I used Minna no Nihongo when i decided to go over beginner level again to fill some gaps (finished the 2 volumes for beginner level).
Thereâs a lot of audio for beginner level, i mean a LOT. It includes not only the audio for vocab but also all of the example sentences at the beginning of each chapter, as well the last conversations exercises (ăăăă
ă C). Since the vocab list comes in the translation/grammar notes book, iâm not sure if the audio for it comes in that book (instead of the main textbook).
It takes a slightly different approach with grammar in the main textbook. They donât call it âgrammar pointsâ, itâs âsentence structuresâ. Therefore, you learn how to use that structure to make as many different sentences as you can (itâs displayed in ăăăă
ă A)
The workbook, for me, itâs really good and worth getting it. The exercises are really helpful. You train a lot how to use the particles. I think i mention somewhere in my blog how i loved this one exercise where you had to make a sentence out of the words they gave you. Thing is, they wouldnât include the particles, so you had to decide on your own which particle was the correct one in order to connect everything. In comparison with Genki, i never really like it that much. I thought they used too many exercises of the type âtranslate this sentence toâŚâ. I donât think those exercises are really helpful, and usually just come with one answer/sentence. It makes you think that that is the only way of saying that, and a person tends to âmemorizeâ that sentence.
My impression about the themes of each chapter is that theyâre like âdaily situationsâ for someone living in Japan. I remember that there was this conversation about someone calling the gas company asking to come to their home to fix the gas, for example. Overall i enjoyed the themes and how the âsentence structuresâ were related and made sense being used in those situations. But thatâs my impression. I never got that much far with Genki (i probably just did 5/6 chapters before i got tired).
Finally, going back again to the topic of the audio. I feel that the audio of the 1st edition was much better than the 2nd edition. It felt more natural, like the actors seemed to convey the feelings of the conversation really well. The 2nd edition they changed and it feels more like someone reading the script. đ
Ah, i also should point out that it makes slightly annoyed that Genki âforcesâ people to buy an Answer Key book separately. But thatâs me. If thereâs exercises, i would like the answers to be at the end of the bookâŚ
Itâs probably what most people complain about. The main textbook has no english at all. But then again, i also felt that that has helped me. I usually tend to say that Genki is like âgoing out for dinnerâ and Minna no Nihongo is âstaying at home, prepare your meal and eatâ (since it requires a little more effort trying to understand and go over the material, specially if youâre self-studying).
In contrast with Genki, you have no Kanji lessons. You do have another book to train specifically the kanji (Minna no Nihongo Kanji Workbook, thereâs an english version for this one but i never really used it)
The english in the grammar notes/translations book is sometimes a little awkward, at times a little confusing. đ
 I donât know if they got better with the 2nd edition.
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