Ease of Use:
It is relatively straightforward until the end. You read the grammar rules/tips and answer the questions. These can either be multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, complete the sentence, starred word in a sentence, etc.
Content:
The content is extremely detailed and thorough, and will take a very long time to finish. I spent 4-5 months on this book at least. It takes a long time because there are many practice problems in it.
The entire book is written in JP including the explanations, which sometimes went over my head, so I did look on the internet to help. The explanations can be a little much sometimes.
The most confusing part for me is definitely the last section because it is not really related to N2 grammar in particular, but more overall points to be aware of when writing sentences, and making sure the sentence fragments match, past vs present, etc.
Structure:
It is broken down into 3 main sections.
The 1st section takes the longest by far and has all the grammar points listed by similarity. Each point starts with the explanation, examples sentences, and then when to use them. It also lists if it is a 硬い言い方 (formal), 話し言葉 (spoken), or 書き言葉 (written). At the end of chapter there are some useful charts and questions.
The 2nd part is more charts and questions. The charts are pretty helpful because they group points based on similarity as well as showing the formal vs casual version.
The 3rd part is the writing rules or things to watch for. This part was challenging for me. I think it would be best explained with a JP teacher.
Interactive:
Yes it’s incredibly interactive. For the first part tests are after every 2 page spread of similar grammar points, and then a summary test every 5 chapters. Each summary test builds on the last, so the first test is Ch 1-5, 2nd is 1-10, and so on.
Overall:
I thought it was super thorough and worth getting for all the practice problems. But I really wouldn’t start with this book for introducing grammar because it’s probably too overwhelming. And the explanations are all in Japanese, which is a struggle in itself.
Side Note: For me personally, textbooks are not enough to memorize N2 grammar like I could for N3 or Genki. I ended up needing the active recall part to memorize these points, so Anki really helped me. I used it at the same time as going through this book.
framed in beige 