Kana de Manga Special Edition: Japanese Sound FX

Kana de Manga Special Edition: Japanese Sound FX is a delightful read by Glenn Kardy and Chihiro Hattori. Not only is is cute and engaging, but it really helped advance both my Japanese language study and my understanding of the Japanese culture. The book is sort of a follow-up to the original Kana de Manga book, so if you haven't read that one you should probably start there (unless, like me, you already have a basic grasp of both hiragana and katakana).

The book is divided into five sections with different categories of sound effects (animal, human, mechanical, nature, and other) which makes it handy to search for a specific sound effect (if for some reason you need to know it). I also thought that the layout of the book made it easy to make your own flashcards of sounds that you want to learn or work on (which I did).

As a reference for fun sound effects or a motivator to practice, practice, practice your Nihongo, this book is great! A great gift idea for anyone interested in Japanese language or manga/anime (and yes, that is a hint to my family and friends ^_^).

Polite Lies; a review

Polite Lies by Kyoko Mori is a brilliantly written work of non-fiction (autobiographical) and a moving look into the Japanese culture and one woman's struggle between the Japanese culture and that of the Midwest (interesting juxtaposition, yes?). I'm obviously fascinated by the Japanese culture, so when I saw this book I had to read it. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone (and I can't capture any of her subject matter as well as she can) so this will probably be a short review.

The book is only 12 chapters, but some of them are dense chapters. Each one is arranged into short essays (sort of) and they are all arranged around one theme, given in the title of the chapter (i.e., family, home, rituals, to name a few). I thought that was a really good way to arrange her essays to give the book a good flow which made it very readable. I admit, I devoured the book in just two days.

Mori's prose is very easy to read, she covers the facts well, but it's also very moving prose, not just cold hard facts about her life or the cultures she has lived in. It was interesting to me how she managed to be very emotional and very detached at the same time, especially considering that the events she was discussing were emotional events from her own life. It gave the work a lot of personality, and I felt I got to know the author and her personality from reading the book. It felt very honest, very sincere, very real. Overall great read, and I'm now looking to pick up a copy of her novel and read it as well.

Instant Immersion Japanese Introductory Review

Instant Immersion Japanese--Talk Now! by EuroTalk

My first Japanese learning software; Instant Immersion Japanese

Instant Immersion Japanese was my first Japanese language learning software, and it was a gift for my birthday not even a year ago (wow...when I think about it that way I have made a lot of progress). The version that I got was version 4.0 (? I think?) and it was basically just an introductory version with the first CD (of five, if I've read correctly about their program). The program was fun to use with an easily navigated interface, but it wasn't enough on it's own to reach fluency (hence I purchased Tell Me More Japanese, which I discussed here http://japanwithpatience.blogspot.com/2011/02/tell-me-more-japanese-review.html ). It was a fun little program, but I wasn't sure if the whole program, which I could have purchased instead of Tell Me More Japanese, was good enough on it's own to be worth purchasing in it's entirety.

What I liked about the Instant Immersion Japanese trial

Instant Immersion Japanese was just plain fun. It didn't feel like work, the little programs and quizzes I did on there, they felt like little mini-games that just happened to involve learning Japanese. Of course the level of learning that I actually did get from these "games" did feel more like "just happened to pick up Japanese" rather than actually learning it, but I had a good time. Also it's kind of cool the way they have it set up because you can learn a lot of very basic words very quickly (parts of the body, telling time, colors, food, numbers, etc.). And the program made me feel like I could master knowledge of these basic words fairly quickly.

What I questioned about the Instant Immersion Japanese trial

There was no explanation of basic sentence structure in Japanese or how to use in context all the cute little words and phrases they were teaching me. While I already had some idea of how to do that at the time, had I not known how to do that the best I could have done with the Japanese I learned from them would have been to go around inanely namely objects (which doesn't really give off the impression that one has command of or even a basic understanding of a language). And some of their lists and charts of words for basic things (like the one listing parts of the body) were just plain overwhelming. I felt like in those places they introduced too many new words all at once.

Conclusion; is Instant Immersion Japanese worth it?

Well, considering I think what was paid for the version I have was about $15 or $20, I probably have and will get my money's worth out of it, just from having fun with the games and quizzes. It's a very light-hearted program and could be a fun way to introduce yourself (or perhaps an elementary-aged child) to the Japanese language. Don't rely on it to give you a full command of the language though. I would say that Instant Immersion Japanese (at least the single-CD version) makes a good introduction or supplement to learning Japanese. So if you can find it cheap like mine was, why not go for it?

