Japanese I : 3rd Ed.

Rating:
Summary: Accept this method for what it is and you will be very happy
Review: To begin, a few comments to set the tone of this review... Yes, it is very expensive. Yes, it is audio only (which is the point). Yes, there is no explanation of the Japanese syllabaries. Yes, it is worth every penny.

Japanese I (3rd Edition) teaches you how to speak Japanese as a child would. When children are learning in the home, they are not assaulted from all angles with text books and written explanations. They learn by listening. Then, later in life, things like how to write the language they already know, and learning the reasoning behind the grammar picked up through speaking, all fall into place. As an adult, you can take extra advantage of this because of our enhanced ability to reason, and make deductions on what we already know.

This first level of the Pimsleur Japanese course focuses mostly on simple and essential phrases you will need to know to get around in Japan. You learn greetings, how to convey your mastery (or lack thereof) of the language, how to get to and from important places, counting (and money), and so on. Each lesson has a simple and logical progression, teaching you new things and then building upon the usage of what you just learned. The lessons also flow into each other, and usually have several minutes of review at the beginning of each one. They also make a point of bringing words you haven't used in a few lessons back into fresh memory by incorporating them into the new material you are learning. 100% mastery of each lesson is not necessary, as nearly everything you learn is reinforced repeatedly in following lessons. Being able to answer in about 80% of the situations is a more realistic goal. It is important to only do one lesson per day, although that one lesson can be reviewed repeatedly during the same day. Also, note taking or transcribing what you are hearing is discouraged as it will actually undermine the method used in this course.

So, I wholeheartedly recommend this course. It does exactly what it claims to do, which is help you learn to speak Japanese. If you are looking to do more than just speak the language, I still recommend this product, as hearing native speakers is invaluable. A few points to consider on your quest for fluency... It has become accepted among many modern educators that learning the kana (the syllable based writing of Japanese) as early as possible can make learning Japanese much easier. Knowing the kana helped me avoid thinking of the things I was learning in this course "in English", and instead I could visualize the words spelled out in Japanese in my head. This extra immersion was very helpful. The "readings" (extra audio to be listened to after the lessons) are also nice for insight into cultural differences and grammar in Japan. All in all, an excellent product!

Rating:
Summary: leaned a lot in a few weeks
Review: We had company coming for 3 weeks from Japan. My fiance's daughter is Japanese and cannot speak any english. It was amazing how useful the course was. Much to my surprise, Japanese is easy. It is a logical language.