I am thinking of looking into minna no nihongo for some challenge. I can see that there are quite many books with this name and thus a whole series of books with this title exists.
I want to find out what are all the books in this series and what does each one of them contain. How can I find this out?
tokyostyle
Member
From: Tokyo
Registered: 2008-04-11
Posts: 720
They are just basic grammar books and don't have any particularly redeeming qualities for self learners.
The book title itself tells you what it is:
みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版 本冊 : Beginner I, 2nd Edition, Main Book
みんなの日本語 初級II 第2版 本冊 : Beginner II, 2nd Edition, Main Book
みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版 翻訳・文法解説 英語版：Beginner I, 2nd Edition, Translation, Grammar Explanation English Edition
みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版 標準問題集 ：Beginner I, 2nd Edition, Workbook
みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版 書いて覚える文型練習帳 ：Beginner I, 2nd Edition, Write and Learn Sentence Patterns Workbook
I skipped quite a few other second edition beginner materials but I honestly think the only thing you are going to end up challenging is your wallet. If you need basic grammar textbooks just buy the three Genki books.
Inny Jan
Member
From: Cichy Kącik
Registered: 2010-03-09
Posts: 720
Information provided by the publisher of MNN can be a bit unclear as to which book is for what, but organisation of their material is actually quite logical.
The main text and exercises (with answers to those as well) is contained in the 本冊 books. These books are Japanese only.
Translation and grammar explanations for the main text are included in the 翻訳・文法解説 books which are published in different languages (English, Spanish, German, etc.)
Audio for the dialogs and drills from the main text is available in the "CD" books.
In my opinion, only these three positions make a complete set and should be purchased as if it was one book.
Anything extra to those books is... extra. You don’t need kanji workbook or write and learn sentence patterns workbook unless you are really keen on some extra workout.
