Does anyone have any recommendations on language guides/books/audio CDs/computer software? I want to pick something up next month to work on my Japanese, but I’m not sure which way to go.
Right now I’m looking in to the Pimsleur CDs, the Rosetta Stone software, and the Auralog Tell Me More software. I already have the Japanese for Busy People books, but I’m looking for something more interactive / less book based as well.
2 replies on “Language Guides”
I’ve heard the Rosetta Stone program’s kinda overrated, but I’ve heard mostly good stuff about Pimsleur. Your mileage may vary.
I tried Rosetta Stone for Spanish. It was effective to learn basic words and sentences. It does not have any grammar or conjugation instructions though so it will be very hard to go beyond the basics with it. I assume it would be the ame thing with Japanese
My college uses another software called TeLL me More, by Auralog. I found it more complete and less repetitive. It covers not only the basics, but also intermediate or advanced level. My goal was to become fluent so it was perfect for me. It has a lot of different activities: picture/word association, videos, dialogues,…, includes also grammar and conjugation. It has also more content than Rosetta Stone as far as level and number of hours of learning and is cheaper. Their speech recogntion is great so you can have a dialogue with the computer. You can check out their website at http://www.auralog.com for a free demo or they can send you one
The best way to learn a language would be through immersion, visiting these countries. Learning a language will require some time. In addition to software, you can have books which are useful as well. Audio CDs like Pimsleur for instance might help you out but you cannot get any feedback on your pronunciation so I did not like it so much.