Just started using this app and considering going through Genki. Do you think it’s necessary to supplement this app with any other study materials? And if I do start Genki would it be better to use the decks made for that or should using the default ones be fine? Thanks
If you've got the genki book in front of you, go for the genki materials! You can always switch over later, and since study data is global, anything you've learned under genki will be automatically applied to renshuu-made schedules :)
If you've got the genki book in front of you, go for the genki materials! You can always switch over later, and since study data is global, anything you've learned under genki will be automatically applied to renshuu-made schedules :)
The most important part of self-study is realising that you aren't looking for the universal answer but creating a teaching method taylor-made for one specific student: you. If any material outside this app seems useful to you, use it. If any activity outside this app seems fun to you, do it. It won't mess up what you learn here. Just don't burn yourself out.
Textbooks are definitely not "necessary" but since you are self-studying that means part of the challenge is finding what works for you. That could men using the grammar lessons on renshuu, using YouTube, reading books, reading online articles, using a classic textbook like Genki or any combination of the above.
And you can even change your mind and change your exact approach later on (spoiler:
you will definitely do that and that's ok
).
Just try and see if it's for you. The only thing I hereby forbid you from doing is give up. :P
The question is, are you going by the JLPT route, or beyond?
The big-name textbooks (which I don't have on hand), are usually designed for JLPT competency. JLPT by its nature, though it's pretty organized with the most common topics, naturally has a limitation of what you'd learn. In the end, you might be certified with having some business-level proficiency, but not, say, a natural speaker. Still at least sufficient to using the language. So it's all up to you how good you want to be at it.
So personally, I want to learn as much as I can, so I'd ditch the JLPT route. However, as JLPT is pretty common, I can't really help but use it as a foundation. It wouldn't hurt and I can just build on more topics before I move on. In fact, I just wrapped up the N5 lessons on Renshuu (whew! I thought I wouldn't finish until next year!), so I probably have mroe to do, then housekeeping and practice until I'm prepared to graduate and advance myself.
All the while, if it's the same to you, it would be useful to have other resources as well. They can help reinforce your understanding of topics even if it's just JLPT. I've been using that stuff to at least help me visualize things better, and some of them do have advanced topics that I might eventually get to learn and practice later on since I'm striving for that.
