Are the Genki Japanese Graded Readers Any Good?

[@ToKiniAndy]

Forgot to mention that you can get all the audio for free on the official Japan Times OtoNavi app… Even if you don’t own the books… 🤷‍♂️

[@Kyuuei]

Honest and indepth reviews are so invaluable. Thanks for this!

[@ToKiniAndy]

I'm glad that you found it helpful!

[@juststudy869]

I looked at the thumbnail like “Wow I need to get this!” But the review told me otherwise… thanks for the review!

[@ToKiniAndy]

Yeah, they LOOK great, and had great potential. Maybe they'll go 75% off. If that happens, I can at least recommend Box 2! haha

[@sarahr.3241]

I think these are so expensive because they expect schools and colleges to purchase them for their classrooms. Or maybe they expect the college students themselves to purchase them. $50 for a book for a single class is definitely not unheard of. And the sad thing is I bet they'll make a ton of money off of these too.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Yeah, I could see that. They actually offer a digital version plan for schools which is a monthly subscription based on how many students they have. I thought about it for the website, but it would have cost me close to $30,000 per year... haha Regardless, I feel like it's insane that these cost SO MUCH more than the actual textbook. lol

[@Surgehero5136]

Probably, it seems like everybody and they grandma uses Genki to learn Japanese.

[@tsodergrenbaar]

I was seriously thinking about buying them, since I like the updated Genki series. However, I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on the books. Especially since they wouldn't let us see very much content before we bought them. Thanks for making all the content! I signed up on your website and have been going through Genki 1 again. It really has helped. As for the graded readers, I'll take your advice and skip them.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Yeah, they are way too expensive. Thank you for your support, and best of luck with your future studies! =)

[@kineticmeow9242]

You would be better off getting Crystal Hunters a manga that teaches Japanese. Very cheap to get at just a few dollars per volume. First one you can read online for free. There is a guide separate from the manga that lists all the vocabulary and explains the grammar for free.

[@robertesensee3494]

@@kineticmeow9242 can you buy those books as a physical book or just as a kindle product? Thanks!

[@minorglitch01]

Honestly the graded reader books for native kids are way cheaper and much more interesting than these. I really like the "10分で読めるお話” series. The 1年生 level books suffer from lack of kanji, but 3年生 and higher are great. Best part is they're around 200 pages each and only 900円. There's other 10分で読める series too like 10分で読める物語 、10分で読める伝記、 10分で読める伝記名作

[@dacramac3487]

No, they don't suffer from a lack of kanji. They are for elementary school children who learn step by step. The first ones in year one, deal with kana. THey then get the easiest first kanji.

[@minorglitch01]

@dacramac3487 Oh for sure. Bad wording on my part. I was looking at it from the perspective of how useful they'd be to a non-native learning Japanese. The lack of kanji is intentional for their real purpose, but it makes them less ideal for a non-native learner than the higher grade books which do use kanji.

[@dacramac3487]

@@minorglitch01 I found that they are actually ideal for people who want to learn like a Japanese child. I have used both; but for me, the Japanese school books are ideal because you can learn a lot of things that you don't get with things like Genki.

[@JoaoPedroLombardi]

Appreciate the honesty, keep up with the great content!

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you João!

[@aelinluna3434]

Can always count on you for honesty! I balked at the price of those. I've been buying kindle books with more interesting stories and value for content than what I've seen from the Genki readers. Granted some are better/worse than others. But they've only ever cost me $3-$7 and reading turned out to be my favourite way to learn. Thanks for reviewing them for us!!

[@dlsugreen]

I'd rather subscribe to Satori Reader. can't remember if it's cheaper, because i'm not subscribed anymore, but it sure has more content and words. Plus it also has grammar/words explanation. It was well worth the money.

[@nhat.tranbnch]

Thanks for providing these reviews Andy! Also, thank you for providing us with an affordable and effective way of learning Japanese. I've been going through your online course coupled with virtual lessons and it's been such a game changer! The original content in the immersion material is not only helpful but funny and entertaining to read as well. If you and Yuki ever plan to publish readers I would gladly support!

[@pratham1619]

Hey 先生, Requesting you to start a kanji series with different reading and example sentences with its uses and exceptions!!

[@yapiibee]

Thank you! Oto Navi has the audio for L1-12 free in the app if anyones interested. I checked the physical books to see if i could read along but the price is not worth it. Glad to know im not alone in that opinion

[@SuonoReale]

Hmm... honestly I could only see this set as a conversation piece, i.e, pull one off the shelf and read a page or two to anyone that is curious . That being said, recently I bought a year of Satori Reader using Andy's promo link. Totally recommend it. It really helps with learning about the infinite degrees of nuance that Japanese can convey through grammatical subtlety (whereas in English, we tend to convey nuance through vocabulary/word selection).

