Human Japanese

Pros- Introduces Hiragana and Katakana characters by teaching stroke order and pronunciation. The characters are introduced little by little with the help of a quiz, making them much easier to memorize as opposed to learning them all at once.- Helpful cultural notes are dispersed throughout the software- Concepts are introduced in an easy to understand, conversational way- Audio recordings for all Japanese words and phrasesCons- Too much vocabulary is introduced at one time- The vocabulary and concept quizzes are awful. There is no way to choose how many or which words are used in the quiz, it just quizzes you on everything in the chapter at random and indefinitely, making the quiz practically useless for chapters that have a lot of vocabulary, like chapter 28, which has 39 pages.- There are no exercises whatsoever, only readings that do not require any user input. Because of this, in my opinion, coupled with the horrible quizzes, retention is rendered almost impossible.- Some concepts are introduced seemingly at random. For example, the particle "ni" is introduced in chapter 20, but the particle "de" isn't introduced until chapter 35... The problem with this is that both particles are very similar in meaning and it would make a lot more sense to explain both of them at the same time. The result for me was that, for a long time, I incorrectly used "ni" in places where "de" belonged.- Verb conjugation isn't explained at all. This to me is the worst part of the software. When the author introduces verbs, he introduces them in their "-masu" and "-te" forms instead of their dictionary forms. This makes it impossible to know what is actually happening to the verb. For example, when he introduces the verb "iku" (to go), he introduces it as "ikimasu" and "itte", providing no explanation for how "ikimasu" conjugates to "itte". In fact, the only way to know how this happens is to know that the dictionary form of "ikimasu" and "itte" is "iku", but he doesn't even mention it! There is also no mention of the difference between "u" verbs, "ru" verbs, and irregular verbs, leaving the user with the impression that the "-masu" and "-te" forms must simply be committed to memory.- There are several typos throughout the software, including a typo in one of the Japanese examples.Other thoughts:I bought this software as a result of not being able to take the first two intro Japanese classes at my college. I figured that if I used this software, I could opt into the third course and continue from there. My reason for choosing Human Japanese was that I thought it would be much less overwhelming compared to using a textbook. Fortunately, it was. However, if I could go back in time I would definitely choose to use the Genki textbook instead. I was able to opt into the third class, but after going through the first Genki textbook and doing all the exercises, I can say confidently that the Genki textbook isn't that difficult to navigate and far more rewarding and informative.

I was wanting to learn Japanese, not only to read and speak fluently, buy to be able to talk to myself without anyone knowing what i was saying. With this program, I am able to achieve my wish! This software is so down to earth and friendly, I am surprised I am not talking to an actual person.I have had this software for a few months now, and when I get a break from my classes, I enjoy the time I spend learning this new language. There is one or two words placed wrongly in a sentence in English, but that is throughout the entire program, while its nothing to ponder on what they just said. You can also report it to Brak, and I am sure they will fix it.How it works: At the beginning, there is a very mild and friendly introduction, that warms you up to what is coming later. Then, it gives you a tad but of history and few moments to tell you about the writing sysytem. Once that is over, it brings you through Hirigana, the first part, all the while showing you how to write the character and giving you a hint on how to write and how to remember it. Hirigana part 1 is over, now a few pages on the Geography of Japan. Now to Hirigana part 2! Once you have learned Hirigana, they launch you into an amazingly simple and easy introduction to Greetings and what to call things around the home, and explaining how verbs are used. There are 40 chapters, and I am only on 20, which is great, because I am at my own limit, as well as you can, either if you are slow or busy, or fast or in a rush. You need time for this though.This software is cheap, as in the price, compared to Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone just starts flinging out words at you, where you have to figure out how to say it, and what it means, with no training under your belt. Not Human Japanese. I was about to buy a few books on how to speak and read Japanese, but i decided to go on a whim and purchase this software. I do not regret it, and it might have been the best 30 dollars i have ever spent......but i don't keep track. I am definitely going to buy Human Japanese Intermediate once I am done with this one. I am even hoping for them to do a Russian learning software.Buy this if you are wanting a friendly, self paced software that you can have fun working through, but if you wished to be pushed through learning a language, and like to guess what your saying, go somewhere else. If this was 50 or 100 dollars, i would still buy it, and still say it is the best learning program i have ever used.Remember as well, that this has fun match games and contest you can do with yourself or the computer, and beautiful recorded sound for the voices.

I have not yet really mastered the Japanese language yet due to me being lazy and not having much time, but the time I have spent using "Human Japanese" has been well spent. The lessons seem to progress logically and are informative. All in all i am satisfied with this product and would buy it again. Now it should be noted that I only gave this product 4 out of 5 stars, but that is not saying there is anything wrong with this product. It is just that I do not give 5 star ratings unless the product I am reviewing exceeds my unreasonably high expectations. All in all I would say if you are on the fence about this product, I don't think you will find a better piece of software for the money and probably many that are not as good for more.Buy it.Otis