Learn to speak Japanese: Top Product Reviews

If you have decided to start learning Japanese, then you've probably already seen how many courses are available. You probably also have a specific reason in mind for learning it. The most important factor in choosing a course would be what you intend to use Japanese for. Maybe you are interested in anime or manga. If so, a very high level of mastery is required. Maybe you are interested in vacationing there, and only need the basic language skills required to get by. Whatever the reason, its best to choose a course that fits your goals so that you use your time efficiently. Based on my experiences with these various courses, I will aim to help you make choices based on your goals and make the most of your study time.

First of all, you will want to select a course and base the rest of your studies around that course. It is not good to rely solely on a course. If your aim is to become fully fluent, you may want to check out sites that will allow you to chat with native speakers once you are confident. The course will provide structure to your studies, and you can form a broader study plan around the pace of the course. I will review some of the common courses here, and make some suggestions about what goals each course fits best with.

1) Rocket Japanese
Rocket Japanese is a very detailed course, probably overkill for someone who merely wanted to learn basic conversational skills to vacation in japan. Interactive lessons cover most topics, including writing, speaking, culture, grammar, vocabulary, etc. They also offer forums and support with your own Japanese teacher that you can exchange emails with. This could be considered a good course for someone who desires to learn all aspects of the language, and for those with limited time to study. Little is needed to supplement this course, as it is very complete. The price of this product is right around a hundred dollars, which makes it one of the cheaper ones on this list. You can check out the details for this course at the Rocket Japanese page .

I have only recently discovered the true value of the methods used in Rocket Japanese. They now have a free trial of the course, so I highly recommend giving that a shot. Make sure you bookmark the page so that you can find it again easily.

2) Speak Japanese Fast
This course is all about vocabulary. It takes advantage of mnemonic devices to aid in the memorization of over 1000 Japanese words. While this alone does not equal fluency, this is a great aid for anyone studying Japanese. The mnemonic devices taught in this course truly do stick words in your memory quickly and permanently. At around 35 dollars, this could potentially be the most cost effective way to add words to your vocabulary. The course also comes with other software that aids with writing kana and passing the Japanese proficiency test. Vocabulary is easily the least fun part of learning a language, and can be the most trying. Ultimately, each person has to decide if its worth the money to take the hassle out of learning some vocab. Personally, I feel its worth the cost. If you would like to order this course or read more about it, you can do so at the Speak Japanese Fast page.

3) Pimsleur's Japanese
Pimsleur's method of learning languages is a sound one. This course mainly relies on the audio lessons it provides, and they do a thorough job of teaching all aspects of spoken Japanese. This course focuses on learning to SPEAK

Japanese I
3rd Ed.:
Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs
(Comprehensive)

Japanese, and not on writing it. If those are your goals though, then this course is most likely the best option. The Pimsleur method is different because it doesn't rely on phrase memorization. Each audio lesson is 20-30 minutes long, and each level has around 30 lessons. Instead of just memorizing key phrases, you learn sentence structures and how to swap the vocabulary you learn into the structures. It is really the repetition of slight variations of the sentences that has you responding reflexively instead of struggling to think of each word as you limp through a sentence. I know that money talks however, and this course's high price keeps it out of the top. If you've got the money though, this is a very solid foundation to your study. I used to have to drive an hour to get to work, and that was wasted time to me until I ordered this program. I am also the kind of person who always has an mp3 player pocketed, so if that applies to you as well think about all the extra study time that is opened up when you have audio lessons. Allow me to make one recommendation though; If you are thinking about buying this course, buy only part one to start out. Each part is over 200 dollars, and its best to make sure you really love the method before investing in all 3. Part one will take you through basic conversation skills entirely, so don't worry about burning through it too fast. It will last you a while.

4) Rosetta Stone
Now it is time to discuss the famous Rosetta Stone approach. This course is probably the most well known, and for good reason. The Rosetta Stone approach involves learning Japanese the "natural" way. That is, without formal grammar and

Rosetta Stone Version 3:
Japanese Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion

vocabulary study at all. Instead, you will start up the software and be immediately faced with a group of pictures and your first Japanese sentence. Having no knowledge of what was said, one is forced to click randomly until they have the correct answer. By using slight variations on the pictures and statements, the user is forced to pick out similarities and differences and form an understanding of the statements; the same way a child learns his first language. This course is also very expensive, which stops me from ranking it higher. Whether or not you will like this course comes down to whether or not you like the traditional way to learn a second language. If you absolutely despise vocabulary lists and conjugation charts, this course might just be the relief you were looking for. However, using this course alongside traditional grammar and vocab study may be the most effective method possible. At nearly 500 dollars, this course is not for everyone, but understand that this is NOT an introduction to basic Japanese. This course is full and will take you from not understanding a word to fluency. Weigh the pros and cons carefully if you are considering a purchase.