[@Surgehero5136]

Thanks for sharing Andi, I was considering the Genki graded readers. Usually I read the level 0-1 tadoku graded readers since I want to increase my reading level Japanese with the free stories and just started buying their books which are pretty cool too. I’ll check your graded readers too, I didn’t know y’all had that service as well👍

[@kineticmeow9242]

Crystal Hunters is a manga that teaches Japanese. Only costs a few bucks on Amazon kindle, but first volume can be read for free. They also have guides for free that explain the vocabulary and grammar.

[@Surgehero5136]

@@kineticmeow9242 thanks for that, I checked it out a little bit and so far it’s pretty cool👍

[@cold4240]

I can recommend the KLC Graded Readers if you want sentences to go with your Kanji studies. Not the most interesting, but it is n + 1, which is pretty rare.

[@msaiff322]

Thanks for the info! You are awesome!

[@ahmedal-rawi3276]

Could any one tell me what is the websites shown at 2:25 ? I'd really like to try it

[@ToKiniAndy]

hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/jap/

[@RyanLeach]

Wow everyone is right that price is intense. Outstanding thumbnail though! 😆

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you! Yeah, they aren’t messing around with that price.

[@kineticmeow9242]

I just read Crystal Hunters a manga that teaches Japanese.

[@AjSudanto]

I was hoping you'd also compare them to Satori reader in terms of difficulty, content, and value.

[@ToKiniAndy]

I wish I had thought of that! They are MUCH easier than most of the content on Satori Reader, but I'd say the value of Satori is SIGNIFICANTLY better. It's so cool to see you here though! I had considered visiting Abhayagiri Monastery at one time, but never got the chance. Ended up staying at Wat Pah Nanachat for a few weeks though.

[@AjSudanto]

@@ToKiniAndy Wow. Really?...that's great. I ordained at WPN, and lived at Abhayagiri for 12 years. I now lead a branch monastery in Washington (state). I'd be interested to hear about your experience if you want to message me sometime.🙏 Satori Reader has been a great. I've carefully read all the easier and intermediate stories, and am on target to finish the rest in my yearlong goal.

[@ToKiniAndy]

@@AjSudanto I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying Satori Reader. Brian and the others on that team work really really hard to create quality content for learners. I had actually intended to become a monk at WPN or in Sri Lanka, but ended up returning to Japan for various reasons. And now here we are. And thank you! Would love to chat some time. =)

[@アーニー-y5w]

Thanks for this. I need to read more. I did consider this. However I went with satori reader. I may consider joining your site just to read and try out other stuff😊

[@dominikseljan3043]

Thanks for the heads up Andy. I’m always happy to see your new videos!

[@kasarrah1619]

I’m a nanny to a family with Japanese heritage (though neither parent know Japanese). They want their children to be Japanese bilingual but we’re struggling to find good children’s books/shows for the kids. They’re not quite old enough yet, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[@dacramac3487]

If they have a Japanese parent, and they are registered with the embassy, you can get the school books up to and including middle school, free.

[@Just_a_normal_guy_stalking]

these books are there in my area's library and I love them (coz for now I am not able to understand other reading material so I love them as they are easy to understand)

[@JamesWilliams]

I was looking into buying them after getting through the massive Tadoku downloads I found of each level's readers combined into single PDFs. I've already zoomed through 300 pages of the Lv 0 content...I'd be mad about how little I'm getting if I bought the genki readers.

[@murimurimrui]

Thanks for heads up. I suppose most people should start with the tadoku series, then work their up to selected japanese works (like Breaking into Japanese Literature: Seven Modern Classics in Parallel Text - Revised Edition). That should make you familiar with native text. So when you read an actual novel, you're not going to be buried

[@southcoastinventors6583]

I love how this whole video just became a shameless plug for his website and how much better value it is I think Andy been taking lessons from Yuta. Also I also subscribed to Andy website and the content is indeed worth and can start using it again since I am back from my vacation in Europe. Andy you need really need to do a Andosan manga using Midjourney AI that would be awesome and disturbing at the same time.

[@Daniel-be6cj]

Do they continue the lore of Mary and Takeshi though?

[@jessicarosemalone7374]

I don’t think they are worth the price. There are so many sites that have graded reading, especially folk tales. You can also buy books which have Japanese on one page which the English on the other, some even have quizzes. These retail about $9.99. Let’s not forget the JLPT practice tests in reading that you can take a look at for short study burst. Thanks for sharing these though, always knowledgeable and impartial 😊

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you for the tips Jessica! And yeah, there are a TON of cheaper/free options out there. =)

[@theeleventh805gamer7]

Nah cuz they actually made a whole ass cinematic universe for this book I’m talking a live action, anime, light novel AND NOW A MANGA for Takeshi and Mary’s love story 😭

[@ToKiniAndy]

Where is this LN you speak of??? 👀

[@theeleventh805gamer7]

@@ToKiniAndy technically the Genki books themselves LMAO

[@TyroKith]

Ah, man! I was looking forward to these! What a bummer...

