They were able to understand what I was trying to say, but it took a moment as I searched for the words to express myself. And of course many moments, the guys stepped in and did some translating. But it was great to get some speaking practice in. When I started learning Japanese, I had no intention of trying to speak the language, and absolutely no intention of trying to write in the language either. I easily found myself wanting to speak the language more, given the situation I was in. But writing in the language? Fuggedaboudit.
I wanted to be able to form my own sentences to go with the vocabulary I had picked up from Rosetta Stone. I thought a book would be the answer. After I tried out a few pages of a book "All about Particles" I thought this is going to be impossible, there is no way I have the time to read a book, much less time to extrapolate a particle usage from a book, take notes and understand enough for near future use.
After 2 minutes of search I decided to try out the Michel Thomas Japanese Lecture Series on audio. I had no idea what I was getting into, I just wanted to be able to fit a void that I had. I spend 40-50 minutes driving in the car listening to music each day. Why not spend it with some Japanese. It was Perfect for me. I started with the goal of listening to each lecture 3 times before moving on to the next CD.
The Michel Thomas beginners course, having finished it, provided a solid solid foundation for obtaining an ability to form a sentence together with particles. It was a massive help and a huge surprise as I was not expecting the course to focus on sentence structure so much. It has taken me a little over 2 months to listen to 8 hours of audio lecture 3 times, during 40-50 minute sessions in the car 3-4 times a week. Obviously if you had the time, you could kill this course off in a few days. Such is a luxury that I do not have. The format is essentially a repeat after me, and then how would you say such and such in Japanese, requiring you to pause several times. This is great, it gives you time to think, and then come up with the answer, and then listen to see if you are correct. The only fallback to frequent pausing is driving a car with an extremely heavy clutch in traffic. Driving with a heavy clutch in traffic is hard enough, having to pause in heavy traffic only adds to that, it gets easier as time goes on.
Upon finishing the course, you will be able to form a sentence with the knowledge you already have. Having completed Rosetta stone on top of that, I had quite an arsenal to work with, while still being a beginner at the language, the course was a tremendous help.
The negative parts of the course, in my opinion are a little nit picky, but since I came away with a full understanding of how to properly form a sentence, I didnt mind. In addition to you blabbing away in Japanese, there are 3 other people in the course who also speak. Two people learning for the first time and a native speaker. The native speaker in the course is great as you understand how things are supposed to properly sound from a native speaking point of view. The two in the course who are learning serve as a way for you to hear the errors that they make, and correct them.
You may make the same errors as this student who are learning. But there is one student who constantly makes mistakes, I mean she is messing up all the time, and it gets very annoying. You hear her make a mistake in nearly every sentence, it gets quite frustrating. By the end of the lecture the other student starts making the same exact mistake several times. Mistakes are great, I made alot, and its how you learn, but to hear other people on the audio lecture make mistakes constantly was a little annoying. By no means does it affect your learning, if anything it helps.
Another nitpick, is the vocabulary. The amount of vocabulary you can learn is a bit on the low side, and since I completed the Rosetta Stone, much of the vocabulary, save for maybe 2 or 3 words I did not know. Again I wasnt worried, as I really gained a solid understanding of particles and forming a sentence on my own.
This program is highly recommended, I would even say, if you dont know jack about Japanese, Start with Michel Thomas Japanese, it provides a great introduction to the Japanese Language that takes perhaps the easiest possible route to initially learning the Language. Since I am always looking for a way to fit Japanese into my busy schedule, I had filled up my car time with Michel Thomas Japanese. With that course now complete I will now be looking for something else. Stay tuned
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