5) Instant Immersion Japanese
This is not so much a course as it is a course pack. It includes 5 courses, including three from Eurotalk (Talk now, Talk more, and World talk), the course Human Japanese, and the program Jquicktrans. Despite its low ranking on this list, I highly recommend this product due to its low cost and the program you might expect to use the least: Jquicktrans. This dictionary program is simply essential to anyone who is studying Japanese. You can enter an English word, or Japanese in romaji, kana, or kanji, and in return you are given a list that includes any word you could have possibly been looking for.

Instant Immersion Japanese

You'll get the English word, as well as its Japanese counterpart (in romaji, kana, and kanji writings), and on the left side there is a list of the kanji used in those words, their readings, and their meanings. Jquicktrans is easily the best dictionary you could hope to have; why bother flipping through pages when you could have your result instantly (as well as any other information you could possibly ask for about it). Of the other courses in this package, I have to give a more mixed review. Human Japanese is also a great course that will take you through Hiragana and Katakana right off the bat, and teach you important vocabulary and sentence structures, as well as important cultural information about their usage. The Eurotalk courses are good but in NO WAY complete. Once you finish the first course (Talk now), which is only vocabulary, you are in no way ready for the second course. I personally believe that the more materials you have when you attempt to teach yourself a language the better, but it is still important to note the gap between the Eurotalk lessons. Jquicktrans is reason enough to purchase this course, as it is something you will be able to use immediately and will still be using long after fluency. For the low cost and Jquicktrans, this course is definitely worth looking into.

Now I will talk about a few books that will help you understand some of the underlying rules to the Japanese you learn. I will only be reviewing books that I PERSONALLY own and have read, so I will be able to talk about the contents in detail. If you have chosen either Pimsleur's or Rosetta Stone, it is highly recommended that you pick up a book or two. Both methods involve learning a language through exposure, not through traditional rote memorization, and it is quite helpful to have a book to reference when you feel you would like to understand a concept better.

Japanese Step by Step :
An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese

Japanese Step by Step : An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese was the very first book I bought. I was lucky; It was also a great choice. Though it doesn't dive too deep into any topic, it does provide a basic understanding of all important topics. It starts the way a course should, with information about pronunciation and the writing system. Introducing Japanese not in comparison to English but as a separate entity completely is definitely the best way to look at it from a beginners standpoint. Writing, pronunciation, verb endings, grammar, and honorifics are all covered. As I stated before, this book doesn't dive too deep into any particular topic, but instead does a great job of introducing to the reader the "big picture". It is designed primarily for the businessman who has to pick up Japanese basics quickly and start using them almost immediately. However, anyone starting to learn Japanese has plenty to gain from this book.

Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar

Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar is my personal favorite. As the title suggests, the emphasis of this book is on verbs. If you are new to Japanese, then let me be the first to tell you that Japanese verbs are the most important aspect of Japanese hands down. I can't even begin to describe how often I had to reference this book. It starts with an introduction to the usage of verbs, and then starts in with its massive collection of verb endings for any situation. Then, it starts similar archives of demonstrative forms, adjectives, adverbs, noun endings, etc. The organization of the material alone is enough to recommend it. I was often faced with the situation where someone would say an unfamiliar verb ending to me, and with this book in hand I was able to find the basic form immediately. I cannot stress enough that if you choose to buy only one grammar book, make it this one.

Essential Japanese Grammar
(Dover foreign language study guides)

Essential Japanese Grammar is another grammar book that I purchased during my obsession. Unfortunately, I now know that there was no reason to purchase both this book and the one above it. Essentially, there really isn't but a few details present in this book that aren't in the one above it, so I can't really recommend this book to most people. However, I did notice one thing about the book; the explanations of the forms and tenses are very well worded. If you are either struggling with understanding the uses of each tense or have an EXTREMELY good understanding of English grammatical structure, this book might serve you quite well. Each tense is presented and compared, using examples, to its English counterpart. If your understanding of English grammar and the terminology used to describe English grammar is extremely deep, then this book might be "speaking your language".

