Quartet: Intermediate Japanese Across the Four Language Skills 1 (Japanese Edition)

Coming from the Genki series, this has a similar feel but it is not quite as user friendly in my opinion. It does require substantially more kanji knowledge, and so even after finishing Genki 2 plus additional kanji studies, I still find myself having to stop often to look up kanji as I am doing the readings and exercises.I feel like the example sentences are more authentic in that they are a mix of casual and formal speech. I do not feel like the exercises or practice is as extensive as Genki was. The textbook and workbook provides a starting ground for studying, but to master the grammar points, you will likely need to do additional practice beyond what is offered by the book.

I'm not particularly interested in textbooks that are tailored toward passing the JLPT exams, I just wanted a textbook to build my language skills and I think this is pretty good for that. It's well designed, you basically get a text to read in each chapter with grammar points broken down, a phrase list, exercises and so on. Everything is pretty logical and well done. There is also audio available to download to practice listening.Crucially, it doesn't make things too easy with excessive furigana or too many translations and that made it perfectly pitched at the intermediate level in my opinion.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the "jump" between Genki and Quartet (even though it is less of a trauma than Tobira), but I found it quite normal, if not actually easier. I've done additional kanji + vocab study using pre-made Anki decks while I was studying Genki 2, and that has made a substantial difference.However, I feel like the grammar exercises are lackluster and not as exhaustive as Genki's. I get that studying grammar becomes easier after a while (+ immersion) and you don't need as much help, but it wouldn't have hurt to add a few more in-depth exercises!It is also worth mentioning that they don't provide the answer key to the workbook. You either have to ask them for it via e-mail, or look it up somewhere.

This textbook does not contains all the grammars needed for JLPT N3. It has to be used in conjunction with other books. English explanations for grammar are useful. Answers were provided for the listening comprehension at the end of the book. Vocabulary for each chapter is listed.

This book has easy to understand explanations.

素晴らしい教科書です。色々学べます。様々な話題も面白いです。