You may be interested in reading some of the comments that we have received about these lessons. Please feel free to add your own remarks by using the box at the bottom of the page.
Please note that there are additional comments at the bottom of the How to Read Japanese page.
Just wanted to send a quick thank you for this site and your hard work.
My husband and I started learning Japanese several years ago for a three week trip to Japan we took in 2014, which was absolutely amazing, and we can’t wait to return when our baby daughter is old enough. When we started, we used the Rosetta Stone program, which, like the other flashcard programs you wrote about, required a lot of research to understand the grammar. Unfortunately, I needed to understand the grammar as I teach English and have a strong grasp of English grammar so knowing how the grammar of a language functions truly opens the language for me.
After our trip, we got busy and our studies went on a hiatus, but now that our daughter is almost ready to start talking, my husband wanted to start practicing on his drive to work again rather than “wasting time” listening to music. He asked me to search for a new audio system which is when I found your site, and he really likes it.
So thank you again for doing all of this work free!
Thank you so much for writing, Rosefuu. Like you, I find it very important to try to understand Japanese grammar. The rules are fairly simple, but the Japanese tolerate a lot of exceptions, unlike English, where we tend to stick to the rules all the time, even in informal speech. Good luck to you and your husband! Japan is a wonderful place to visit, and it becomes even more wonderful when one can understand what people are saying.
I know this is like asking for the moon after getting the sun gift-wrapped, but is there any chance of a vocabulary audio of JLPT5, JLPT4 and so forth, just simply word/expression in English, pause, word/expression in Japanese?
After looking extensively I have been unable to find something like it on the net (except with the Japanese pronounced by someone with a thick non-Japanese accent or a software-generated voice)?
Or if you feel JLPT is not up to your standards, how about the 1000 most common words? Like: http://www.offbeatband.com/2010/12/the-most-commonly-used-japanese-words-by-frequency/
I feel that expanding your vocabulary has a huge effect on understanding and that this sort of thing can be listened to even when you are too tired to listen to more complex lessons – what do you think?
Hi Noah,
Your question reminds me of VocabuLearn, one of the many Japanese courses that I purchased over the years. You can see this course at http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-English-3-Level-Set-VocabuLearn/dp/0939001373.
I found this course impossibly difficult when I tried to use it, which must have been many years ago, judging from the fact that it is only available on cassette tapes. Although I can understand why you might think that a course teaching only vocabulary could be helpful, I didn’t find it to be so at all. If you try to learn words that are divorced from the sentences in which they occur, especially in a language like Japanese where the grammatical structure is so different from English, you will get very frustrated. If you don’t believe me, try learning words from a Japanese dictionary sometime. With Japanese, the grammar is fundamental and the vocabulary secondary, or at least that’s how I see it.
I bumped into your site before; unfortunately at that time I just thought it was too advanced for me. But I did not see the transcript… if I had seen it I would definitely have given it a try!
Now it seems perfect!!! A great opportunity to try out all the knowledge that I acquired and at the same time learn more!!
Domou Arigatou Gozaimashita!!
Thank you for writing, Rubens. It’s really satisfying when we are able to understand material that once seemed impossibly difficult.
I wish I had found your site sooner, it would’ve saved me a lot of time and effort. Your work is fantastic! Thank you very much 🙂
Thank you, Austin. We appreciate your feedback. You are welcome.
Thank you very much for a big opportunity for me and I am very interested in learning Japanese languages and when I found this page I can’t express how i am happy……Thank You……
You’re welcome. Thank you for writing. Good luck with your Japanese studies!