Customer Reviews

Learn in Your Car Japanese, Level One [With Guidebook]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If your goal is to communicate verbally while traveling and you prefer to learn from interaction and practice rather than studying a book, this is an excellent resource. This gave me enough skills to get around Japan and greatly added to the enjoyment of my trip. If you have the impression that 'everyone' speaks English in Japan, then don't leave Tokyo. My simple interactions opened a lot of doors and made folks happy to deal with me rather than ignoring the tourist. It also made folks more comfortable to try a little English, after they heard my efforts at Japanese. Between the two it worked out great.

The tapes covered all the standard phrases dealing with travel and they can take you a long way. 'Denshya no eki, a doko des ka?' or 'Where is the train station?' got me out of a lot of trouble, everytime I got lost doing walking tours in the countryside.

I've also used the German tapes and have just ordered the French. I've bought many a language book and so far these are my favourite.

I would give this 5 star rating if it weren't the lack of grammar features in the beginning.

My commuting to and from work takes almost two hours a day. That's the reason why I bought this product (I have both CD and cassette tape versions as each of my two cars have CD player and tape player only). I have tried two other products for learning Japanese before, but they were absolutely useless as I had to have a book in front of me while listening. This product allows you to listen to the tape or CD in the car while driving. Every word or phrase is pronounced in English first, then in Japanese twice in pure Japanese accent - with pauses in between so you can practice pronouncing it, too. It is a simple method, but it works amazingly well. Remember the most efficient way of learning a language (at least in the entry level) is by speaking and listening, not reading from a book.

It also comes with a small book that describes meaning and pronunciation of every word / phrase used in the audio feature. One can easily review it after or before listening to the tape / CD.

So what is the flaw? This does not give you grammar review in the beginning (only have completed first CD so can't tell you for the rest) so it can be confusing for some listeners at first. Japanese and English do not have the same arrangement or order when it comes to lining up subject, verb and objective. I wish this is discussed more in the beginning.

In general I found these discs (Level 1 to 3) good for covering basic vocabulary whilst out of Japan. However, they never really get you further than a basic understanding because at no time are you taught sentence conjunctions or how to express running thoughts. These very important points are covered by courses such as Living Language Japanese (basic-intermediate and advanced) but probably put off the beginner who wants or needs instant results. Further, there are mistakes in the application of some grammar points which may become a burden if you decide to continue your studies to a higher level. Treat this course as a good way to get started, but then progress to something like the Living Language courses which provide a better understanding of the language - but don't be suprised when you find some point of grammer you spent so much time mastering in the 'In-your-car' series turns out to be over-simplified or just plain awkward in real speech and needs to be unlearned.

Do know this, any attempt you make to learn some Japanese will be greatly appreciated by the Japanese. If your goal is just to learn a few key phrases before going to Japan then this course is no worse than any other 'quick-course' on the market.

This program is not at all what I expected. It's simple and straightforward. I put the CDs on my iPod and practice while I'm driving and when I am able to at work. I have learned so much in such a short time. It is great because it's not necessary to sit down with a textbook or a pad of paper. Also included is a tiny booklet with all the translations which helps when I briefly review it from time to time. I also listen to Pimsleur's Japanese which is entirely different covering separate ground. I'm happy to add more depth to my study with another beginner's study aid. I recommend these CDs to anyone wanting to start learning Japanese or improve their skills.

Contrary to the product description, the recorings are NOT slow and designed to simulate a child's learning process! They are normal speed, said twice and then they move on to the next one. Half the time you can't hear what they're saying well enough to mimic it. Also, it could have been organized a little better. I wanted to learn something simple like, "Hello. My name is...may I speak with...". But I never found it! I think 3 CD's are generous for under [$$$], but this is for people that already know Japanese and not for people that are just learning for the 1st time.

I'm a US citizen currently residing in Japan (US military). I've purchased several books and audio instructions to help me learn enough Japanese to get by while I'm here, and nothing has really helped until these CDs. Awesome and wonderful for the beginner!

