So far, this seems like a really good book for learning Japanese grammar and speaking/reading in general. A great supplement to any curriculum. I'll note what a lot of other reviewers have said: While the book says it's for self-study as well as classroom study, there are many lesson reviews and practice exercises that simply do not translate well to self-study. That's the only real downside I've seen so far. (see photos) That said, I'd really recommend getting this and the workbook as well, as that has extra exercises and is more centered around self-study. Other than that, it is a good starting place right after you have Hiragana and Katakana down and want to move on. Also, it's Elementary level Japanese. So it's more a solid foundation than anything.

The product was recieved a day earlier than estimated which is always a great thing! The book came with the dust cover, but was a little disappointed it did not come with the dark orange small dust cover with information regarding apps, really not necesary for use of the book its just nice look for the book. The pages don't contain any writing and there weren't any damages made during transit which is also a great thing! Overall this book is great, especially for new Japanese learners. Slow to get into the kana allowing the user ample time to learn hiragana and katakana before making the transition from all romaji to all kana.

Intelligent and effective Japanese language learning. I definitely recommend doing the text and workbook in tandem. Used along side a solid Kanji/vocabulary phone app like Kanji Senpai, Human Japanese and the Genjki vocab app provides a good little learning program.