Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese (Learning Through Content and Multimedia) (Japanese and English Edition)

It's easy to get stuck in the swamp between beginning and advanced Japanese. I actually gave up Japanese after a year in college and learned Mandarin instead, so when I finally came back to it I was in the weird position of having a rusty N4 grammar level with an N1 Kanji level (but needing some furigana), which made it hard to find an appropriate textbook. After trying to self-study through a few other intermediate textbooks without much success I finally decided to try Tobira. Best choice for my Japanese! First off, the content is excellent, I felt like I was learning to read and reading to learn at the same time. Every chapter is a great mix of longer articles, formal and informal dialogues and culture notes (in Japanese) that cover interesting general topics and keep the student (at least me) intellectually engaged. I especially enjoyed the chapters on history, religion, government and education. They did a great job working the same grammar and vocabulary points into multiple readings/ dialogues in each chapter. Having politeness levels on the dialogues is really helpful. The grammar points are a major plus. The authors did a great job introducing grammar points that range (using Kanzen master rankings) from the high N4 level through N2 level and providing 4 or 5 additional examples over what is in the chapter's readings. They were careful to only use vocab from the text in their examples or provide definitions for words outside of the chapter content. Generally every grammar point in this range (N4-N2) that shows up in the text is explained. This was great for me as I had seen some of the more advanced grammar points introduced in other textbooks I had tried, but I really didn't totally understand some of the N4 and N3 level grammar until I worked through Tobira. The authors also went out of their way to explain informal grammar patterns, which helped me to finally to start to understand a lot anime dialogues. Having all of the MP3s online available for download from the publisher website was nice, I didn't use much of the other content on the site though. The book is great for self study but is clearly more designed for the classroom environment. I've heard the teacher's handbook is helpful for those who want to do some of the exercises on their own. As for my review title, some have called this an N2-level textbook and while a lot of N2-level vocab and some N2-level grammar points are taught in the text (maybe 1/3 of what Kanzen Master has in their N2 grammar list), a comparison of what's in the text to a JLPT N2 test will reveal that additional study time would be required after completing Tobira to tackle N2 (if this is your goal).

I deliberated a lot over whether to use Tobira or An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese (AIAIJ) after finishing Genki II and Minna no Nihongo II. I read a lot of reviews and comparisons that mostly favored Tobira but in the end I still bought both books so I could look at them myself. Basically the AIAIJ lessons continue with the themes and topics around student exchanges, host families and studying at school - in other words, very bland. After doing Genki I and II, I really didn't need more of this. Tobira on the other hand bases their lessons around very interesting topics related to Japan and Japanese culture - eg geography, history, nature, speech styles, etc. The topics are so interesting and educational that the lessons are fun. Each Tobira lesson is long and I had to get used to the lesson format because it is very different from Genki and Minna, but they present you with multiple different ways to learn the grammar and vocabulary from each lesson so it never gets boring. It takes work but is very rewarding. I am using Tobira with a tutor and we also use the corresponding grammar power exercise book which is excellent for homework and overall practice/revision.

I am actually an advanced level learner and I bought this textbook on a whim as self-study review material. The material within is very serious; this is not like Genki where they practically hold your hand the entire time, it truly is an intermediate/advanced level textbook that expects you to be able to read, write, and understand Japanese at a proficient level right from page 1. There is some furigana over unusual words, but there is NO romaji or any kind of other "training wheels" that you will find in beginner level textbooks. I am only 2-3 chapters into it but I love it already, the material provided is very approachable while remaining highly practical. I self-study by myself most of the time so I skip most of the "roleplay" sections, and put a heavier emphasis on doing the worksheets, etc. Tobira provides an online tool you can use to "roleplay" out the dialogues as well, without needing another person to do it with. It is absolutely essential you sign up on the Tobira website and download their supplemental learning materials to get the maximum effect out of this textbook; Tobira provides tons of worksheets and other study materials for every chapter absolutely free. I have NOT bought the accompanying grammar or kanji workbooks so I cannot comment on their usefulness, but the worksheets they provide on the site for grammar and kanji exercises are excellent.

This textbook is a huge step up from previous texts I've tried. It's a large enough challenge that there is a lot to learn and I feel more accomplished since I was stuck at a wall on how I should learn next. I bought the whole series (grammar and kanji) and it's the best choice since it delivers the most practice obviously (plus they have answer books along with it). There are no translations for the excerpts, dialogue, and example sentences which is great since it's removing the crutch many students have of relying on spoon-fed translations. Most of it is intuitive however, has been already learned, or is explained in the grammar section. It doesn't come with a CD but rather all the audio and a variety of supplementary material and extra practice is on their website. The text also shoves lots of vocabulary and grammar patterns in each chapter, plus other activities in which you need a partner speaker (not very good since I'm self-studying, but I guess I can just be my own partner).

Perfect for people who wanna level up their Japanese from a JLPT 4 to a more conversational level.

great book, fast delivery fresh and clean straight outta press

Good, it was everythinng i expected

Different schools use different manuals, I've tried quite a few. Many manuals invent stereotypical characters that you follow through different fictional situations, and they are all stereotypes (the businessman, the foreign student, the teacher...). This book is very refreshing because a lot of its material is grounded in real life, using articles on current interests (at the time of publication, still relevant). I used it for self-learning, and the material was rich, easy to follow and understand. Good audio as well. This book covers about one quarter of the grammar and vocabulary for JLPT N3.

A very good book, with a lot of reading practice.