Rating: 
Summary: Perfect balance between academic knowledge & practical skill
Review: (By Edward Trimnell, author of "Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One" (ISBN:1591133343))Self-teaching texts often veer to one extreme or the other. Some simply present the learner with lists of words and phrases, which leave the student unable to form her own sentences. Others overwhelm the student in academic theory--an approach which makes language study seem a like a 50-mile forced march through the desert. The Living Language "Ultimate" series strikes an appropriate balance between the academic knowledge that you will need to make long-term progress in the language, and the snippets of conversation that you need to get started. In completing this course, author Hiroko Storm has followed the established Living Language formula. If you are new (or relatively new) to the Japanese language, then this course is a good place to start.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, but romaji sucks
Review:
Contrary to what has been stated there are exercises (and solutions) at the end of each chapter, and if you keep in mind that this is not an exercise book they are in the right ratio.
This book has been very carefully structured, the CDs are excellent, the examples and exercises are well chosen and bank on material previously covered, the grammar is clear and to the point.
I personally don't understand how some found this book difficult. I respect their opinion, but Japanese is not just another European language.
In fact, if anything, the only problem with this book is the abuse of romaji. I can understand how the authors wanted to provide a gentle introduction for novices, but this is too much. Romaji is bad for you. I have a very visual memory and romaji means that I have to learn the same language twice. I think the book would greatly benefit from an alternative furigana edition. It would be the perfect book, and this fact is very frustrating.
I mean, let's face it. People who can't be asked or don't have the curiosity to learn kana before starting (or look up a table for the first unit or two) invariably don't make it past unit two anyway. Even more appalling is the fact that even the "advanced" volume still sticks to romaji! Who on earth is going to buy that?
If you buy this, make sure you download a kana table and learn it, buy a furigana drill book and a kanji book. If you're serious you'll be ok.
Rating: 
Summary: This could have been so amazing!
Review: Breaks the heart. A friend of mine purchased this set and was so psyched about it, and with good reason. It makes some wonderful promises, and it is poised to deliver. It's an exciting compendium of educational bliss, the apple of the eye of anyone who is excited to learn the Japanese language. However, there is a giant, stinky, malevolent worm in the apple, and there is a sliver--no, a plank--in the eye. As a few other reviews have mentioned, this system makes absolutely exclusive use of romanji, which is rendering the Japanese language in Roman characters (Latin, English, whatever--this alphabet that I'm typing with right now). While the Roman characters are great for English and every European language, bloody useful, they absolutely suck for Japanese. If you never want to be fluent with the language, fine, romanji is useful for you. But if you're seeking fluency, for the love of God, look elsewhere. It'll screw up your pronunciation and effectively cause you to have to re-learn the language if you ever want to actually READ it, not to mention write it. What a shame. I'm pretty sure that this would be about the best text/audio combo in existence if it had just gone the extra mile. Come on, Hiroko Storm. Please, do a kana version! What a brilliant tool this could have been! Try Japanese for Busy People (KANA edition) with the audio CDs instead. Use Pimsleur CDs. And use Remembering the Hiragana to learn the hiragana and keep it. Save romanji for the tourists. Fluency demands competency. I know this sounds harsh, but trust me; it's just because I'm vastly, hurtfully disappointed. Not only that, but I'm going to have to explain Japanese to my friend all over again when he finally admits that romanji is going to ruin him. What a bummer.
Rating:
Summary: This could have been so amazing!
