Human Japanese Reviewer's Comments

Human Japanese is a relative newcomer to the Learn Japanese Software arena, but it manages to stand up well to the established contenders. Human Japanese offers a fresh perspective on teaching Japanese that we thought was quite successful. It’s not as interactive as some of the other programs in this review, but it’s still engaging and effective.

Human Japanese uses a series of texts, voice clips and quizzes to teach Japanese. While it may sound like you’re buying a glorified Japanese textbook, the teaching texts in Human Japanese are surprisingly simple and useful. They are much easier to read and understand than any textbook we’ve seen. Woven into the Human Japanese texts are a series of audio clips and translations that help augment the lesson and give examples.

Human Japanese didn’t rank higher because it is missing some of the interactivity that makes the top 3 so effective at teaching Japanese. It also lacks a speech recognition system for practicing pronunciation. Nevertheless, Human Japanese made it to #5 through sheer simplicity and effectiveness. If you don’t need video or other fancy add-ons to the teaching process, Human Japanese may be the perfect program to help you learn Japanese.

Human Japanese Screenshots. Click for more
       


Features:  

There are progress tracking features that keep track of your performance in quizzes and exercise. You can also access all lessons and activities at any time so you can customize your curriculum, although there is a definite series of lessons if you want more structure. Additionally, the Human Japanese website offers some good resources for adding to your Japanese learning.

Fundamentals:  

Most of the vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension in Human Japanese are done through the text interspersed with clips of native speakers. These audio clips are associated with Japanese sentences that can be translated and studied. Human Japanese also has one of the best explanations we found of how Japanese pronunciation works. While there isn’t a speech recognition system to test yourself on, the explanations are simple enough for you to get a handle on pronunciation anyway.

The only thing that is really missing in Human Japanese is conversation practice. There are some set conversations in the text that you can listen to and mimic, but there is nothing that allows you to choose responses or interact in a conversation.

Ease of Use:  

One of the real strengths of Human Japanese is ease of use. You have a list of lessons and quizzes that can easily be accessed at any time, and the audio clips are simply activated by clicking on them. Human Japanese makes the learning curriculum so simple it’s impossible to get lost.

Teaching Tools:  

Human Japanese relies heavily on text and audio clips, with the occasional image to illustrate things in the cultural lessons. The cultural lessons themselves are useful because they are written from the perspective of a foreigner who learned the customs and culture of Japan first-hand. The Human Japanese word recognition activities are simple but useful, too.

Perhaps the most useful tool that Human Japanese provides is the user forum, where you can discuss Japanese with other students and get help with your studies.

The glaring omission in Human Japanese is the speech recognition system. Many other programs have one for practicing pronunciation. The lack of one is the major reason Human Japanese didn’t make it higher than #5.

Word Tools:  

There is a simple search feature in Human Japanese that allows you to look up words that you don’t understand. Human Japanese lessons also include instruction on the writing and pronunciation of symbols in the hiragana and katakana alphabets. Human Japanese doesn’t deal much with kanji, however.

Tech Support:  

Human Japanese has a useful FAQ that can answer many of your questions. If you need technical help, you can contact the manufacturers through email.

Summary:  

Human Japanese doesn’t have a lot of the interactivity that the other programs have, but its lessons are simple, concise and surprisingly effective.