Rosetta Stone Japanese Explorer

Rating:
Summary: dissapointed after reading other reviews
Review: After reading the other reviews, I was excited about using this program. However, I am quite dissapointed. Perhaps it may be a good program for kids. However, for this adult learner, I found it quite frustrating. It is both too difficult and too easy at the same time, oddly enough. There isn't enough "meat" to hook one into learning. . .nothing is explained; it's all based on a concept of "natural" learning which may be fine if one wants to know how to say simple words in a new language. If you already know Japanese and need help recognizing speech, it may be handy.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent approach--unlike typical college class
Review: I found this software extremely effective. Granted, it is a very different approach unlike the typical college foreign-language class. If like me you learned foreign languages previously by memorizing charts of verb declensions and things, this software will surprise you--and if you in fact do enjoy the details of grammar, this may not be a product for you. However, if you give this software a chance, it's very effective. You kind of have to suspend belief that it will work, but if you conscienciously use the software through the first 10 lessons, you'll be surprised at what all you can impress your Japanese colleagues or friends with. I was! I very much recommend it. It's not at all conventional, but it totally worked for me.

Rating:
Summary: Great Starter!
Review: I found this to be a great first step in the learning process. This Program encourages you to think.....
Think for yourself with Rosettat stone...but this is for beginners!

Rating:
Summary: Visual Vocabulary
Review: I picked up this product after hearing great things about Rosetta Stone's software. Apparently they meant Rosetta Stone Japanese Personal Edition. (...)
What to expect with this software is pictures, no explanations. This is fine and dandy if you have someone to clarify with. For example understanding that a dog is pronounce inu is one thing, but formulating the sentence of "Who's dog is that?" is another. That entire sentence is an idea, which is very difficult to get into a picture.
The lesson plans are not made like any class I have ever had. They seem to be a random collection of words with now focus on anything specific. Some related words are together, like car and plane, but that's as close as you get. One section seemed to revolve around "families" but it's hard to say with the cluster organization.
The only good thing about this software is that it supports Romania, kana and Kanji. The Romania support is there for people who don't really want to learn Japanese; they just want to speak it. The kana and kanji support is intended to fully saturate you in the language. This way you can learn pronunciation spelling though katakana/hiragana. Then once you know the pronunciation you can identify that sound with the Kanji for that object/thing/idea.
All in all this software is for vocabulary only, and I think the developers are fully aware of it.

Rating:
Summary: it is a sampler, really
Review: this is a great product, though it does not turn up on searches of amazon under"rosetta stone," but only under "japanese." also, one should know before ordering that this cd-rom only has 22 of the 92 lessons from the "level one" cd rom. other than that, it is an excellent teaching tool for people who want to try it out before spending the hundred and thirty dollars on level one. enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: ...err... that's not quite right
Review: This may be a very good product, and (as a professional language teacher) I like what the editorial review has to say about their methodology... HOWEVER, as a speaker of Japanese (I read these reviews while looking for some more advanced stuff), I was a little bothered by the fact that the first example in the editorial review was... well... bad...
Japanese DOES use a system of counters... but you do not generally say "hitotsu... futatsu" for "one person... two people", you say "hitori... futari..." ("ippiki... nihiki..." for small animals is correct, and you can use it for children for a laugh)
It's not a major gaff... and for a beginner, it's great just to make youself understood, but it would be kind of like a non-native English speaker pointing at some one and saying "It is my English teacher".
The software may be great, but I'd be a little bit wary of buying this, since what the editorial reviewer seems most confident and happy with is... err... wrong...
But that may be an error on the part of the reviewer too... It's very easy to overgenalize applications of rules and whatnot... I've otherwise heard good things about the Rosetta Stone stuff.