Does rosseta stone really work? ( i want to learn japanese)?

Question:

ok yes i know there are tons of free websites that can help me learn japanese. but it seems like its a complete package that will keep me structured. and yes i know its expensive but i could always save up. so is rosseta stone for japanese any good and is it fun?

Answer:

I wouldn't suggest Rosetta Stone unless it's your last option. It literally just says a phrase, and shows you four pictures. You have to click the picture corresponding to the phrase. This eventually turns into a "click till you get it right" game that you've payed a lot of money for.

What's worse is that the hardest thing to learn about Japanese for a native English speaker is the differences in sentence structure; which Rosetta Stone doesn't address at all. I wouldn't ever suggest Rosetta Stone unless someone else was picking up the tab. Myself, I've been taking Basic Spoken Japanese courses at my college, which offers free access to Rosetta Stone for the language you're studying. I tried it out, and found it to be complete rubbish. It's just a guessing game. At most, you'll learn some basic vocab, but for $500 dollars I'd of expected more...

I'm going to highly suggest two books. The first is the text book we use for my Basic Spoken Japanese course. The second is a work book I''ve bought at Barnes and Noble that is helpful with some basic vocab and structures. They are both very helpful at the spoken language, and neither is very expensive.

"Japanese for Busy People". The romanized (english alphabet) version teaches you how to speak basic Japanese, and if you keep up with it it works very well. Make sure to use the version publicized around 1994 as this was the best version of the book released. (Yes, there were later, "updated" versions released, but my Japanese professor says they are flawed in too many ways). Plus, since it's an older book, you can get it online for under $5! There's also a workbook that is made to complement this textbook, but I haven't tried it (although my Japanese professor suggests it).

http://www.abebooks.com/9784770018823/Ja…

The other book I'll suggest in "Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day". I'd really suggest using it as a compliment to the first book I mentioned, since it's less detailed. "Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day" comes with cut-out Japanese flash cards and stickers with Japanese words and their pronunciations on them to stick onto the item they represent around your house (the Japanese word for "light" is on a sticker that you'd stick onto a lamp, for example). It's got great visuals and exercises that are easy to relate to (like a family tree to learn the names of family members). Again, I'd really suggest if as plus to "Japanese for Busy People". It's not too expensive online, but I'd only buy it new to be sure it still has the flash cards and the vocab stickers.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1…

Japanese is one of the hardest language to learn for a native English speaker, and it's not something to take lightly. If you're serious about learning it, you have to treat Japanese as a serious class or even a job, and give it a lot of time. I'd suggest at least a solid hour or so a day to really start grasping it. You'd be surprised what a good text book, a pack of flash cards, and a bit of determination can get you!