Review: Breaks the heart. A friend of mine purchased this set and was so psyched about it, and with good reason. It makes some wonderful promises, and it is poised to deliver. It's an exciting compendium of educational bliss, the apple of the eye of anyone who is excited to learn the Japanese language. However, there is a giant, stinky, malevolent worm in the apple, and there is a sliver--no, a plank--in the eye. As a few other reviews have mentioned, this system makes absolutely exclusive use of romanji, which is rendering the Japanese language in Roman characters (Latin, English, whatever--this alphabet that I'm typing with right now). While the Roman characters are great for English and every European language, bloody useful, they absolutely suck for Japanese. If you never want to be fluent with the language, fine, romanji is useful for you. But if you're seeking fluency, for the love of God, look elsewhere. It'll screw up your pronunciation and effectively cause you to have to re-learn the language if you ever want to actually READ it, not to mention write it. What a shame. I'm pretty sure that this would be about the best text/audio combo in existence if it had just gone the extra mile. Come on, Hiroko Storm. Please, do a kana version! What a brilliant tool this could have been! Try Japanese for Busy People (KANA edition) with the audio CDs instead. Use Pimsleur CDs. And use Remembering the Hiragana to learn the hiragana and keep it. Save romanji for the tourists. Fluency demands competency. I know this sounds harsh, but trust me; it's just because I'm vastly, hurtfully disappointed. Not only that, but I'm going to have to explain Japanese to my friend all over again when he finally admits that romanji is going to ruin him. What a bummer.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent refresher course
Review: Excellent for someone who had already studied Japanese in the past but want to get a quick review. The "On the go" CDs are particulary well executed, with bilingual instructions such that the student doesn't have to be looking at the manual when listening to the CDs. They are excellent for those who want to take advantage of their commute time to learn the language. My main complaint is that it doesn't offer quite enough drills. And for that reason, a true beginner should probably use the book only as a complement to other more traditional text book/audio sets like the "Learn Japanese" series by Young and Nakajima.
Rating:
Summary: Romaji Bashers be Silent!
Review: I admit I once belonged to the anti-romaji crowd. After all, the Japanese don't use romaji, why should we? It's just a crutch, right? Wrong! It is a tool. There is one very good reason for starting with romanized Japanese. To quote Anthony Alfonso ("Japanese Language Patterns," Sophia University, Tokyo, 1974)"A writing system is, basically, only one of the techniques used to record a language, a spoken language...in general, when knowledge of the spoken language precedes knowledge of the writing system, both the language and the writing system are learned faster and better. It is a mistake to teach complex Japanese patterns wrapped up in an equally complex writing system." I learned the above the hard way. Then after two years of struggling with the writing system and grammar, I picked up this course. No it won't make you fluent. But it does give a clear and understandable explanation of grammar, and it does present a concise introduction to the writing system. The book is very readable and quite enjoyable, but it does require some effort. Don't think that you'll be a Japanese language expert after getting through this course, but you will be well-equipped to move on to more advanced Japanese.
Rating:
Summary: eh.
Review: i don't love this book, don't hate it. i don't know what i was hoping for... maybe some exercises to help me learn. still, the content is informative. if you're good at teaching yourself stuff, this book would be helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Good Program............but
Review: I have a background in Spanish and French. I decided to give Japanese a try. BAD IDEA!!!! I guess the language was not for me. I liked the Living Language programs that are for Spanish and French, though.
Rating:
Summary: excellent ... but
Review: I have only got up to Lesson 5 so far and everything is fine but for one MAJOR drawback.
The translations in English for the "double O" sound, simply use "oo" rather than as in other books an "o" with a horizontal line above it.
e.g the book has IKIMASHOO, YOOHOO, DOOZO
It is almost impossible for any English-speaking reader to read the above without giving those "OO" syllables the usual pronunciation in English as in 'shoot' or 'fool'. Thus the English text rather than being a help with pronunciation, is actually a definite hindrance.
Putting a pencil stroke through all those second Os is very time-consuming!
Rating:
Summary: This is the way to go!
Review: I have to admit I've tried to learn Japanese before - an adult ed class that was painful, a girlfriend who isn't a girlfriend any more (NEVER try that!), some awful books, and I think I might remember a semester in college. Or maybe it was French. I don't know. But after all of that I still couldn't even sing along to Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto. This course was a last ditch effort. It's really great - it's simple but doesn't leave anything out, it explains things in a way that even I understand, and there are two really great sets of recordings, one for the book and one that reviews. (I listen to it while I jog.) The best thing is that I actually had a conversation (okay, it was simple, but it was still a conversation) the other day with a friend from Kyoto. Unbelievable. Next is the advanced level. Even you would be impressed, Yumiko!
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