You need to be aware of exactly what this system is. I wasn't when I bought it, and had an unhappy surprise. The English speaker says a word or phrase (twice), and then the Japanese speaker translates it (twice). That's all! This is by no means useless, but it's not a very good way to go about learning Japanese. I'd recommend this system for reviewing your vocabulary and filling in some gaps. For this to work, you should actually listen to the CDs multiple times. It's the sort of thing you would play while you sleep for subliminal learning.

Conversational Japanese: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur) actually engages you and makes you participate. When you hear a new term, you're not expected to grasp it all at once. It's broken down so you can clearly hear what it is you're supposed to repeat. Plus, you get real conversation at normal speed thrown in. I've used both systems, and I recommend Pimsleur first (though I'm not throwing out my LIYC audio).

For the price, this is much better than other ones out there, like Living Language and the CDs that went with some textbooks I've had, because it speaks the English AND the Japanese for each word/phrase being taught. You really can learn in your car. It has a good variety of lessons, lots of material (although there are a few strange items thrown in). I don't recommend the audio download since you don't get a booklet with the written phrases, and that would have been really helpful since sometimes it's hard to catch all the sounds. Also, I wouldn't want to lose even an ounce of clarity in the download quality.

I recommend this over starting with a textbook approach, or at least do audio and written study together, because speaking and listening are the most important part of learning a language. Having read a book doesn't help you a bit when you are out in Japan trying to understand what people are saying to you.

This is a review for Levels 1, 2, and 3 (the "complete" set), but many of my points apply to this Level 1 course.

I have found this "listen and repeat" audio course very useful in my studies. It's not all-encompassing, but for the price it is a good value. Don't be turned off by the first few tracks, which are for travelers going to Japan. After track six it goes into vocab and sentences that you would learn from a basic textbook. I've been able to turn lots of wasted time driving, doing chores, and exercising into something more productive. By breaking each track into smaller ones using iTunes (~1 min in length), this course has become even better for me.

Learn in Your Car (LIYC) is great for building up vocabulary and essential sentence patterns quickly in Japanese. If you are looking for an audio course that explains grammar, try Michel Thomas. LIYCJ may be a bit too fast-paced for complete beginners, but if you are even semi-familiar with some of the basics (kana sounds, basic grammar: the "o," "wa," "ga," "ni," and "no" particles, the concept of counters for counting objects, etc.), you'll be fine. I think LIYCJ is best suited for supplementing material you are learning currently, or to brush up on Japanese you've forgotten. However, beginners, even complete beginners, can still learn a lot from doing this course if they don't mind looking up grammar online for more details. If you have the money and you don't have much experience with Japanese, I highly suggest using Michel Thomas' course(s) first, then LIYCJ. Both combined are still much cheaper than Pimsleur.

While I think the popular audio courses are very different from each other, and it's a bit unfair to directly compare them, comparisons are still useful, especially since you probably can't afford all three for lack of time/money. With that said, here's a comparison of some of them:

Comparison to Other Audio Programs (from what I've read and learned from listening to samples, I only own LIYCJ and Michel Thomas):

-Michel Thomas: Slower-paced. Lesson/classroom format with two other students that explains grammar. Small amount of vocab (couple hundred), but you'll know it well. Has you build your own sentences with lots of practice. Lesson overview booklet included. Good value for the price. 8 hours of audio for beginner course, 4 hours for advanced course. Tracks are roughly 5-6 min in length, so easy to skip back and forth. Would pair nicely with LIYC Japanese (I suggest using it before LIYCJ). The "slow" student in the lessons may get on your nerves after a while. I've found it very engaging and fun so far! Best audio course for complete beginners.

-Learn in Your Car: Faster-paced. Listen and repeat (no lessons that explain grammar). Transcripts (with brief grammar notes) included. Focuses on building vocabulary and learning basic sentence patterns, covers major verb tenses. Incorporates previously learned vocab in new sentences to reinforce. Good value for price. 9 hours of audio. Tracks are short, easy to skip around. Better for semi-beginners than complete beginners.

