Tell Me More Japanese Reviewer's Comments

It won’t take long to learn Japanese with the help of the “TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award” winning product, Tell Me More Japanese. Tell Me More uses a wide variety of tools to teach Japanese, and the program creates an immersion environment to help you learn Japanese intuitively.  

Tell Me More uses a speech recognition system to help you practice what you have learned. But one of the best parts about using Tell Me More is getting access to forums and live chats with native speakers. It must be said that the chat options for the Japanese product are older and less useful than the options that come with Tell Me More products for other languages. Nevertheless, they are still quite useful for practicing what you learn.

In fact, the whole program seems to be old when compared with the other language products from Tell Me More. This is part of the reason why it didn’t make it to the #1 slot. Another reason is that the immersion environment is pretty deep at first. Tell Me More doesn’t start off simple, instead throwing you into conversations from the beginning without any direction. But even with these problems, Tell Me More still excels at helping you learn Japanese, and there are so many different methods of learning that there’s bound to be a method that works for you.

Tell Me More Japanese Screenshots. Click for more
       


Features:  

The progress tracking feature in Tell Me More Japanese is initially confusing, but it accurately catalogs your progress and your performance. Another problem with Tell Me More are the learning paths. The order of lessons is fully customizable, but there isn’t much structure regarding lesson order. Tell Me More gives no direction on where to start, which is nice for independent learners but may be challenging for structured learners.

We were disappointed that Tell Me More doesn’t have lessons that are compatible with mobile devices. Many other Japanese programs are now including lessons for a PDA or MP3 player so you can learn anywhere.

Fundamentals:  

Tell Me More Japanese covers all the fundamentals through a series of modules that teach vocabulary and grammar about specific subjects. The grammar lessons are less interactive than some other Learn Japanese software, resembling a grammar textbook more than anything. This is offset by the Tell Me More Japanese speech recognition system where you can practice and refine conversations and pronunciation.

Ease of Use:  

Tell Me More Japanese isn’t as easy to use as it should be. There are a series of icons along the bottom representing different areas of the program, but they aren’t labeled well and it’s difficult to know exactly what you are clicking. The same is true for tabs or options within the Tell Me More activities themselves. You’ll find yourself doing a lot of trial and error navigation at first.

Teaching Tools:  

There are a wide variety of teaching tools to use in Tell Me More Japanese. The standard uses a combination of images, voice clips of native speakers and text from the Japanese alphabets. Tell Me More punctuates this with the occasional video or culture lesson. Some of the most effective tools are the speech recognition system, which lets you practice speaking and get immediate feedback on your accent, and the online chat, which lets you practice what you have learned with native speakers.

Word Tools:  

Tell Me More Japanese has one of the best selections of word tools you will find in Learn Japanese software. It allows you to translate any word you see quickly and easily. This feature will be invaluable in the beginning when you are dropped in the middle of Japanese without any introductory lessons. Tell Me More also has information about the hiragana, katakana and kanji alphabets.

Tech Support:  

Auralog, the manufacturer of Tell Me More Japanese, includes tutorials and user guides to help you learn how the program works. You can also contact Auralog through phone or email if you have technical issues with the software.

Summary:  

Tell Me More Japanese offers an effective speech recognition tool and online chats with native Japanese speakers to teach and refine your skills as you learn Japanese. Cultural lessons and educational videos round out this media rich program. Be prepared for a steeper learning curve than the top-ranked product, but once you've mastered the navigation, you'll find Tell Me More Japanese is one of the most useful and engaging Learn Japanese software programs available.