A few years ago when Z decided he wanted to learn Japanese, I had a mini-breakdown, sort of. I made sure he understood that it would not be me teaching him Japanese, it would be us learning together.
I searched to find the right program, one that would be audio and visual and teach grammar and writing. Irasshai was that program. Because of life and other pressing academic matters we started and stopped a few times. We poked at it with a stick. This year we started full-time effort. The Irasshai program reminds me of how you would learn foreign language in high school. The videos on GPB feature Tim-sensei breaking it down into palatable chunks for us. We're using the textbook and workbook to make it a full and rich program.
However, here comes the cons, it does move slowly. Not OMG! Would you move already slowly, but incrementally to make sure all students are progressing.
Because I like to make things difficult and because ds's interest allows us to move at a faster pace, I added a second Japanese program, Beginning Japanese by Tuttle. It includes a text, workbook, and website, timeforjapanese.com. I like it as well, but it moves at a faster pace. It introduces kanji in chapter 1, it assumes you will know hiragana and katakana early on. It is probably best used when there is a trained Japanese teacher available, or a motivated student. In my case I have the second.
The pros of this program are you feel like you're reading and using Japanese, even after the first chapter. They also have a website with access to teacher material. I e-mailed for access and received approval right away. The website also features the dialogues in the book. These are great because they speak at a natural speed. Irasshai is mostly classroom speaking, s.l.o.w.e.r. so you catch pronunciation. They have some video dialogues as well, but the audio isn't as crisp as the recordings from Beginning Japanese.
Right now we are merging the two programs, switching around each week. Irasshai has two volumes that break down into three years of study. Beginning Japanese is followed up by Intermediate Japanese with Advanced Japanese not yet available.
Which is better? Neither. They both serve a function. It really does depend on how motivated your student is and if you, as the teacher, will be learning alongside them.
1 comment:
Girl, I so hear you with learning Japanese.
Baby Boy insisted on Japanese and we also poked at Irasshai with a stick or two, LOL. Thankfully I too had an extremely motivated student and he pretty much took it up on his own. He's in his 4th semester of college Japanese now, and speaks to me in Japanese all the time. I don't understand him, so I just answer whatever I think he said with my Spanish that I'm trying to keep up on.
Two black people with mediocre English skills conversing in Japanese and Spanish . . . we're quite a pair, LOL.
Good luck!
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