-Pimsleur: Very slow pace. Listen and repeat. Better than other courses for pronunciation, since it says each sentence at varying speeds and even backwards. No transcripts. Has Graduated Interval Recall method which asks you to repeat phrases you learned before at consistent intervals. Small amount of vocab (~500), but you'll know it well . Focuses on memorizing dialogue. Lessons are generally 30 min long, so it's harder to skip around to repeat something specific. Good, but seems overpriced for for the material you learn. ~45 hours of audio for all 3 levels of comprehensive package, but most of that is repetition. OK for complete beginners, but MT is better.

-Drive Time Japanese (Living Language): Some people seem to really like this series. It sounds extremely similar to LIYC, mostly listen and repeat. Reinforces/repeats previously learned words in new sentences. Comes with a booklet with transcripts. Relatively inexpensive.

-Japanesepod101: Podcasts plus other materials for beginner to advanced learners. Each podcast normally has a fun dialogue, slower version of the dialogue, then they explain the vocab and grammar. The newer podcasts (Newbie series and later seasons of beginner, intermediate, and advanced) seem more structured and efficient than the earlier ones. You can get a free 7 day trial to see if you like it. A basic subscription is $8/month (can download all podcasts and transcripts), but you can often get it for $4/month. Or you could pay for a few months and download everything you want and then quit. The latest podcasts are free on iTunes. Unfortunately, their website is a bit confusing and extremely commercialized (feels like an infomercial!), but the podcasts are actually quite good.

-Behind the Wheel: At this time I haven't been able to find much reliable information about this course, so I'm hesitant to recommend it. From reviews it sounds like it helps you build up your own sentences, and is similar to this course in that it has a lot of "listen and repeat" material. One reviewer mentioned that it does not have the most logical grouping of words. (Note that some of the reviews for it are fishy...they are written by reviewers who recommend Behind The Wheel in every single one of their reviews, and the only reviews they've written are for similar language courses. There aren't very many "real" reviews left after you discard those, so beware.)
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Learn in Your Car Japanese:

Pros:
-Learn ~2000 words/short sentences
-Covers quite a bit of material in terms of sentence patterns and verb tenses (see detail below). While I wouldn't say you'd be an upper-beginner after finishing this course (especially since you aren't writing anything), it's certainly an excellent foundation and you'd be able to blaze through parts of your textbook since you already know some of the vocabulary and grammar. You'll have many "Aha!" moments when you connect the grammar explanation from the textbook with the sentences you learned on the CDs.
-Comes with booklets that contain transcripts. They have the pronunciation in romaji and kana (Pimsleur does not have transcripts). They also have brief grammar notes.
-Most words are spoken clearly. There were a couple of words/phrases per track that I couldn't understand well, but I just looked them up when I got home. The "g" is a bit soft and sometimes sounds like an "m." Sometimes I can't differentiate between the "wa" and "o" particles if the speaker says things too quickly.
-Progressively builds on previous knowledge so sentences get longer/more complex over time (though they are still pretty short when compared to a fluent speaker, I think sentences from Michel Thomas are longer)
-Vocabulary is repeated throughout to reinforce memory
-For the most part, words/sentences are grouped logically together
-Each word/phrase is repeated once in English, then twice in Japanese. There is normally enough time in between to say it out loud (assuming you know the answer and are relatively quick about it)
-Good for beginners who want to learn some basic Japanese words/phrases without worrying about grammar (assuming they don't mind blindly memorizing).
-Can be used as a supplement to a textbook if you are currently studying Japanese (correct pronunciation is important, plus it reinforces vocab and grammar)
-Also good for reviewing Japanese you have learned in the past
-Easy to listen to while you drive, exercise, do chores, etc.
-Tracks vary from a couple minutes to ten minutes in length, so it's easy to skip ahead or go back.

