Hey all,
I've recently got a few books on Japanese and had some questions. For example the book "Japanese, The Manga Way" I've heard is for intermediate Japanese students. But when do I know when I've come from being a Beginner Japanese student to an Intermediate Japanese student?

Thank you in advance, and I'm sorry if this question had been asked before.

P.S. Is using "Genki I: An Integrated Course In Elementary Japanese" good for self-learners? I've also got Japanese for Busy People and Remembering the Kanji in case I need more help/understanding.

Hey there

Personally, I think it's really hard to justify what constitutes an Intermediate/Advanced level of language, depending on what or who constitutes it. For example some organisations I was planning on to do Japanese classes with had advertises "Intermediate" Japanese language classes. When I was given a copy of the cirriculum I thought it was still quite beginners/elementary level.

I would say from my own personal point of view, having an Intermediate level of language would constitute being able to understand most main points and topics when standard language is used and being able to deal with situations that you would encounter in the country. Also being able to express yourself, thoughts and ideas in a somewhat coherent manner would also be important for it.

I would say it would take someone, if they were doing non-intensive language classes (lets say 2-3 hours, one day a week) about 3 years to get to an intermediate level of language. It could possibly take someone doing self study less time than that but you would have to work ALOT harder.

Regarding the books, I can't comment on the Genki I book but can say that the Japanese for Busy People is good and also 'Remembering the Kanji'. The Japanese for Busy People would be the book my Native Japanese teacher uses for her classes.

Thank you for the response. But what about the book "Japanese, The Manga Way"? Would I need a decent grasp on Japanese before I can even think about picking this book up? I would think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that I would only need to know Hiragana and maybe Katakana because it covers Japanese grammar and structure.

Also, I have another question.
Should I start learning the Radicals to Kanji before I start learning the Kanji themselves? I've read on another site that learning the radicals before you learn a lot of Kanji is better; because you can remember the Kanji by the pieces, and not by the stroke count.

Thank you for taking the time to read and possibly respond!

Edit: Should I learn specific Kanji as I'm learning the radicals? For example, if I wanted to learn a Kanji ( I'll call it "Z" ) would I be better off learning the radicals I had planned for that day -and- the radicals for Kanji 'Z'? Or do you think this is too much and I would be better off just learning the individual radicals and then learning individual Kanji later?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just really excited about learning more ^_^. And, again, thank you for taking the time to read this and potentially respond

Hey again, I don't think this post will be as helpful as the last one

I can't comment on the " Japanese, The Manga Way " book either as I have no experience of it nor have I seen it being mentioned for learning (so possibly may not be the best for learning)

With the Kanji, I can't comment on quite well as it's also somthing I don't have alot of experience with yet. Generally iv found that concensus is that it's good to learn your Kanji radicals when learning Kanji, but also your writing too (Get your Memory & Motor nerves running). Probably setting yourself up for say for example... 20 kanji a day, learning each Kanji's radical and then doing writing drills.

Again that is just an example but perhaps someone else may offer better insight into this!

Thanks for the reply! It was more helpful than you think (because I had no idea where to start with Kanji lol).

I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread and hopefully someone will reply, but for now, I'm going to study my radicals!

Thanks again!

Hey there. In my personal opinion, starting with hira and katakana is a good begining. Then you should start learning some vocabulary first.

For example you learn 10 words and how they are written in hiragana or katakana/depending on the word/ and only then learn the kanji for these words.

Kanji is like a little picture so if you look at it for long time, write it a few times soon you will remember it. Also if you read this kanji in a certain sentance you'll be able to recognise it faster and finally memorise it for long time.

I can also remind you that Japanese is consisted of 5 levels.

N5 - 100 kanji and around 800 words (about 150 hours of studying)
N4 - 300 kanji and arond 1500 words (about 300 hours of studying)
N3 - not specified but it is between levels N4 and N2
N2 - 1000 kanji and around 6000 words (about 600 hours of studying)
N1 - 2000 kanji and around 10 000 words (about 900 hours of studying )

I think N5 is elementary level
N4 - pre-intermediate
N3 - intermediate
N2 - advanced
N1 - proficiency

I hope I have helped! Ganbatte!