Top 10 Japanese Intermediate to Advanced Textbooks

Japanese textbooks can be super patchy, and it’s taken me a long time to figure out through word of mouth and long perusals of the NY Kinokuniya which ones work. If you’re trying to progress into more advanced material, it’s important to get practice using a structured method. Instead of picking through lots of different books (a temptation during periods of frustration, i.e. chapters about keigo or familiar grammar) I’ve found that the trick is to follow a book all the way through. This is what I did with my tutor in Japan, and even though the book was a little dry, I learned a lot of random vocab and felt the progression to the end. Because of the difficulty many people have incorporating reading/writing, speaking, and listening skills at once, and because there are not that many books to choose from, the debates on the best ways to study get ridiculously heated. That argument ends here, with the world’s top 10 best Japanese language textbooks:

10. Introduction to Intermediate Japanese: An Integrated Course

Strengths: Well organized into different sections for reading practice, grammar and vocabulary reinforcement, and interesting cultural notes in the beginning of each chapter. Despite being an “intermediate” textbook, it includes a lot of useful grammar that I didn’t find elsewhere. Excellent progression of kanji- this book will leave you much stronger in your reading and writing ability and really jumps into some substantial material. It will definitely be a good way to study on your own.

Weakness: It wasn’t a great source of listening material- I think you can buy a listening accompaniment for it, but it’s extra.

9. Jazz Up Your Japanese with Onomatopoeia: For All Levels (Paperback)
by Hiroko Fukuda

Strengths: Jazzes up your Japanese, for real. Introduces and explains the interesting and omnipresent use of words like “dondon,” “dandan,” “gangan,” etc, and puts them into understandable categories. Offers reading passages that use a very interesting mix of Japanese styles and dialects and gives you an arsenal of cool phrases and onomatopoeia words that, while you need to know when and by whom they are used, make your speaking that much more nuanced and fun.

Weaknesses: Corny title. No listening accompaniment.

8. Japanese in MangaLand 3: Intermediate Level
by Marc Bernabe

Strengths: I always saw this series and thought for sure that it would be juvenile and a poor way to study. It’s actually a good way not only to learn the often unorthodox grammar that you’ll come across watching anime or listening to tough guys and gals in Japan, but also presents grammar you may have learned already in a fresh and clear way.

Weaknesses: No listening practice. May be somewhat of a review for a lot of people.

7. Aozora: Intermediate-Advanced Japanese Communication
Noriko Fujii, Hiroko Suguwara

Strengths: Excellent, thorough Japanese textbook aimed specifically at those trying to break into advanced Japanese. Has a ton of vocab, grammar, and kanji to learn. It’s biggest strength may be the listening accompaniment CDs with the most natural and real sounding Japanese I’ve heard in a textbook CD.

Weakness: Designed for classroom use, so it has a lot of exercises that are useless on your own. Still a great book.

6. Chu Jokyu Sha No Tame No Sokudoku No Nihongo = Rapid Reading Japanese (Paperback)
by Mayumi Oka

Strengths: Great upper-intermediate to advanced reading textbook with an emphasis on learning to read quickly rather than stopping to decipher kanji by kanji. Good selection of reading materials from different sources- articles, restaurant menus, excerpts from short stories, etc.

Weaknesses: None.

5. The JET Programme Japanese Language Course (The Intermediate – Advanced ones)

Strengths: This series of books designed for JET program teachers in Japan is sent in installments, and only accessible to JETs. That said, I recommend you borrow or steal them, as they have one of the best approaches I’ve seen to build your skills, especially listening, reading, and speaking. Great audio CDs and excellent grammar explanations. You can probably skip the Beginner level series, although that is useful as well. One more reason to join the JET program.

Weakness: Why doesn’t CLAIR put these on the market?

4.3.2. Japanese the Spoken Language 1
Japanese the Spoken Language 2
Japanese the Spoken language 3

By Mari Noda and Eleanor Harz Jordan

Strengths:

This series of books, from beginner through intermediate, offers a dry, yet extremely methodical, clear, and successful approach to learning Japanese. It’s based on the idea, which I agree with, that the skills of conversation and reading/writing, while they need to be developed in parallel, are best practiced as separate spheres. Thus you are encouraged to listen to the dialogs several times for understanding before reading the written version (completely given in romanized form for quicker assimilation). The written language books come separately and stress daily practice. This approach to studying the language lets you give full attention to each skill and avoid getting caught up in a multi-tasking quagmire of sorting out a dialog passage into pronunciation, vocabulary, meaning, kanji recognition, and writing memory all at once. The grammar explanations, while written like a chemistry textbook, are very thorough and give you a great feeling of confidence if you put in the time to really read through it a few times.

Weaknesses: Takes some time to get into, and the style is very formal. The books need updating to put the videos and listening exercises on CD. The series is best when studying daily in college, which is probably why the publishers haven’t updated them- the videos are usually hosted on private university websites. If you can get them, though, it’s all worth it.

1. Japanese: The Written Language Part 2

Mari Noda, Eleanor Harz Jordan

Strengths: The companion book to the Japanese: The Spoken Language series, this book goes through kanji 100-400, and builds very incrementally and thoroughly. Each kanji is presented with examples of different compounds and lots of examples of it used in sentences so that you can really practice reading and writing it, unlike most books on kanji which have patchy brief examples that are easily forgotten. I studied this book on my own and looked forward to practicing with it everyday (a ridiculous feat). It is best used with the Spoken Language books since it reinforces the vocabulary and grammar introduced there. It gets a number 1 rating because of the rarity of other comparable books with a progressive, structured, and comprehensive (to a point) study of the Japanese written language.

Weakness: It stops at kanji #400.

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