Cons:
-Just like Pimsleur, you aren't going to be "taught" anything in this course. It's purely listen and repeat. The transcripts do have brief grammar notes, so I suggest reading them before getting in your car or exercising, etc. Unfortunately, they hardly explain anything about counters. It's a relatively easy concept to grasp but you'll be confused as to why the phrase "one person" ("hitori") is its own word that does not include the words "one" or "person" ("ichi" and "nin").
-Does not cover the kana sounds in the audio. There is a brief description in the booklet about basic Japanese sounds.
-Don't expect to understand all of the grammar that you hear. This course is designed for you to memorize the pattern first, and then learn the grammar behind it from a textbook. You can either just copy the speaker and blindly memorize, or you can look up more information online.
-Covers mainly polite Japanese only
-Doesn't cover much adjective conjugation (i.e. negative adjectives)
-I wish the tracks had been broken into 1 to 2 minute segments. They vary from 1 to 10 minutes in length. Over 2 minutes is too many words at once! I had to keep rewinding or fast forward to the part I wanted to learn. I solved this by importing the songs into iTunes, right-clicking on the track to get the info, changing the stop/start time of the track, and then creating an AAC file copy. This makes it easier to digest the material in small chunks! I can just repeat 1-2 minute sections and then move onto the next one when I'm ready.
-There are no dialogues, just words and short sentences. You won't practice your listening comprehension very much (for that I've heard Living Japanese: Diversity in Language and Lifestyles (Conversations with Native Speakers) is good)
-The pacing and lesson order makes sense for the most part, but I'm not sure why basic things like colors, clothes, and days of the week are on the last CD (the vocab is put into more complex sentences though, so it's not just a list of words)
-You aren't encouraged to make your own sentences, which Michel Thomas (and supposedly Behind the Wheel) does.

Overview of Lessons (I did not list all tracks because some are continuations (e.g. "More numbers")):

LEVEL 1
Basics (I, you, he, she...)
Basic Phrases
Transportation Nouns
Transportation Phrases
Money
Hotel
Directions (right, left, corner, street...)
Numbers
At the Restaurant (no food names though)
Shopping
Time, General
Time of Day
Questions
Shops
Nouns
Adjectives and Adverbs
Verbs
Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional Pronouns
Possessive Adjectives
Conjunctions and Similar Words
Wanting to Do Something
Forming Questions
Having to Do Something

LEVEL 2
Sentences with Negative Adjectives
Getting Around
The Verb Desu - To Be
The Verbs Imasu and Arimas (to be or exist, present tense)
To have or to own something
Present tense practice
Future Tense
Past Tense
The Telephone
Iru and Aru in negative sentences
Desu with Adjectival nouns
Desu with verbal adjectives
Negative past tense

LEVEL 3
To be able to do something
Present progressive tense (I am eating)
Using direct object pronouns in sentences
Using indirect object pronouns in sentences
Pronouns in negative sentences
The Car
Needing to Do Something
Someone should do something
Someone might do something
Days of the Week
Months of the Year
At the doctor's office
At the dinner table
Reflexive and Reciprocal constructions (the man washes himself)
Clothes (vocab is placed in full sentences here)
Colors (vocab is placed in full sentences here)

Compared to Pimsleur, I think LIYC is a much better value. It's not as dialogue-focused, and it doesn't have the "Graduated Interval Recall" method (which basically just asks you to remember sentences you learned before), but it goes through much more vocabulary and at least the same amount of grammar. I really like the LIYCJ transcripts in case you don't catch what the speaker said. Michel Thomas is also good if you want more of a classroom/lesson format. In fact, you should try doing Michel Thomas first to understand the grammar, and then use LIYCJ to build your vocabulary and practice the grammar. Every language course has its pros and cons, so I recommend seeing if your library has these courses to figure out which is best for your learning style.

A little about my Japanese studies: I'm using Japanese for Everyone: A Functional Approach to Daily Communication as my main textbook. For Kanji I use Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters. To review vocab/grammar/kanji I use Anki, a free flashcard software with spaced-repetition.

If you want some more ideas for well-reviewed resources, I've made a Listmania List called The "Best" Books/Resources for Learning Japanese: Beginner to Advanced. I'll post the link in the comments in case you are interested.

I hope you have fun Learning Japanese!

This is a vocabulary list. That's all it is. It's not even a very good vocabulary list; it doesn't take time to explain the terms when the Japanese and English don't mean quite the same things. Maybe it gets better later on, I only got through the first hour, but so far it's essentially a guy reading out a dictionary. Utterly useless. If you tried to make conversation using this, you're going to make an idiot of yourself, assuming you can even manage to string together a sentence.