Monday, November 26, 2007

Rocket Japanese Review: How To Learn Japanese In Less Than 8 Weeks?

Japanese is the third language I have learnt. I already knew French & English. I initially thought that I can find all information on learning Japanese online. So I signed up to those free newsletter course and spent sometime on free websites. Result, four weeks down the lane, I realized I hardly knew anything and had wasted four weeks. I even bought a cheap audio course of ebay, only to further waste my time. Out of blue I came across Rocket Japanese (click here for website). They gave an eight week refund guarantee and I was tired of searching on Google. I decided to give it a shot. I am posting this review out here because I had a hard time locating detailed review of product, most of them were just advertisements

Are you being fooled by same big promises

Most websites make big promises to teach Japanese for free. However, I have tried them all and learnt just one thing - there is no free lunch. I initially opted for Rocket Japanese because there is a dearth complete and quality free guides. I don't like to spend money uselessly. I decided if I don't learn Japanese in eight weeks then I will get my money back. They are being sold through Clickbank which is renowned for its mandatory eight week refund policy, hence I knew I was not at risk. Either I will learn Japanese, or I can get a refund and I will still have some of their bonus material. This is why, getting Rocket Japanese is a win-win situation.

What Do You Pay For In Rocket Japanese

31-lesson Interactive Audio Course: Having learnt French, I could quickly make out that this was not ordinary stuff. This was designed to teach you the way native Japanese speakers speak.

One thing I liked in particular was, it put me in control on what I wanted to learn. I particularly needed to learn Japanese business phrases. So, I went through those audio tracks and I could make out most of what my Japanese counterpart were talking among themselves.

Grammar Newsletter Series: This newsletter provides you with 31 illustrated Grammar Lessons and examples. I cannot think of a better way to learn Japanese Grammar. The grammar lessons provide you with explanations of popular Japanese grammar that people actually use. The visual tools of this series are unique to this product & their value is priceless.

MegaVocab Software: Trust me, Vocab is the toughest part. A new language with a new set of characters and then a completely new dictionary can make it really a hard job. If you have ever tried to memorize a five hundred items list, you will understand what I mean.

MegaVocab makes learning vocabulary easy for you. Its no magic pill. I had to put in all the hard work myself but the software is a great help. It builds up the connection visually, so you can tie up words with pictures and audio. This is something that no other course or website offers.

MegaAudio Software: Talking to a native speaker in his language is a tough ask anytime. I can tell you why? Not only you have to deal with remembering the vocabulary, but you are also pitched up against their accent and speed.

MegaAudio is something that bbc website offers for 20-30 words. It puts up the audio for the common words. I was able to pick up most of the business words through this tool and the audio tracks that I have already listened. This software is not something you can't do without but its handy!

MegaHiragana SoftwareHiragana is the main character set in the Japanese writing system. It represents the sounds that are in the Japanese language. I think if you are planning to go with free courses, this is bound to torment you. This is a tough ask and this software proved to be a big help again.


Japanese Learner's Forum and Rocket Languages Support. The forum is staffed with Japanese Teachers, Natives and Fellow Students. I find that forums quite useful in general. One you get to know how to make the most of available material. Secondly, there is expert help available. I think the kind of help I have received on the forum has already paid for the software itself.


Is Rocket Japanese Worth The Bucks?

Look I tried a Japanese trainer. She told me it will take me atleast 4 months and she charged an hourly rate that I could not afford. If you got that kind of money, you can opt for it. I researched on Pimsleur Japanese, but considering their audio tracks alone cost almost ten times the Rocket Japanese, it offered no value.

So I was faced with a choice, either to keep wasting my time for free information on Internet or pay up for Rocket Japanese.

From what I have got, I can comfortably say Its worth every penny!. Where else are you going to get over fourteen hours of audio tracks, software, free personal support, Japanese teachers at hand, a complete grammar series at a price lower than this and that too with a money back guarantee!

In my opinion it was a very fair deal. I have been to Kyoto (Japan) twice by now and it has been a pleasure. I have tried my language skills against everybody, from air hostesses ;) to my business counterparts and it has been well received!

On the whole I think there is only one thing that could be better than Rocket Japanese - if I come up with my own course! Till then Rocket Japanese is the way to fly Japan.


Update: They are at discount these days, use the link below.

Click Here For Rocket Japansese

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

How to Learn Counting In Japanese

This article was too good! I had read it even before I started learning Japanese using Rocket Japanese program and I knew how to do the counting. I think this is something that you won't find in any other course. Just go through it, I am sure you would have learnt japanese by the time you are done with this.

Learn How To Count Numbers In Japanese Language
By Takanori Tomita

 

Counting numbers in Japanese language is quite easy, because they are logically made from combination of the Japanese numbers 1 - 10.

 

All you have to remember is how to count,

 

1 - 10
100, 1000, and 10,000
In Japanese language, we count 1 (ichi), 2 (ni), 3(san), 4(shi), 5 (go), 6(rokku), 7(hichi), 8(hachi), kyu(9), 10(jyu), 100(hyaku), 1000(sen), and 10,000(man).

 

For example, the grade of 10, the numbers 11 - 19 are made of 10 plus the relevant unit.

 

Jyu ichi(11) = Jyu(10) + ichi(1)

Jyu go (15) = Jyu(10) + go(5)

20(ni jyu) is made of a 2 (ni) in front of 10(jyu). You then add the relevant unit to make 21, 22, 23 and so on:

 

In Japanese language, this simple method is applied to the grade of 100, 1000, and 10,000. So, if you want to count 101(Hyaku ichi), you combine 100 (Hyaku) and 1 (ichi). In the case of 111(Hyaku Jyu Ichi), you combine 3 relevant numbers 100(Hyaku), 10(Jyu) and 1 (ichi).

 

By the way, let me also explain about the difference betwen the English counting system and the Japanese counting system.

 

In the Western counting system we count in thousands until we reach one million. The Japanese system of counting is silghtly different. Instead of saying ten thousand, there is an extra word to represent this amount. That is why we say "man" of 10,000, not 10(Jyu) 1000(Sen)

 

So, in the ccase of 20,000, we say 2(Ni) 10,000 (man).

 

You can also see the video which explain about how to count in Japanese language as well.

 

Japanese Video lesson to learn how to count numbers in Japanese langauge.

 

If you would like to learn more about the Japanese language, please also see Learn Japanese language for real communication.
Takanori Tomita - working as a Japanese translator and web creator in Japan. He also publish his book in Japan, and has a number of experience in teaching Japanese to foreigners.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Takanori_Tomita

 

 

Having complete the entire Rocket Japanese Course I can tell you that this is definitely one of the best ways to learn Japanese counting