Tell Me More Japanese Review

Tell Me More Japanese--Tell Me More Review--TellMeMore Language Software

Tell Me More Japanese; my first real investment in learning Japanese

Well, I've already put up a few posts about some of my first forays into learning the Japanese language, but now I'm gonna post about my first big investment into learning the language. The primary reasons that I chose Tell Me More Japanese over Rosetta Stone, Instant Immersion, or Berlitz were cost and reviews. Tell Me More Japanese cost nearly half as much as Rosetta Stone, and it scored similarly on many reviews, and higher than many of the other programs as far as content and quality. The only downside that I saw in any of the reviews I read (including the ones on Amazon.com) was that Tell Me More Japanese did not have an interface that was as user-friendly as that of Rosetta Stone. After reading a rave review by a native Japanese speaker who was now teaching Japanese to college students in America and said that she used this program with every class, I finally took the plunge and ordered the program.

My first impressions of Tell Me More Japanese

Well, it installed easily and beautifully, it came with a headset/speaker to work on the hearing/speaking portions of the program, and it came with a couple handy booklets; one to help with installation and other help issues, and one with a brief history of Japan and a couple hiragana and katakana charts. That was promising. When I ran it immediately upon installation it had this cute "menu" that was set up like a movie set with each section of the program attached to a related item or icon. So far it was all pretty straightforward. The only thing I did notice was that, unlike the language learning software I had used in high school for German and Spanish, this was not set up in specific lessons, but each individual section of the program was at a beginners level, and you have to master all of the sections in the first "lesson" level to get them all to move up to the next "lesson" level. It's a little weird and confusing at first, but it makes sense. In a way, it's almost better for me because I like being able to tailor my lesson when I sit down to work on my Japanese, instead of just having to follow a pre-made lesson plan based on the average person.

My current impressions of Tell Me More Japanese

I've discovered that one of the coolest features of Tell Me More Japanese is the speech correction portion of the program (you speak into it and it lets you know how your pronunciation is). While, to be perfectly honest, I don't feel like I've made much progress with the program, I do feel more confident about my decision to purchase Tell Me More Japanese. I think part of the reason that it felt so intimidating the first time that I used Tell Me More Japanese is that the program seems to presuppose either a little bit of knowledge about Japanese, or a teacher or workbook being used in conjunction with the program. This is great for me because I am more motivated to learn Japanese by being able to use multiple language learning workbooks and programs. This means that if I get overwhelmed, confused, or just bored by Tell Me More Japanese I can switch to another program for a while, and then come back to Tell Me More Japanese. I think it's awesome, and if you are really committed to learning Japanese you might too. If you prefer tailor-made mainstream lessons, Rosetta Stone may be for you, because many language learners do not want to have to think about planning their own Japanese lessons, but if you are willing to put in the effort (and want to save a few hundred dollars) Tell Me More Japanese is for you!

Collins Easy Learning Japanese Review

Collins Easy Learning Japanese--Collins Easy Learning Audio Course--CD

My first dive into learning Japanese

This is it. This is the very first program that I used to start my journey into learning Japanese. I loved that it was all audio (well, it does come with a booklet too, but I didn't really use that). I wanted to start out with something that was just hearing and talking, because that is how we naturally learn language as children; we hear and then speak years before we start to read and write. So I started here; with Collins Easy Learning Japanese audio course on CD.

What I loved about Collins Easy Learning Japanese

First off, the guy talking is British. Yes, it's a UK program, and I'm from the US, but I loved the sound of his voice (real girl moment, I know). Also, they started the program off with some really easy words and short sentences, something else I really liked. But they didn't make the whole course too easy; I felt like in no time I was using longer and longer sentences and knowing what I was saying and hearing. Granted, this isn't exactly a comprehensive course, it's mostly meant to prepare you for a short visit for either business or pleasure, but it does that, I feel fairly well.

What was lacking about Collins Easy Learning Japanese (if anything)

Well, like I said, it is only meant to prepare you for a visit to Japan, which means it just covers the basic kinds of questions and answers that a traveler is likely to run into. While that's great for most people, and it is a good beginning introduction to the Japanese language, it was not what I wanted since my goal is fluency, not surviving a short trip. Really, the brevity of the program was my only complaint. While the main narrator was British, most of the voices doing the actual speaking examples were clearly native Japanese speakers.

Collins Easy Learning Japanese Final Verdict

I would say, at only fifteen dollars on this site ( http://www.tower.com/collins-easy-learning-japanese-uk-cd/wapi/113271843 ) it would be worth the investment. I strongly believe that an audio course is a much better way to learn Japanese at whatever level you are trying to learn at. Whether you're looking for surviving a summer vacation or moving there for a couple decades, it's a nice little starter program. Plus nowadays you can always resell things like this for almost what you bought them for if you keep them in good condition. So what are you waiting for? Ganbatte!

