Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - Printable Version

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - Printable Version

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Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - timcampbell - 2007-11-24

There's been a fair amount of discussion on this forum about the pros/cons of Tae Kim's grammar guide. Without starting a similar chain, I was hoping to find out from people who have already completed Tae Kim whether they felt the effort was worth it? Did they find the material was top-notch and approached Japanese grammar from a practical perspective? Do they think other materials would have been better, looking back?
There are, of course, many books on Japanese grammar, but most I find too stilted to be of practical use, and though Japanese friends know the grammar intuitively, explaining it clearly is not always easy. So, I'm looking for another resource. Is it worth the effort?
I'm hoping to hear from those who have finished the book, thanks.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - yukamina - 2007-11-24

...What are the cons? I always thought it was a really good guide.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - billyclyde - 2007-11-24

Well, it is free.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - uberstuber - 2007-11-24

While I never really considered it something one could "complete" I have read through and understand basically all of the articles. I feel that it was worth it and its really not that much of a huge effort. For me, Tae explained things clearly; I don't really think any other book would be any "better." Other books might go more in depth.
In any case, I really don't see how reading maybe one or two articles a day for a little while would be detrimental in anyway, and if you decide to get other literature, that's great too.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - sheetz - 2007-11-24

The grammar points seem to be explained well, but to me Tae Kim's guide is better used as a supplement to a primary learning source, rather than the primary learning source itself. Case in point: the material it covers is generally fairly basic, and yet the example sentences given don't have pronunciation guides in the form of either hiragana or romaji that are often needed by beginners. When I first started learning Japanese I tried going through TK's guide but couldn't read the example sentences to learn the grammar points, but now that I have progressed to the point where I can read the sentences, I've found that I already know the grammar points being explained!

I much prefer Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, which covers a lot more material in depth than TK's guide, yet uses simple vocabulary and actually includes the pronunciation for those words I don't know.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - aircawn - 2007-11-24

sheetz Wrote:...and yet the example sentences given don't have pronunciation guides in the form of either hiragana or romaji that are often needed by beginners.

You mean pronunciation guides for kanji? They are there, hover the mouse over a kanji for the reading to show up in a tooltip.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - sheetz - 2007-11-24

aircawn Wrote:
sheetz Wrote:...and yet the example sentences given don't have pronunciation guides in the form of either hiragana or romaji that are often needed by beginners.
You mean pronunciation guides for kanji? They are there, hover the mouse over a kanji for the reading to show up in a tooltip.

You're right, but it has to be done on the computer, and in fact it's even better to use Rikaichan. But you won't be able to do this if you print them out to study offline. For me I like having it in hardcopy if I'm going to study from it.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - scout - 2007-12-03

sheetz Wrote:You're right, but it has to be done on the computer, and in fact it's even better to use Rikaichan. But you won't be able to do this if you print them out to study offline. For me I like having it in hardcopy if I'm going to study from it.

You might want to check out this thread for a PDF copy of the guide which includes furigana. (To save time, here is the direct link to the PDF)

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - sheetz - 2007-12-03

scout Wrote:
sheetz Wrote:You're right, but it has to be done on the computer, and in fact it's even better to use Rikaichan. But you won't be able to do this if you print them out to study offline. For me I like having it in hardcopy if I'm going to study from it.
You might want to check out this thread for a PDF copy of the guide which includes furigana. (To save time, here is the direct link to the PDF)

Hey, that's great! The pdf version seems far more user friendly than the html one. Wish I knew about it when I first started.

Is Tae Kim worth the effort? - lankydan - 2007-12-12

I've worked through Tae Kim's entire guide to Japanese grammar. The grammar that the guide offers can be completed in a month or less (assuming that you've finished RTK 1). It gives you a solid grammatical foundation to the Japanese language. The guide makes sense compared to conventional textbooks, and it is taught in order. "The Special Expressions and the Advanced Topics" part assume that you have gone over the "Basic Grammar and Essential grammar"

Lately, I've been reading AERA magazines, find myself short on vocabulary and some other grammar that aren't covered in Tae Kim's guide. Also, reading magazines and newspapers are a good way of reinforcing what you have learned from the guide. Also "A dictionary of Basic japanese grammar" by Seiichi Makino is a useful resource for grammar as many users on this site recommend it.

Tae Kim's guide is worth the effort.