[@carlosmoreno6288]

Thanks for the insight with this series. Even though I was not thinking about buying them, I know that I still recommend - and use - the free Tadoku ones. On a different note: Can you do a review of the new Japanese series by The Japan Times, J-Peak Japanese for the Liberal Arts at the University of Tokyo? It is supposed to be a 3-volume series on Japanese for Humanities, with only the first volume released earlier this year. I'm interested in those since I'm interested in academic texts of that nature, but I have heard mixed reviews about it, and other options like 日本語で考えたくなる科学の問い are pretty effin advanced for me. Again, thanks for all your help! I'm currently starting Quartet and I love your content.

[@MikoYotsuya292]

Looks nice for beginner readers, but that price is so steep though. I bought both the Tobira books and those two are very pricey on their own, let alone added the price for shipping. Wonder if there's a way to acquire these through _different_ ways 😏😏

[@ToKiniAndy]

Yeah, it's such a shame. They are REALLY nice looking, and I think the Genki 1 books are interesting enough. But that price tag...

[@xXDESTINYMBXx]

There's but do you wanna scroll back and forth on your pc to oearn Japanese in a clumsy PDF?

[@kgal1298]

As someone who reads manga the Genki 1 would probably confuse me. I'm already trained to go right to left when reading for Japanese. It's unfortunate they didn't try to make these better than what we can resource online for cheaper/free.

[@kineticmeow9242]

Yeah I’d rather read Crystal Hunters a manga that teaches Japanese than read those genki graded readers.

[@theeleventh805gamer7]

I’m reading Yokai Watch and Imawa no Kuni no Arisu while studying Japanese and I’m lucky I live right by a person who makes her house a Japanese library and allows people to borrow Japanese books from her. Speaking of which my books are overdue for almost a year 💀

[@rich5729]

Do your stories on your website include audio, dictionary lookup, and are there ones for beginner level around N5? Thanks

[@marina.guarise85]

Thank you for this video! It was helpful for me in order to decide if buy or not. I know it’s not related to this video, but I was thinking to subscribe to Andy’s channel, and I want to know if the videos of Genki and Quartet that are free in this channel, are the same I will get after the subscription? Or did he made special videos just for those registered? Thank you

[@blackwatchbandstudio]

From my understanding of things (I have not signed up for the subscription), the website has exclusive lessons that cover things like more in-depth discussions of vocab and grammar as well as shadowing practice (listening to a sentence and repeating it back), reading material (mentioned in the video), tests on Genki lessons, the ability to ask questions and get feedback on your pronunciation...

[@linguaste]

Thanks for the review. Is there anyway where I can see a inside preview of the books? Would you say they are equivalent of L3 of the Tadoku readers?

[@nightfallprince]

Thank you for saving my money. I probably would have picked up a box and been very grumpy.

[@YoGurtDale]

Listening to the free audio on the Oto app and I noticed the lessons don't even cover / drill the grammar contents of the corresponding lesson in Genki. In fact for most of the grammar points there was not even one example in the corresponding story. dumb

[@Thalespoliglota]

Please create a masterpiece for us! Wait, you did it!

[@ToKiniAndy]

Haha thank you Thales! I will keep trying to make what we make even better. =)

[@diw7574]

I love ur content man keep up ... Can u make a kanji sereis cuz i am a new and cant find a free place to start

[@ToKiniAndy]

We're working on getting that kanji series started soon. =) Thanks for watching!

[@jayp9158]

Thanks for warning people about this, a lot of shortcomings for a ridiculous price.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Was really hoping I could recommend them... but yeah. haha

[@RegamiR]

If they would have released something in level of the Quartet books, could have been great !!

[@carlah5042]

Are you planning on doing a kanji study video soon?

[@ToKiniAndy]

Yup! We're working on getting the series put together now! =)

[@adityaroychowdhury3709]

how much time has it been 🙂since i came back this channel to watch some non-study material. 😛😛😛sensei very busy huh.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Super busy! haha Thank you for stopping by! =)

[@Layarion]

i can very slowly read kana but only know like 20 words, i get so frustrated when a "level 0" book like on the free book site, just throws shit at you and expects you to just "pick it up". the least that free book site could do is provide a list of words to lookup ahead of time, and they could stop putting the damn audio on one massive play button! why do i have to listen to a whole book to re-hear one fricken page!

