Tae Kim, I love the guide, thanks! I just got the version for my iPod, so now I can use it on the go.
Anyway, I think you're factually mistaken when you say that "What most Japanese textbooks fail to recognize is that they can't possibly hope to cover all the necessary vocabulary and kanji (Chinese characters) to obtain full fluency." It would take a pretty gross error of judgement to believe that, so I sincerely doubt that they do. Most of the peeople who write textbooks have also taught Japanese for a while, so I think they have pretty realistic ideas about the level of competency that can be achieved through a textbook. Of course, they never actually say that you can't achieve fluency through a textbook, but that doesn't mean that they aren't well aware of that fact.
Tae Kim, I love the guide,
Tae Kim, I love the guide, thanks! I just got the version for my iPod, so now I can use it on the go.
Anyway, I think you're factually mistaken when you say that "What most Japanese textbooks fail to recognize is that they can't possibly hope to cover all the necessary vocabulary and kanji (Chinese characters) to obtain full fluency." It would take a pretty gross error of judgement to believe that, so I sincerely doubt that they do. Most of the peeople who write textbooks have also taught Japanese for a while, so I think they have pretty realistic ideas about the level of competency that can be achieved through a textbook. Of course, they never actually say that you can't achieve fluency through a textbook, but that doesn't mean that they aren't well aware of that fact.