Genki Japan Blog はじめまして。

I have officially found the solution to Pimsleur's price tag! It's called JapanesePod101.com , and it's full of audio files, .pdfs, and all kinds of stuff that makes Pimsleur look really outdated. Let's face it, the Internet never fails to amaze me, even after all this time. It makes it possible to do so much, and, combined with an iPod, CD Player, or some other portable audio device, it's possible to learn Japanese online and even while on-the-go, and not necessarily in your car, either. It's fun, interesting, and provides a lot more information with just the audio portions alone than anything else I've come across, etiher online or the old-fashioned CD player or cassett tape. Now, I've known about this site for quite a while now, and I actually signed up for it a couple months ago. It took me a while because I would see their ads over all these sites, and seeing ads makes me think, " Another Rosetta Stone ! Yikes!" However, I'm happy to ...

For some reason, people who know I study languages and that I’m particularly passionate about Japanese, always ask me what’s better: Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese or Pimsleur . Another question I often get is, “Is Minna no Nihongo better than Genki ?” I’ve never read the Minna no Nihongo books, so I can’t answer that. However, I decided to do an article on Genki vs. Pimsleur. To be realistic, comparing these two is like comparing apples to oranges. They’re both really good, and I encourage people to use both of them, actually. I agree with Avatar’s Uncle Iroh when he explains to Zuko that wisdom comes from many places, and that if you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Same with language learning. If you rely on only one source, you’re never going to be fluent. That’s why I review so many different sources. So now the question becomes, “Which one should I start with?” I still maintain that everyone should start with Power Japanese , but be...

I've been waiting to do this one. Why? Because Pimsleur offers amazing audio tapes for a multitude of languages! What's more is that they do them well. As a repititious learner, these CDs did wonders for me. They also made me go broke, but the price is well worth it, and if you can get it used, it should only cost you little more than $100. Pimsleur's motto says that you don't have to read Japanese at all, the point of fluency being able to hold casual conversation. I don't agree with the Stroll Learning company on that one, so I do recommend that you learn Hiragana at least before tackling these. The pronunciation guide is very good, but if you start with, say, Power Japanese , you'll be able to master it faster and with much more accuracy. Now, one thing I do agree with Pimsleur on is this: the reason why no one remembers the languages they "learned" in high school is simply this: they don't teach you how to actually speak. They teach you a bunch...