Here is a brief overview of these textbooks and my random thoughts on them.
Beginners
Genki 1:
*simple, but better to learn in a classroom setting because there’s a lot of group exercises
*a lot of random words; starts off with really difficult kanji for some reason
*Mary and Takeshi (enough said)
Marugoto A2:
*conversation/speaking focused
*simple grammar and kanji (too easy to be honest)
*mixes N5, N4, and N3 points because it is focuses more on conversation
(Minna no Nihongo: never used it, but it’s the other college standard in addition to the Genki series)
Upper Beginner / Lower Intermediate
Genki 2:
*slightly harder than Genki 1, but not really if you are familiar with Genki 1
*explains using a lot of English, but goes over some complicated concepts (formal speech, passive, causative, causative-passive conjugations)
*Mary and Takeshi continued
Tobira:
*big jump from the Genki series
*English explanations or translations go down significantly, which can be difficult
*the grammar points are all clumped at the end of the chapter, instead of the beginning
*includes lots of long readings about Japanese culture and lifestyle
Intermediate:
Tobira:
*covers lower intermediate to intermediate level
*includes grammar, readings, and interactive activities
*better for group activities (I used it for college)
Nihongo Sou-matome N3 Bunpou:
*intermediate level
*relatively easy to follow
*not that many English explanations, so you need to look up a lot of explanations on the internet
Shin Kanzen Master N3 Dokkai:
*intermediate to upper intermediate; challenging, but not too overwhelming in my opinion
*not much English at all throughout the book
*random topics
*lots of unknown random vocabulary words
Upper Intermediate
Try! N2:
*pretty good, but the English explanations can be a bit weird or vague
*supplement it with online lessons
Recommendation:
Personally I would use the Genki series 1 and 2 again, then I’d move to Nihongo Sou-matome series or the Try! series for N3.
Tobira covers all of N3 as well as some N4 and N2, but I don’t recommend going from Genki 2 to Tobira right away. I did that for school, and it was too big of a jump that I got discouraged all the time. There was a gap of information that I didn’t understand, so I had trouble with the jump in difficulty.
I recommend using Nihongo Sou-matome or Try N3 series first and then going back to Tobira. Or you can move straight onto a N2 textbook after N3, since Tobira covers a tiny bit of N2 as well.
(Also some points get labeled as N3 in one source or N4 or N2 in others, so there is inconsistency. This may be due to N3 being created later on to bridge the gap between N4 and N2.)
But this is just what is working for me.
If you feel like a textbook is not helping you, then try another. It’s not the end all be all. But avoid switching back and forth because you’ll probably confuse yourself too much.
framed in beige 