Which "path" did you pick? Or none at all?

I’m currently doing Tae Kim, as it is very good at grouping grammar pieces together, so I confuse them less. With all of those together in groups, it is much easier to see the logic between certain statements, and learn the nuance in one go. A little bit of feedback would be to exclude certain example sentences that require knowledge of grammar points that have not been learned yet. I have previously done all of N4 and N5 and then reset back to Tae Kim, but I can see how others will find those grammar points (especially verb conjugation) to be confusing.

4 Likes

I started out following the default Bunpro order but switched to the みんなの日本語 Ⅰ path a few weeks ago because I started taking Japanese courses at uni.

4 Likes

G’day,
I chose the Minna no Nihongo path as I already had the textbook; turns out however, that the version Bunpro uses is obsolete and doesn’t align with the version in print (Ver.2)… this essentially negated any chance of using the text in concert. I am disappointed with this to say the least.
I would like to switch paths; however, I am concerned that I may lose my progress??

You don’t lose progress. You can pick any path at any time.

3 Likes

All paths are basically just grammar points in a certain order - if you switch the path all it does is show you grammar points in a different path.

Anyways, this is a fun topic and since there’s a ton of new users it’d be interesting to see what other people did. Myself, I did Tae Kim for a bit (since I refuse to use textbooks) but eventually halfway through I switched to Bunpro ordering just for simplicity and the example sentences going in order. Now that the site has added various N5 points to fill the gaps, I think it’s the best one to do still imo.

1 Like

I guess none. I climbed according to JLPT levels. I can’t figure out how the path works anyway :sweat_smile:

N5 : I’m using minna no nihongo 1 because I did the textbook (but new on bunpro so I just add a few grammar point every few days), then completing with the bunpro n5 order

N4 : After that, I’m going to continue with the minna no nihongo 2 (I’m lesson 35/50), completing with the bunpro N4 order

N3 : Tobira then Bunpro N3

After that, probably shin kanzen master N3 to review and master the nuances, then slowly add the rest when I encounter them during my immersion :wink:

1 Like

I began with Genki I/II, so my path was that when I was studying said textbook. After that I used (from the same publisher) Quartet I/II, so I added the grammar points that corresponded to the book. Now that that’s done, I’m on the second half of N1, so I just add points I see in writing and add points I think are interesting.

3 Likes

I tried the genki 2 path at first since that’s the book I have but I just use the bunpro route now. Maybe it’s because it’s the name of the site but I just like it more. Note though I’m new to this site

3 Likes

Total novice here, my grammar knowledge was almost non-existent before Bunpro. Now working on N4 grammar.

I tried to use the Genki path at first since it’s the textbook I have, but it got confusing since Bunpro lessons/reviews assume you know things from previous Bunpro lessons. For example, it assumes you know the て form of verbs for all lessons after N5-5. But the Genki path will introduce things after N5-5 before introducing the て form.

That being said I’ve found the Bunpro path very straight forward. I now use Bunpro as my main driver of learning grammar “points”, then read my textbooks and other resources for a broader picture of grammar/vocab.

5 Likes

I’m using the Minna no Nihongo path since that is what I used at uni.

So far it works well (because I have already finished both books), but there are some oddities. For example some of the reviews suddenly start using verbs, while none of the grammar points have really explained those.

I started on Genki but quickly changed to Bunpro. As @DrOmelette mentioned, it feels like some of the lessons assume knowledge based on the Bunpro lesson order. I also didn’t want to be slowed down by the speed I’m learning on Genki (much slower than with Bunpro lessons)

2 Likes

Just as in Genki they’ll give you sentences that only include vocab and grammar that have been learned up until that point, BunPro sentences also build upon the skills they presume you have already learned. Since the sentences for each grammar point are set, they contain the skills in the BunPro order. If you are learning them in the Genki order, or the Minna no Nihongo order, you are technically taking the BunPro material out of order, and receiving sentences with information in them you can not yet parse.

Personally I ran the Genki 1 path, found some holes in it that the book covered, and went through the remaining N5 points in order. It was an interesting comparison between being on the Genki path and on the BunPro standard order.

I think this is why some people complain that they’re just memorizing sentences instead of learning the skills, or that there are only 12 sentences available for each skill. While that’s not a ton of sentences to proof yourself against, if you use the BunPro order and attempt to read and translate each sentence you review, you’ll see those skills appear again and again and again in future sentences, without being the tested focus of the review.

However, if you are using a source like Genki to learn and are only supplementing with BunPro, it’s not practical to try to pick up skills in two different orders. Use the path for your resource and just be aware that some sentences will contain grammar you don’t know yet. Either ignore it and move forward without fully understanding the sentences, or try to pick it up as you go. There’s no reason you can’t add grammar points from outside the path if you’ve encountered it enough times to want to review it.

5 Likes

I think you make an excellent point. Minna no Nihongo for example, as I previously explained, doesn’t sync at all (wrong version). Additionally, the text uses far more polite language compared to the large variety of casual language in the Bunpro world. If I had my time again I would have definitely started and remained with the Bunpro order. As you said, building and building is the name of the game and doing it the other way I hate to admit has been inefficient.

1 Like

I started off by learning grammar points in batches of 5 from the N levels. Eventually ditched that and now just pick and choose grammar points myself based on what seems the most interesting or useful. Also helps in making sure whatever grammar I have next is not a difficult to differentiate nuance of some grammar point that I’ve not long since added to my reviews.

1 Like

Started with the order Bunpro provides. A few friends started learning from ground up though and are using Genki now, so I am recapping while helping them and set Genki as order for me.

Usually end up adding multiple points a day from the Bunpro order though.

Sentences being harder to get if you dont always use the Bunpro order is a thing, but thats not really a problem if its just about enforcing/understanding a specific grammar point and as you learn more grammar you will also understand those sentences at the time you got their grammar points down. If you study the earlier bunpro-order grammar points your path/book doesnt go into or goes into far later on the side thats also an option.

Tldr: Mix of Bunpro and Genki Order for me rn, gonna follow Genki order while recapping Genki with my friends after that probably purely Bunpro order if we dont decide to do Tobira (which I bought a few years back lol), in that case I would probably do the same as I am doing rn with Genki aka providing with some additional grammar points from the bunpro order

I started with the default Bunpro order but quickly switched to Minna no Nihongo when joining my University language course. I think those language courses are way slower than the speed I can go alone, so I eventually reverted to Bunpro order and used the course just to practice talking.

Also when I hear/read a certain grammar point frequently, I will look it up and add it to my reviews regardless of the normal order.

3 Likes

I set to bunpro, so far so good. :smiley:

1 Like

I stick to the Bunpro order to ensure the example sentences were progressive, and roughly progressing in JLPT order.

I did use the paths to find and add items I already knew from Genki I and JFZ 1/2/3 when I started here however.

1 Like

I’m doing the Bunpath. :wink:

1 Like