1. Addition of Culture Note sidebars

Every lesson of the revised edition includes a “Culture Note” sidebar that provides students with information on Japanese culture. Written in English, these commentaries focus mainly on topics related to the lesson themes, and are intended to encourage students to personally broaden their understanding of Japan by obtaining further information from the Internet and their Japanese acquaintances.

→List of Culture Note titles

2. MP3 audio material bundled with textbooks / workbooks

The audio material for GENKI, which was previously sold separately in 6-CD sets, has been compiled into MP3 files stored on a single CD that is bundled with each textbook volume, enabling all GENKI users to access the full range of audio resources. Moreover, much of the audio material has been re-recorded, with the dialogues now spoken at a speed closer to that of natural conversation. The textbook CD retains the Dialogue, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Practice audio material of the old CD set, while adding recordings of the readings for every lesson of the Reading and Writing section. The workbooks also now come with a CD containing recordings of the Listening Comprehension exercises, making it easier for users to practice their skills.

→ How to use the GENKI CD

3. Revamping of vocabulary and expressions

GENKI has been thoroughly reviewed to eliminate outdated vocabulary and expressions, and replace them with alternatives that are frequently used in today’s Japan. This includes the dialogues, which now incorporate more contemporary expressions. Examples of changes include the elimination of テープ, ビデオ, トレーナー, and ハンサムな, and the addition of CD, DVD, パソコン, andメール.

4. Revision of Grammar/Practice sections and readings

The grammar points covered by each lesson remain the same, but their explanations have been revised and augmented to facilitate better understanding. Also, the negative patterns ～くありません (adjectives), ～じゃありません (nominal sentences), and ～なくちゃいけません have, based on a review of linguistic data, been changed to forms more widely used in everyday situations: ～くないです, ～じゃないです, and ～なきゃいけません. In order to enable sufficient practice of grammar items, the Practice section has been beefed up with more communicative exercises, including conversational tasks. Furthermore, outdated material in the readings of the Reading and Writing section has been replaced with content more relevant to modern Japan.

→ List of Practices for Grammar and Dialogue units (PDF)
→ List of Words & Expressions for Grammar and Dialogue units (PDF)

The following features have been retained in the second edition:

・  Division of each volume into two sections: “Dialogue and Grammar” and “Reading and Writing”

・  Lesson structure: Dialogue, Vocabulary, Grammar, Practice, Expression Notes, and Useful Expressions (with the addition of a Culture Note commentary)

・  Grammar points covered in the Dialogue and Grammar section

・  Kanji studied in the Reading and Writing section

・  Cast of characters and illustrations

・  Supplementing of Japanese text with romanized readings in Lessons 1 and 2

Related Resources

KANJI LOOK AND LEARN Textbook

KANJI LOOK AND LEARN Workbook

The textbook presents 512 beginning-level kanji (including all 317 covered by the GENKI series) with engaging illustrations and mnemonic hints that make it fun and easy to learn the forms and meaning of the characters. It also includes nearly 3,500 elementary and intermediate vocabulary terms that incorporate all kanji presented. Combined with the Workbook, it helps users to effectively learn kanji not only at the level of characters and words, but also in the context of sentences and longer text.

→More on Kanji Look and Learn

→Content and Time Requirements