I need recommendations for Japanese courses....

[twoblessings]

DD (14y.o.) wants to learn Japanese. She said she would like to work on it this summer. Does anyone have any recommendations (online or other) that she could work on. I need something that is very easy to implement. I have'nt any foreign Language background. DD has 1 1/2 yrs of Latin.

thanks!

[danielle]

Japanese is a tough one, but I'll bite! Does she just want to try it out? I worked through the Pimsleur Japanese beginner and intermediate and got us through about 3 weeks in Japan. However, this is of the "Is that chicken? I want tea" variety. Fun, though. No reading or writing.

I also used a software program called Power Japanese, but I don't know if this is still available. I didn't make it very far (no time) but it does teach some reading and writing.

Dd has a book called "Japanese the Manga Way" that might be worth a look. None of these are full blown courses, just intro. Because of the reading/writing issue, do make sure your daughter knows she won't progress in Japanese as fast as in Latin, or any other language that has cognates and doesn't require learning a new way of writing. I just mention this so that forewarned is forearmed, and she doesn't feel discouraged if she doesn't move as rapidly as she probably did in Latin. Good luck : )
Danielle

[KuniMom]

I am in the process of learning Japanese, and teaching my kids what I have learned. I have the Rosetta Stone program, which is just OK. I also went through the books, "Let's Learn Hiragana", and then "Let's Learn Katakana" by Mitamura. Hiragana and katakana are the syllabary (sp?) of the Japanese language, and are really easy to learn. Now I am using the workbook "Japanese for Busy People" which has the hiragana and katakana in it. They also have "Japanese for Students" by the same publisher. I guess it depends on if she wants to learn more conversational Japanese or reading and writing also. We actually live in Japan, so reading Japanese is really important to me. You can't read anything here unless you know hiragana and katakana.

[Margaret in CO]

I just emailed my Japanese-minor dd at USNA. We bought her something that she found useful, that she used over tehhe summer. When she gets back with me, I'll let you know

[Margaret in CO]

Aha! I just realized I could get it out of my Amazon account. Here 'tis:

Genki 1: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 (Genki 1 Series) [Audio

[Anne/Ankara]

Here is a nice looking, free course (I think!) from Georgia Public Television. It looks really nice...

http://www.gpb.org/irasshai

[Katia]

My dd began her study of Japanese at 14yo. in 9th grade. We started with a mix of materials because we like to study that way! Here is a list of some of what she has used:

9th Grade:

Remembering the Katakana

Rosetta Stone Japanese level 1 - for listening

Let's Learn Hiragana - for writing/reading

Let's Learn Katakana - for writing/reading

Japanese the Easy Way - for grammar/sentence structure and a lot of cultural helps in using the language

10th Grade: (this year)

Rosetta Stone level 2 - listening

Pimsleur level 1 (comprehensive) - conversation

Let's Learn Kanji

Japanese in MangaLand 1 - text and workbook

Japanese the Easy Way - grammar/sentence structure

Next year in 11th grade we'll use the complete Genki 1 level with text, workbook and CDs. If she can get through level 1 quickly with what she has already learned, we'll move on to Genki level 2.

My ds spent the last semester in Japan at a Japanese University (Kansai Gaidai University) where he studied Japanese and Asian Culture. They used the Genki program there (it was actually developed at Kansai Gaidai) and he found it very helpful ( along with actually having to listen to, read and understand the language just to get around!).

Another series that looks terrific is Adventures in Japanese. You can buy a whole set with text, workbook, CDs, interactive CD-Rom, etc. It comes in 4 levels so your dc could study Japanese all 4 years. I wish I had seen this when we were first looking for materials as I would have started out and used it all the way through.

Another place to look is the online class at BYU (Brigham Young University). They have two years of Japanese classes for high schoolers online and I know several of the ladies here in the past have used it and had good reviews.

What we have used has worked and my dd has learned a lot. She enjoys the study.

[NJKelli]

When my dh started teaching Japanese at a public hs he looked around a lot and settled on Adventures in Japanese. Both of us lived there for years and have degrees in Japanese so it's hard to judge how it would work without a parent or someone else knowing the language, but it might be worth looking into.

[Linda in NE]

Adventures in Japanese, Level 1, and he loves it. I don't know how it would work without a tutor, however. In fact, I just asked him if he thinks this could be done alone, without a tutor, and he said, "Probably not." His tutor gives him someone to talk with, and she also adds a lot to the curriculum in addition to conversation.

I would recommend finding a tutor for your child if she's really serious about the language. It's been the best money I've spent all year. We found our tutor at our church.

[twoblessings]

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