Rosetta Stone V2: Japanese Level 1 [OLD VERSION]

by Fairfield Language Technologies

Product Features

• This powerful tool uses advanced multimedia tools to immerse you completely in Japanese, as you experience the language just as a native-speaker would
• You'll enjoy 12 special activities with 92 lessons each -- all of them fun and interesting, and sure to teach you more about the language
• Key skills in listening comprehension, reading, speaking and writing are developed as you get a taste of Japanese culture
• Previews, tests and automated tutorials help you when you're stumped, so that your Japanese speaking skills never cease to grow!

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004YUGP
• Item model number: 032-00
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 10, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,843 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #95 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Asian

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older)

Product Description

With the Rosetta Stone Japanese Personal Edition Level 1, you have the same new language-instruction techniques at your disposal that the U.S. State Dept, the Peace Corps and NASA use!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best language software I have seen so far, June 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Japanese Level 1 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

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.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but use other references too!, November 10, 2004

By 

crouchingtiger "Japanese learner" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Japanese Level 1 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

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.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imersion..., January 9, 2006

By 

Robert E. West Jr. (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Japanese Level 1 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Through my personal experience this was the perfect program for myself learning the japanese language in a recreational manner. I was not a student learning for credit, but in fact a person with numerous Japanese friends who was planning on moving to Japan soon with some of them. I was not that interested in reading and writing said language, but more in fact interested in better comunications with my friends and the new people I would meet while living in Japan. For this reason this software was perfect. It teaches through a completely visual level. I completely understand why some of the other reviews have critism. This is not a program I believe that is very efficent in conjunction with a collegiate course, but more for the beginings of basic everyday communication in this language. It has also helped tremendously to have a slew of Japanese friends to help me along the way, but with this software I have moved leaps and bounds in my understanding of this language. I have always been notoriously horrible at college language courses, and was quite intimidated at the thought of learning a new language. However, with the help of my friends and this program I have now become quite a casual speaker of the language, and I recomend it to anyone who wishes to accomplish the same goals as I did. Once again I must state though...THIS IS NOT A GOOD PROGRAM FOR COLLEGATE STUDY OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE, BUT AMAZING FOR THE BASIC AUDITORY COMPREHENSION OF THE LANGUAGE. I hope my take on this software has helped in some way.