Condensed and skimmed grammar knowledge of all the N3 grammar points. I would suggest using it alongside a more analytical grammar book, like the "A dictionary of basic Japanese grammar" to further understand some grammar points. A separate workbook or practice tests would be helpful too My only objection is that the English translations of the sentences are too free to make sense of what goes on in a grammar point. I would suggest focusing more on the J-J explanations. Good for reviewing.
I didn't like this book much. The grammar structures have little to no explanations or translations of the meaning of a structure. Yes, you are given example sentences with their translations but you have to infer the context in which a structure is used yourself. As a result, I often had to refer to other resources (dictionaries, other grammar books) to grasp the usage and meaning. That is not how a good grammar textbook should work. The only thing I liked about it was grouping similar grammar structures together in a chapter and basing the exercises on those slight differences, but when you are not provided with an explanation of a structure and have to find them yourself, that does not really work as an advantage.
Extremely dense book with very little explanation. The good thing is it really makes you think, which increases comprehension if you do manage to understand it. If you don't... well, there's not much extra in this book that will help you, you'd have to find it yourself online or in a different book. Therefor this should be used as a final review of N3 grammar points before taking the test, rather than using it for intensive study.
If you're looking for a good book to review the grammar points for the JLPT N3 exam, I think this is a good one. It's not flawless though. Let me explain.
So, the elephant in the room: yes, the grammar explanations are missing. So... yeah, a book focused on grammar is missing the grammar explanations. That's annoying, isn't it? But listen, I've also tried the Shin Kanzen Master N3 book, which has grammar explanations for each point, and I could not finish it. And I've finished the Nihongo Sou Matome. Why is that?
The thing is that the Sou Matome series are great at organizing your study sessions. They divide the grammar points in daily lessons: from Monday to Saturday you learn 3 or 4 grammar points each day, and on Sunday you take an exam about the week you just finished. This goes on for exactly 6 weeks.
If you're self studying, you'll probably know that sometimes you spend way too much time thinking about organizing your study (sometimes, even more time than the proper study itself). That happens to me. So, having a book that do that thinking for you is fantastic. You only need to focus on studying each day, and before you know you'll have finished it.
Maybe you'll need a grammar dictionary next to you, though. Because of, you know, the missing explanations. I'd recommend the Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...), 99% of the grammar points are there.
If you're good enough at planning your study lessons (or if you enjoy doing that part), maybe you'll do better with the Shin Kanzen Master series. For dum-dums like me however this was great. I'm already starting the Reading Comprehension one next week.
If organisation is your thing, then this book is a total must. It has all the grammar points your need for this level of the exam, organised very neatly, with nice explanations and useful example sentences. the lessons are divided and laid out with a very thoughtful proportion of easy-to-digest- chunks of grammar points. The book actually will guide you through reminding you that when it comes to grammar studying and acquisition, quality beats quantity.
My only let down was that, in my opinion, the book could do with a couple more exercises at the end of each lesson, just to make the learner assert even more solidly the newly-acquired grammar theory. The exercises the book has are wonderful nonetheless. Two exercises by the end of each lesson, one being a multiple choice one and the other a syntax one, just like the very one that the JLPT exam has.
All in all, a great choice if you want to have the general gist of all the grammar patterns encountered for this level, and also a great companion to crash-revise before the test.
This book matched my level well, and I found it fun and motivating to do it everyday. Although I understood most of it, there were parts where the nuances weren’t explained (mostly discovered while attempting the exercises), which I then had to ask my teacher for help with. Previously, my teacher also ran through the book in class, so she had already explained some of the nuances then too.
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It is really exhausting to keep up with the translations in the book since it does not tell almost anything regarding the grammatical structure of the sentences. I know that it is hard to grasp a grammatical rule simply through a translated sentence, yet the book simply fails to convey the meaning to the reader.
For instance, in the sentence:
あの人が話す英語は少しも分かりません/分からない, the English translation is "I can't understand his English," which is simply absurd since it does not reveal ANY points regarding the grammar and leaves the student totally blunt and clueless. A proper translation would have been "I can't understand his English even just a little," or, "I can't understand even a tiny bit of his English," etc. When someone says "I can't understand his English," this sentence could simply be translated as あの人が話す日本語は分かりません/分からない and could end the whole story.
Overall, an average book though it is good that they also include some N2 grammar issues. Yet, don't ever look at the translations, simply Google the grammar and you'll do a much better job then!
Agree with most other points: the amount your learn at a time is fine, but I wish there were many more tasks to do. Some grammar points also desperately need explanation, but I luckily had a native speaking friend who could explain.
Once again very useful... But I wish if there were more examples of each grammar... Checking its website while I'm studying is very annoying... And waste of time 😢
Love the layout and having explanations in Japanese as well as English. I'm kind of cramming, but still enjoyed it and will probably go over it again after the test.