Japanese Software

What's the best software to learn Japanese?

Who says learning Japanese has to be difficult and time consuming?

Common knowledge would have you believe that learning a new language is difficult. Which really isnt true, does it take work? Of course it does. But it does not need to be a difficult, long and boring process. Which is really all most of the programs out there provide you with. Which is why, after testing many of the programs out there we have cut aside the fluff and nonsense they present and have boiled it down to three programs which are actually effective for learning Japanese. Minus the hype and flash that make up the fancy sales pages all these programs have, trying to convince you that they alone are THE best without any actual proof.

Each product will have a value between 1 and 5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best rating it can recieve in a given area. The areas that will be evaluated are, Features, Fundamentals, Simplicity, Teaching Method, and Tools.

Rocket Japanese

#1 Great product at a low price

• Features: 5/5
• Fundamentals: 5/5
• Simplicity: 5/5
• Teaching Method: 5/5
• Tools: 4/5

Rocket Japanese is our number one product for learning Japanese. It offers everything the other programs we will discuss further on do, with the advantage of doing it better in some ways as well as being more affordable overall. Since you get the program, plus the benefit of an on call teacher 24 hours a day seven days a week and access to their members area for more help and content, not just a program.

The basis of Rocket Japanese, is a series of 45 audio video lessons. The first 25 of which are geared purely towards the basics of speaking and reading Japanese. Those are then followed by 10 intermediate lessons, geared towards taking everything you have learned so far and building a more advanced understanding. Finally the last 10 lessons takes everything, and puts it all into practice. Placing you in real life social scenarios where you can interact using your new skills to not only practice but gain confidence.

Rocket Japanese has 5 primary components its material is broken into, those are:

• Component #1: Learn to Speak Japanese Confidently with 31 Interactive Audio Lessons
• Component #2: Learn to Speak Japanese Naturally with 31 Language and Culture Lessons
• Component #3: Learn Tons of Japanese Words with my fun MegaJapanese Software Games
• Component #4: See How Much Your Japanese Has Improved!
• Component #5: Have your own Japanese teacher, virtually "on call" 24 hours a day!

Below is a breakdown of why Rocket Japanese rated the way it did in the list at the top of this review.

• Features: Rocket Japanese has alot of useful features, more so then any of the other programs reviewed here really. Some of which set it apart from most other language learning programs, like their 24/7 teacher access. With that and the games, extensive lessons, and other usefull material it adds up to a great program.
• Fundamentals: The Rocket Japanese system covers pretty much everything you need to form a solid foundation to build upon learning Japanese. And since it is all done at a fairly gradual pace the student rarely feels lost or overwhelmed by the presented content.
• Simplicity: Overall, Rocket Japanese is pretty simple to understand and even simpler to work with as a user. Everything is readily availible and well organized so you don't have to waste time sifting around for the next lesson or a different tool you may want at the time. And with the built in progress tracking and teacher access learning the language itself is pretty easy.
• Teaching Method: The teaching methods used by Rocket Japanese are tried and proven methods used in physical classes all around the world. Making use of video, audio, and interactive content to effectively present all the course material in an easy to understand way.
• Tools : The tools available with Rocket Japanese are pretty impressive in scope. With all of the audio/video lessons plus the interactive games, quizzes, tests and other available material. Plus the option to have everything on both a digital format as well as a series of twenty CD's. The physical copy however is more expensive however, even though they pick up the shipping cost for you.

Conclusion:

Overall, Rocket Japanese is a great program. If you need to learn Japanese in a fairly short amount of time it will get you on your way faster then any other program out there currently. And for a far lower price then any of the other programs, even those on this list if you opt for just the digital copy. If you purchase the full physical CD set as well then the prices become even for the most part so some of the value is lost. But it is still your best bet for learning Japanese.

Natively Japanese

#2 Safe choice

• Features: 5/5
• Fundamentals: 4/5
• Simplicity: 4/5
• Teaching Method: 4/5
• Tools: 4/5

Natively Japanese takes second place on our list of Japanese learning programs. And while it is a great program in its own right, it is not quite as good as Rocket Japanese, for reasons you will see near the end of this review. For now lets take a look at how the Natively Japanese program works, and the methods it uses to teach you the language.

Natively Japanese uses immersion as its primary method of teaching. Through their methods you begin to feel as though you are really interacting with people in a Japanese speaking country, rather then at your computer trying to learn. Using real world pictures and situations, as well as native voices to help you learn by doing so to speak. And with an immersive environment it is somewhat easier to learn the language, as you are forced to think more in your new language early on. In addition to which, Natively Japanese tracks your progress logging what you do well in and what you dont. So it can gear the content more towards where your weakness's are, promoting a much better understanding in the end.