Essential Kanji:
2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference

Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference tries very hard to be both a lesson in Kanji, and a reference/dictionary. I must say, it pulls it off quite well. The kanji are introduced in a very specific order; one that starts with the most commonly used kanji, and immediately starts building on them. With only a few kanji under your belt, each new character you learn comes with examples that use both the current character and ones you have learned in the past. This way, you aren't just learning the characters, but immediately learning the words and phrases that use them. The book is set up so that it would be useful to those who were just starting, to those who needed practice, and to those who needed a reference. The characters are grouped several different ways to make this possible. Many people will choose to skip writing Japanese completely and focus only on speaking it. That decision is completely up to each individual, but if you have chosen to learn kanji on your own, do not go at it without this book.

Genki 1:
An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1
(Japanese Edition)

Lastly, let's check out the Genki series of books. These are the books that are used in most college Japanese courses, so they are structured in that way. Though much is lost in not having the lectures a Japanese college course would offer, these books can still be considered highly useful and nearly complete. The aim here is to cover all aspects of Japanese a little at a time, much like a college course would. You will be introduced to aspects of grammar, writing, and vocabulary at a very reasonable pace. The Genki book series could easily be considered the most complete books available, and could even potentially replace some of the courses listed in the first section (although, the bare bones audio supplements included are far from enough to master pronunciation). You could consider the Genki books paired with, say, Pimsleurs approach, to be a VERY complete plan of study. Here are some text links to many of the books in the Genki Series:

Genki 1: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 (Japanese Edition)

Genki 2: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese

Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese I - Workbook (Japanese Edition)

Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese [workbook] (Japanese Edition)

Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese (Answer Key) (Paperback)

Hopefully, you have chosen a course to follow, and one or more supplemental books to help cover a broad range of topics. The best advice I can give you is to use multiple methods, multiple books, multiple courses... There is no such thing as a "complete" course on a topic as broad as language study (though, some are much more complete than others).

If I may make an analogy here: When I first started studying Japanese, I thought that I had to keep track of my progress and take detailed notes, reviewing them often. I thought that I had to have everything I had learned in a notebook so that I never forgot any of it. It was like picking up a marble from a massive pile, and carrying it over to another pile, placing it carefully on top. However, now I feel like its better to just throw and handful of marbles at a time at the pile. Sure, some roll off the top and have to be picked up later, but its much faster than carrying them one at a time and carefully placing them on top.

Basically, you will want to gather as many materials as you can. Motivation can be fickle, especially if you aim to teach yourself Japanese. If a course is starting to get boring, and especially if it is making you contemplate quitting, do something else! If you are a fan of anime or manga, then you have a very powerful motivational tool. In addition to that, watching anime in Japanese will SERIOUSLY help you get used to hearing the language, and you'll start picking out words and phrases almost immediately. Remember to try to make learning fun because once it becomes a chore, it becomes way too easy to quit.

In addition to the courses, you should seek out native speakers to talk to. A very good site to do this at is Shared Talk . This site allows people from virtually any country to practice virtually any language by talking to native speakers. Its great to stop in and talk in the public chat rooms, but I find the real gold is in finding people you like talking to and then meeting up with them on Instant messengers or skype. After all, learning is so much more meaningful when done through actual conversation. There are only so many times you'll want to have the "nice to meet you", "are you a student", and "where do you work" conversations before you desire real conversation. My advice is, make some friends in Japan, people that you enjoy talking to. There are plenty of people in Japan studying English, so make sure to help them out too. Speak in both languages. Use text and voice chat. Contact with native speakers is an irreplaceable part of language study, and learning new words in a context is quite possibly the best way to remember them. Find people you like talking to and it won't feel like a chore to practice.

Don't feel like you have to wait until you are fluent to do some of these things... Feel free to try anything at any time. Turn off the subtitles and watch your shows. Sure, you won't understand everything that's said but it will force you to listen very carefully. If you have Jquicktrans, try to chat with natives as soon as you can. You can look up words with it instantly no matter how they are written. The first friend I made on shared talk spoke English very well, so it was ok that my Japanese was awful. She was very helpful and still is to this day.

Good luck, and remember that regular daily studying, even for a short period of time each day, is more effective than random or infrequent study, even for massive periods of time.