My Japanese Coach Review

Nintendo DS: My Japanese Coach

Why I bought My Japanese Coach

I bought My Japanese Coach as a Japanese language learning aid for me when I was just starting to learn Japanese. Actually, I bought it as kind of a motivator/introductory language learning game. I figured that if it was set up for a gaming platform it would probably be pretty simple to navigate and probably be a convenient way to ease myself into the language, after the audio CD's I had taken out from the library. It turns out I was right, but not in the way that I would have expected.

My first few minutes with My Japanese Coach

Within the first few minutes of playing My Japanese Coach I have to admit, I was not impressed at all. While I like the opening screen they have, and the simple format for selecting the lessons or games, the introductory assessment quiz was, in my opinion, a waste of time. I felt like I knew the level of my knowledge of Japanese better than My Japanese Coach (which it turned out I did, since My Japanese Coach actually tried to put me ahead of some stuff I didn't know yet). They base they're assessment system on some very broad stuff (at least on the easier level I was at; like knowing how to count to ten and knowing some basic words, some of them crossover English and Japanese words).

My Japanese Coach over a period of time

Over the next few weeks and months My Japanese Coach began to grow on me a lot more, though, especially as I began to go through the sections on hiragana. While I hadn't been planning on studying the hiragana yet (something I've now learned is frowned upon, as many believe you should be reading Japanese characters as soon as possibly) I really loved practicing writing them. As the lessons went by I began to realize that I was learning, actually learning the hiragana. It wasn't too long (or at least it didn't feel like long) before I could draw them and recognize them without an aid. Now I know all of the hiragana without an aid (though I still read and write at the speed of a Japanese four-year-old, I'm sure).

Overall My Japanese Coach

My Japanese Coach, overall, I would rank pretty high. This is kind of made obvious in the fact that I currently do not have my copy because I lent it out to a friend who is also interested in learning Japanese. I do think that My Japanese Coach is something that is intended mainly for beginners, though again I did not make it all the way through the program. I'm still on what My Japanese Coach terms "Toddler level" for my Japanese language skills. So if you want to learn Japanese and you're prepared to drop a buck, or go halvsies with a friend, or resell it after you're done, congratulations and I hope you consider My Japanese Coach as one of your options. It is lots of fun and with the DS touchscreen capabilites it makes it really easy to work on the hiragana (though beware, they are wrong about the stroke order a couple of times, but it's easy to spot once you know the rules for ordering strokes).

Why I first became interested in Japan

Why I first became interested in Japan (and it wasn't just for the pretty temples)

The history of my fascination with Japan

I've been intrigued and entranced by the mysteriously beautiful country of Japan for nearly three years now. I've been studying the language (it's slow and painstaking so far, what with my off and on academic and business careers), I've been studying the history, the culture, the geography, pretty much anything I can get my hands on. And I feel like everything I learn about Japan just makes me want to go there more. But tracing back the beginning of this obsession turned out to be a little harder than I thought it would be.

The anime and manga of Japan; a foot in the door

My first real introduction to Japan in any depth (I mean, come on, we all know what and where Japan is) was thanks to my wonderful fiance and his affinity for Japanese manga and anime. It was primarily anime, however, that began to draw my interest, since I couldn't really read manga in Japanese, but I could watch anime in Japanese with subtitles (which is the way a lot of hardcore anime and manga fans in America prefer to indulge, including my wonderful fiance). While I liked and enjoyed the anime series that I first watched, I think it was some of the later series and movies that really hooked me, specifically a series called Onegai Shimasu (don't watch, it's corny, cheesy, gushy, chick-flick romance garbage; a guilty pleasure) and the wonderful, amazing, brilliant, award-winning work of Miyazaki Hayao (which I wrote the Japanese way, family name first).

Where it went from there

It snowballed from there. I began seeing bits of Japan here in there, began listening more to the sound of the language in the anime series, began to pick up on small pieces of the Japanese culture in everything I watched and saw. I began researching, reading, looking up history and culture of Japan, insatiably curious about it. I started listening to Japanese radio online and bought J-pop and J-rock CD's. I felt this draw to the Japanese culture unlike any draw I've had before. And we all have several of those, don't we, when we just feel a connection to a place or thing or idea. I've had my fair share of those, but this one was, is, different. This one soon became a desire to learn the Japanese language, to go travel to Japan, and eventually a wish to go live in Japan, to move there for at least a few years. This was only fueled by my fiance (then boyfriend) who had a similar wish to go live there for a while, and had an ambition to go there as a teacher (he's a math grad student as of this fall).

Where am I now?

Now I am learning Japanese. Although I feel like it's going slow, I do, in fact, know all of the hiragana now, and can form a few basic sentences! My next target is katakana, then a speaking fluency and basic kanji, and then I'd like to become as nuanced and fluent as a native someday, both in kanji and in speech. Now I am educating myself as best I can about Japan's current political, economic, and cultural climate. Now am researching Japan's major cities, geography, climate, and sights of note. Now I am still madly in love with Japan.