So why then, is it number two? Continue reading to find out:

• Features: The Natively Japanese program has a ton of material to offer you to help you learn the language efficiently and easily. With the 'Talk Now' 'Talk More' 'Talk The Talk' 'World Talk' 'Talk Business' and Vocabulary builder as well as a ton of extra features such as Ipod Integration, Memory Games, Quizzes, a Printable Dictionary, Speech recording and alot more. The features list is probably one of, if not the most impressive aspect of Natively Japanese.
• Fundamentals: Natively Japanese does pretty well at building the students core fundamentals up, and into a solid basis to use for learning the language. Given its ability to track your progress and adjust to your weakness's it can ensure you learn everything on an even level for the most part. And with the addition of a printable dictionary you have a great reference source to use as well.
• Simplicity: The Natively program is pretty simple, and the course material is even easier to understand even with no prior knowledge of Japanese. And while it does help you along in some ways, by keeping a log of what you get wrong and using it to guide the content towards areas you are having problems with. The interface itself could use a little tweaking to make it a little easier to manage as a brand new user.
• Teaching Method: The teaching method itself is a great, proven method as mentioned before. Making full use of the students senses to create as immersive an environment as possible without physically putting you in a Japanese speaking country or classroom. Teaching you everything by experience and association, the same way you have learned your native language.
• Tools : There is a good number of great tools in this program. With the multiple CD's, Quizzes, Interactive lessons, Printable dictionary, Memory games, Speech recording, Printable phrasebook, printable worksheets, vocabulary builder and alot more there is literally everything you will probably need to learn Japanese in the full program. The downside to this unfortunately is that in order to get the most out of it, you need to pay the extra money for the complete program.

Conclusion:

In the end, our conclusion with Natively Japanese is that it is a good and effective program for learning Japanese. If not for the fact that it is more expensive, and some might argue a bit less effective then Rocket Japanese it may be in our top spot instead of number two. So if for some reason you do not want to use Rocket Japanese, the Natively Japanese program is a safe effective choice.

Rosetta Stone Japanese

#3 Decent but expensive program

• Features: 3/5
• Fundamentals: 4/5
• Simplicity: 4/5
• Teaching Method: 4/5
• Tools: 3/5

Rosetta Stone Japanese finishes out our list of top programs at third place. Im sure anyone who is reading this has probably seen at least one of their commercials, claiming to be "the" language learning software. And while that may have been true at one point, it really doesn't bring enough to the table anymore to justify its claim as the best. Especially for the price they charge, with that in mind lets take a closer look at the program itself.

Rosetta Stone Japanese uses the same method you used as a child to learn your native language. Trial and error in an immersive environment, so in a way its really sink or swim. It does so by immersing you into an entirely Japanese environment, using image association methods to help you remember words in Japanese. And also making you think in your new language, rather then translating from your new language to the word making it feel more natural to speak. As such, this method while effective can be more difficult for some people to start out with.

Sounds pretty good, so why did we rate it how we did? See below.

• Features: The Rosetta Stone program itself doesnt have very many features, especially none that really make it unique compared to the others. So purely from a features basis, it comes off rather weak. But, what it does have works very well so it doesnt take away from the effectiveness of the program.
• Fundamentals: Fundamentals is one thing Rosetta Stone is actually competitive with. As mentioned, the method being similar to the way you learned to speak your first words the fundamentals base is pretty strong.Giving you a solid foundation to use to learn from as you continue with the program.
• Simplicity:Rosetta Stone is a pretty easy program to learn with overall, given the intuitive nature of its teaching method. However, the lack of translations on screen can be troublesome for some people, and makes the interface difficult to work with at times.
• Teaching Method: The teaching method with Rosetta Stone Japanese is solid, and does work well. The level of immersion it provides is great, however some on-screen help would have been nice. And also, while the method used is great, it may have been helpful to have some alternatives to work with as well.
• Tools : This is where Rosetta Stone Japanese looses alot of points, there simply is not enough content offered by Rosetta Stone to justify its relatively high price. And it really could do with alot of other things added in, such as some games and other interactive material to use outside of the normal lessons. As well as some extra material like study guides or reference sheets would have been helpfull as well.

Conclusion:

Overall, Rosetta Stone is a decent program for what it is. And the price versus value is really its biggest flaw, i just cannot see any way that the program is worth the cost. However, if you are more comfortable using it over the others you will learn just as effectively in the end. However, at the cost of more time and money perhaps then is necessary.