[@gleydin]

I also wanted to buy them, but that’s some pricey stuff! Thank you for the review. Now even for $25 I will avoid them. 😂

[@ColdMilo]

Thanks for the review, I was thinking about picking them up but maybe it's now a pass.. 😅

[@ToKiniAndy]

Glad I could save you a lot of dollars!

[@DianaT-ph6iz]

One has to mention that the story in Lesson 9-2 The School Restroom is too disturbing. It in gave me PTSD. I am an adult normally into horror and not easily spooked, but I have not imagined in my wildest dreams that something that horrific will be dropped at me so casually in the middle of my beginner Japanese learning. あかいいろが すき? What the...

[@Sheycompany]

I was thinking of getting this. But now I won’t 🙈

[@danny.ray101]

Guys, you need to chill out. I am sure someone just typed in a zero too much by accident. Everything will be resolved 🤔

[@ThePS101]

Even on the physical copy itself shows the $77 price point. It is also $77 on Amazon Japan. My guess is that Genki is going the "EA Madden" route. They are going to monetize the daylights out of Japanese. Genki is primarily intended for colleges. They plan to have college students blow their money on these books. My suggestion is for whoever is reading this, to wait until they hit the end of semester textbook sell-off. Either that or get lucky and find it at a library.

[@danny.ray101]

@@ThePS101 let's be honest, there's Satori Reader for like $10 a month which has a lot of features an analog textbook can't have. For everybody knowing this there isn't even choice to make imo.

[@dacramac3487]

I use the textbooks issued by Japanese schools. They are much better, and were free.

[@MrAwesome7654]

what ones?

[@dacramac3487]

@@MrAwesome7654 All the ones actually used in schools in Japan. Over a hundred of them.

[@HannahLeeBL]

​@@dacramac3487 in pdf or actual books?

[@dacramac3487]

@@HannahLeeBL Actual books. Every six months for nine years, per child, the Japanese consulate would send us Japanese school books free of charge.

[@teruhiiko]

I dunno why I expected this to be an April Fool's joke...

[@ToKiniAndy]

Missed opportunity. Haha I completely forgot about April Fools.

[@ltsMeNoodle]

In my opinion these are not worth it at all. So far I've read both volumes of Kevin Marx's short stories, as well as the first Lingo Mastery volume, and I'm positively surprised, especially with the former. There's no furigana, but that's better in my opinion since you have to pay attention to the kanji and not just eyeball the furigana each time you encounter a new word. Definitely recommend!

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Rhythm162.]

Those prices are a year round April fools joke

[@ToKiniAndy]

For real!

[@IamOmgPhil]

Hard pass on my end, The resources on the website 100% better priced and better

[@ToKiniAndy]

Word

[@KatoRat]

Hair looks great! xD

[@TheBXbaconator]

There is so much space and so little reading in those pages.

[@coolbrotherf127]

I don't even use Genki, but I definitely wouldn't use these readers. I'd try just read manga or online articles in Japanese instead for free. Satori Reader also exists.

[@sarahr.3241]

やった！

[@ToKiniAndy]

はやい！

[@carlah5042]

Second ❤

[@ToKiniAndy]

You're fast! Thanks for watching! =)

[@spiritedrinoa]

I had been watching for these to come out...but between the price point and the content, I think that'll be a pass from me. Travel pamphlets and social studies content seems like a slog, and so many other resources already provide retold folktales.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Exactly my feelings on the matter.

[@TheWatchmanOfTheEnd]

Bro just get the Tobira Beginning Japanese book. It's basically an almost ripped off version of Genki but it's also very modified with improvements and even includes both a tone-accent guide for words and a keyboard section for typing. Not to forget that the Kanji is included IN the lessons themselves and not in the back of the book randomly like Genki does it. Genki REALLY dropped the ball but I suppose if it's for beginners it isn't so bad but I agree, definitely WAY more expensive than textbooks of such basic quality should cost.

[@Crackalacking_Z]

Thanks for the heads up, hard pass.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Glad to be of service!

[@blazacwoot]

Absolute garbage, as expected. Given the amount of low-level reading material already available, this was a massive waste of time and just a cash grab from schools and universities.

[@IanMcAlex]

It's not worth it at all.

[@christophernuzzi2780]

Am I the only one who doesn't care about "interesting" when choosing a grade reader? I just want to read something, anything, at my level. I don't care what it is.

[@madmax8620]

Hmmm... i dont know man... I wanted to buy a simple Cat Fancy and K-Pop magazine to put in my kid's Easter Basket, THEY were $19.99 each!

[@ToKiniAndy]

At least they will keep the kid interested though! haha

[@madmax8620]

@@ToKiniAndykey English grammar "wanted to".... so she's NOT getting them, im a bad dad, but 40 bucks richer for it!

[@artcreative.studio]

I don't need any more sagas of Takeshi and Mary (｀_´メ)