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Average Customer Review:

86 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

Best language software I have seen so far, June 27, 2001

The way this software works is simple. It shows you four pictures and gives you a word or phrase describing each. Then it will ask you to match up pictures and phrases. Later sets of pictures build on vocabulary learned in earlier lessons to build up more complex phrases.

The user interface is one of the easiest to use I've seen, and the sound and picture quality are better than I've seen from other language software. The reason I really like this software though is that it is the easiest and most effective learning method I've found. Rather than trying to memorize words, you hear them used in a bunch of different contexts until their use becomes natural. Also, this method is much better for developing listening comprehension than other methods, which are often mostly visual.

This software doesn't explain any grammar rules. It merely tries to provide enough examples that they can be inferred from use. I find that having a grammar reference that I can refer to in addition to this software really helps with the trickier bits of the Japanese language, although for many things it is unnecessary.

Overall, this software is expensive, but if you are serious about learning Japanese, I would say it is definitely worth the price.

 

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Pretty good, but use other references too!, November 11, 2004

I have to say that I agree with pretty much all of the reviews of this product on amazon.com (4 at the time I'm writing this). These reviews have ranged from 1 star to 5 stars and I believe that this simply reflects differential weighting of different elements by different reviewers with different needs/expectations. For me, here are the points I think are the most salient for discussion:

1. The pictures-based method of learning is obviously very powerful and should be commended. Having the visual representation there helps immensely with remembering vocabulary words. Similarly, it is incredibly convenient to be able to toggle between the romaji, hiragana/katakana, and kana+kanji representations of the text. Finally, the audio is excellent with the speakers speaking at a realistic pace (i.e. not speaking exceedingly slowly like some of the other language CDs while still maintaining excellent enunciation and pronunciation). The combination of these three elements -- pictures, words, and audio is fantastic.

2. Having said that, I could not agree more with the reviewer who wants an explicit English translation of each word/phrase/sentence! It is often not clear exactly what the meaning of the phrase/sentence is, even after reviewing all the other examples in the lesson/unit. This is especially true for certain verbs, grammar concepts, and the use of the different particles. It seems like it would have been trivial to include and it would have reduced the frustration level quite a bit. I understand that it may have detracted a little bit from the immersion. I think it'd be worth it because I'd estimate that in about 30% of cases, a more complex concept/word/grammar point was trying to be conveyed than is possible from a single picture (which often has been used many times before for other words/concepts!).

From my own personal experience, I feel that this is a useful program for absorbing the language. However, I did not tackle the problem of learning Japanese solely from this program and I think that was a wise decision. Coupling this program with more traditional Japanese textbooks (I'm using "An Introduction to Modern Japanese" by Mizutani) has been much more helpful than having just the program by itself. I have also started tackling actually learning the hiragana/katakana and the Rosetta program has been reasonably good to aid in that process but again I find the pronunciation guides from other textbooks indispensable. (I have also ordered a mnemonics-based guide to remembering the hiragana/katakana -- I will review that after I get it). Also, I have an extensive recognition of the Kanji characters because I am fairly fluent in Mandarin Chinese (which is a significant, if limited, help in learning japanese Kanji), but if you are a beginner in that regard as well then I think it'd be advisable to also purchase a book that helps you learn/write the Kanji.

Overall, I invested about 3 times the amount of money in the Rosetta software as all my other learning aids combined. I'd have to say the bang for the buck is not that great, but the overall expenditure (if budget is not an issue) is still fairly modest compared to the benefits of learning a language quicker and easier. There's something that just feels nice about interacting with a language graphically compared to rote study of textbooks or through audio dialogues. Hence, a 3-star review.

One final note: I am using the Macintosh version of the software (v. 2.0.6) under MacOS X and there is one annoying bug/feature: the CPU usage while using the program, even if it's sitting there doing nothing, goes to 100%. On a Powerbook this eventually makes the CPU fan come on and stay on and the computer gets hot, which is annoying. The only other programs that behave like this are graphics-intensive games so I'd have to assume that this is something that should be fixable, but to date nothing has happened. My solution to this is to limit my sessions to about an hour max on the Rosetta software and I turn to the other textbooks in between.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

YOURE PAYING FOR A LOT OF CONFUSION., June 7, 2004

This is a well meaning program that will leave you with nothing but doubt and unanswered questions.

Fairfield uses a "picture to words to sound" method for teaching different languages. This is an excellent way to teach a language. It lets the user hear proper pronunciation while seeing the proper spelling (romanized or japanese) for the word. They also slap a picture of the subject so you can achieve a visual connection with the word or words mentioned. That's it, and thats where lies the problem. There is no confirmation in English to what you just learned. This leads to doubt because you don't know if the picture matches the word 100%. You cant make the vital connection between the Japanese word and the English one. To make matters worse not all the picture are crystal clear as to what is being refered to. Anyone who has studied Japanese knows what a difficult language it is to grasp and Fairfield thinks that you can just jump into it with this poorly thought out program. I don't know how well this method works in other languages but it fails in Japanese without that English reasurance. So in closing :

1. Dont be fooled by the "impressive" list of users of this program.
2. The poor structure of this program will leave you confused and reaching for your dictionary more than you'll be able to stand.
3. The price of this software package is ridiculous for what you get. It doesn't make $en$e.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

Will not give you proper education, January 5, 2004

You learn the language through immersion. The software immediately presents you with a set of pictures, along with their japanese text and pronounciation, and you have to match the text with the pictures. The text are available in romanji, kana, and kanji. There are no english explanations at all.

First, if you're serious about learning japanese, you have to learn how to read and write kana, and this product gives you nothing in terms of learning kana/kanji. If you leave the text set at kana or kanji, you will be hopelessly lost. If you set the text at romanji, you will be looking at the romanized version of the japanese text, which is useless because you won't see romanji anywhere in Tokyo.

Second, you can pretty much guess at the right answer by process of elimination. The software isn't "smart" enough to deduce that you've actually understood the images presented to you. Also, some of the images are ambiguous. It's possible that you misinterpret the picture and end up with the wrong definition.

Third, this software is horribly slow. You will learn very little after hours of use, and in the end, you will have little or no grammatical knowledge at all.

Given the price of this product, I do not recommend it at all. I suggest you spend your money on the Pimsleur series. They are also expensive, but they will give you a solid foundation to speaking japanese properly. I suggest buying the Japanese for Busy people Kana workbook for learning Kana.