JPNLessonsOsaka Blog

There are many textbooks for JLPT N2 and N1.

New Kanzen Master is one of the popular series. 

JLPTのテキストで「新完全マスター」シリーズは人気がありますね。

I have been using this series quite often, especially with my students who like studying Japanese in depth.

Since the explanations are all in Japanese, they require a lot of patience and time. I wouldn’t recommend them for people who found N3 or N2 a struggle, but if you enjoy learning grammatical structures, they are very useful.

文法の説明は全て日本語で書かれているのでかなり大変ですが、この説明で理解できればかなりのレベルアップになると思います。

特に細かい文法を学ぶのが好きな学習者の方ならこのシリーズはおすすめです。N3やN2にギリギリ合格した、という場合はちょっと難しいかもしれません。

It is very important to understand Japanese grammar points as expressed in Japanese.

With only the English explanations, it is difficult to understand the different nuances between similar grammar points.

細かい表現のちがいは英語には訳せないものが多く、日本語で理解することが必要です。JLPTを受けないという人でも、日本語で小説を読みたい、など特に書き言葉を学ぶにはいいかなと思います。

If you don’t have enough time to prepare for the JLPT, or you have a different learning style, I can recommend different textbooks.

This is also a popular series, and the example sentences include English translations. The book is designed to be studied over eight weeks.

このシリーズも人気があります。例文に英語の訳がついていますし、８週間で学習するようになっているので予定が立てやすいです。

今はいろいろなテキストがあるので自分にとって使いやすいものを探してみてください。

このTRYのシリーズもレッスンで時々使っています。バランスよく勉強できると思います。

This is also a good option if you want to study in a well-balanced way.

Many students ask me if there are any books they can read when they complete the beginner level.

Some students try to read Japanese books for children because they have more hiragana and furigana, but sometimes the vocabulary and expressions in these books are much too difficult, or their stories are not interesting enough for adult students.

For some students, I use 「小説ミラーさん」for reading practice.

I recommend this novel because it is about Miller’s daily life in Japan, using basic vocabulary and grammar points for those who have finished elementary study. This book is based on the series of「みんなの日本語 Minna no Nihongo」textbooks , but even if you didn’t enjoy using the textbook Minna no Nihongo or have never used it, you can still enjoy this as an easy novel. It includes important beginner grammar points at the JLPT N4 level.

I cannot deny that there are some stereotypical terms related to “being in Japan as a foreigner” in this book, but it is still good for reading practice and creates a certain sense of accomplishment at having read a whole novel in Japanese.