar" on amazon by Tae Kim and i was wondering if you guys reccommend it, though i'm still unsure because, i'm a very visual learner (also have learning disability). i was wondering if there were some more easy to understand grammar books (maybe for beginner with a slow pace) where it has bolded letters and colors and shows sort of diagram and visuals for the japanese language and grammar.
sorry, i hope that's alright. thank you! im a slow learner and a beginner to japanese (im very serious to learn it, though!) hope you don't mind.
japanese grammar resources - yogert909 - 2014-09-12
I recommend Tae Kim because his explanations are very clear and concise. The grammar isn't very hard to understand, however the larger hurdles are vocabulary and kanji. So I'd recommend learning a few thousand vocabulary words and do RTK before starting Tae Kim.
I haven't used them but a lot of people here use the Genki Textbooks.
japanese grammar resources - Kenji86 - 2014-09-12
I've been using Tae Kim as well, and I strongly recommend it.
Also, I've read a lot of good things about A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. It's worth taking a look at, although it is kind of pricey.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-Grammar/dp/4789004546
japanese grammar resources - cophnia61 - 2014-09-12
I suggest you to give a look to the Genki textbooks, it's not a grammar per sé but it has all basic grammar points (conjugations, adjectives, syntax etc..). Every chapter has one or more dialogues and after that you have a list of new grammar points with examples and explanations. If you are interested only in the grammar points you can ignore the dialogues, or just read them after having studied the grammar points, just to see if you understand the grammar in the context of the dialogues. If you like them then there is also a third book (an integrated approach to intermediate japanese) and a fourth (gateway to advanced japanese). The advantage of books like those over standard grammar is that they introduce grammar points in order of frequency and difficulty, so you can study them cover to cover. On the cuntrary standard grammar books are more like references, to use as a supplement for your studies (in this respect the dictionaries already mentioned are considered a standard).
One example, in the first chapters of Genki I you are introduced to the present tense of verbs, but also of i and na adjectives, basic syntax etc.. Instead in grammar books like Barron's and other they are divided by topics like "pronouns - verbs - i adjectives - na adjectives - adverbs" so if you follow them cover to cover you'll enconunter difficult verb conjugations in various politeness-level of japanese before even knowing how to cojnugate the present tense of an i adjective.
Genki I and II cover all the JLPT 5 and JLPT 4 grammar points, while "an integrated approach to intermediate japanese" and "gateway to advanced japanese" cover the JLPT 3 and JLPT 2 grammar points respectively. So you go by grade of difficulty and usefulness, and if you need to look more in depth those grammar points you can look them up on the dictionaries of japanese grammar.
Hope this will be useful for you, 頑張って！
japanese grammar resources - john555 - 2014-09-12
How about this grammar? It looks very new. I was looking at it at the bookstore and it seems very easy to follow:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Japanese-Grammar-Practical-Grammars/dp/0415572010/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410565864&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=routledge+japanese+essential+grammar
japanese grammar resources - Yatagarasu - 2014-09-13
Seems like Genki would fit you best. It's a bit boring and slow but very beginner friendly and quite good for self-study.
I'd also recommend you have a look at Japanese the Manga Way, there are no diagrams or colors but the manga examples for each grammar point are great for visual learners (at least they were for me) and the explanations are short and clear but more in-depth than Tae Kim (I tried using Tae Kim as a very beginner and felt lost even though I love it now).
japanese grammar resources - rich_f - 2014-09-13
Put this in your search bar on amazon.co.jp: お風呂ポスター
Ignoring the anime/manga inspired images, you might find something Japanese parents use to teach their little kids about the language and a bunch of other random stuff in the bathtub. It's not a textbook, but more of a visual aid. Pictures and such.
Or try this: かるた 漢字
You can find all kinds of different karuta cards to learn all kinds of different things in Japanese. Again, visual stuff.
For kanji, This and this look pretty freakin' interesting. @_@b
japanese grammar resources - chamcham - 2014-09-13
What about "Japanese: The Manga Way"?
japanese grammar resources - rich_f - 2014-09-13
@chamcham That's an awesome book. Do *not* confuse with the so-so "Japanese in Mangaland," tho. I still go back to JTMW every now and then when I'm looking for a good explanation of something.
japanese grammar resources - jmignot - 2014-09-14
Here is a bunch of references which might be of some use (mostly web sites):
An introduction to Japanese: http://pomax.github.io/nrGrammar/ (also exists as a book)
Imabi: http://kanjiwebs.webs.com/
Visualizing Japanese grammar: http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm
DxJG sentences: http://jiten.clanteam.com/index.html
Japanese stackexchange: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/
sci.lang.japan FAQ: http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/grammar.html
japanese grammar resources - ferrets - 2014-09-14
thank you so much for all the help everyone, this is all very helpful
japanese grammar resources - rich_f - 2014-09-15
Forgot about another resource: it's a set of 3 grammar dictionaries/books by ALC. They show diagrams/maps of words and their meanings. For example, the verb book shows how all the different meanings of あう are related in a branch diagram.
Here are links to the three books: Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives.
I have the verb book. It's pretty useful for some of the more commonly confused verbs (like あう). The only downside is that each book is kind of pricey. ~3200 yen each. I imagine a systematic study using those could be helpful, too, once you reach a certain level of Japanese.