Is Bunpro comprehensive for Japanese grammar?

I’m currently doing immersion to learn vocabulary and going through bunpro to learn grammar but am wondering if I will need a teacher. If I learn all N5-N1 grammar will I be able to understand Japanese assuming I know the words. I’m asking if you’d need any extra grammar to understand content aimed upto the high school level?

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There is no entirely comprehensive resource for Japanese grammar. Equally, what is considered “grammar” becomes a vague concept beyond the foundational level. The vast majority of “advanced gramar points” are more just expressions, idiomatic usage, patterns, etc. So, no, Bunpro is not comprehensive. It is one of the most comprehensive English language resources for grammar though.

However, if you study everything in Bunpro and use some common sense (and google/other resources as needed) then you will come to have a good grasp of Japanese grammar. You will comfortably be able to understand things aimed at teenagers if you actually fully understand everything on Bunpro and if there is anything you don’t understand then you should be able to easily work it out. You do need to actually read and listen and not just cram Bunpro though (which is where the real learning happens).

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Having conversations and writing are great ways to master the grammar you learn. A tutor can help a lot with this. It would be possible to read native content without practicing dialogue and writing. As for movies or talking with native Japanese, I think it would be much harder.

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I have no experience with immersion, only self-study / SRS. However, I found that having a textbook to guide me at the beginning of learning grammar was a good thing. It gave me a ‘starting point’ and a ‘direction’, and even ‘guided’ me partway along my journey, showing me some important landmarks and pathways and whatnot; to extend the metaphor! :sweat_smile:

I started with Genki I, and went through that whole book, using BunPro merely as an automated study helper tool (using the Genki I BunPro path at the time). I think I later started Genki II, but did not pursue it, because by that point I was getting more than enough from BunPro.

At that time I also had a much more limited vocabulary, which was holding me back somewhat from advancing beyond basic (N5, bit of N4) grammar. I focused a bit more on vocab (and also kanji, from the beginning), and now I’m working my way through BunPro’s JLPT-based path/deck(s).

So, I guess my needs are not so immediate as yours. I just proceed at my own pace, wherever I’m getting stuck or limited, I’ll shift more focus to that. No external pressures on me, such as might exist in immersion, just out of necessity.

But, that said, TL;DR is that I’d suggest picking a grammar/basics textbook and focus on studying that, while using BunPro as a tool to help you study the lessons from the book (or website, or whatever). There are many existing paths (the older method) and/or decks (the newer method) that are ordered according to specific textbooks or other learning resources. So just use one of those as you follow along your favourite grammar resource. (If your fav. resource isn’t among them, you could post a feature/content request for a deck to be made for it. Otherwise, it’s not too too bad to add grammar points individually as you go.)

If you do both, I don’t think that you will have an issue. To be honest, mastering N5/4 grammar and a lot of immersion based vocabulary building will put you at point of fairly high listening comprehension.

At a certain point the line between grammar and vocabulary blurs anyway so if you use Bunpro to lock in the critical high impact grammar and develop a good ear for vocabulary you will come to understand a lot of Japanese.

The key thing in this whole discourse is always about the diminishing returns of any study regime. For example in your study plan you have not really talked about your Kanji learning strategy which is a key aspect of written and cultural comprehension. Neither Bunpro nor Listening comprehension will necessarily get you that.

Your question in that way is hard to answer, what exactly is your goal. That can help motivate the answer. Certainly Bunpro is the highest quality concentration of Japanese grammar recourses, but it is far from comprehensive seeing as it is still stuck with the JLPT framework which unnaturally splits grammar and disregards actual Japanese grammar.

I could go on, but I am curious as to your response.

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