JPod after Michel Thomas?

[wpridmore1437]

Hi guys,

Newly registered member, recently obtained the Ultimate Getting Started Pack. I've studied some Japanese at school and uni, but my grammar is fairly basic.

I am currently going through Michel Thomas Japanese, which I'm really enjoying. I've nearly finished the Foundation 8 CDs, and planning to keep the ball rolling and move onto the Advanced 4 CDs.

Has anyone else switched to JPod after completing Michel Thomas? I'd like to know what level to start at after completion, so that I can keep the motivation up, and move onto new material. I guess I can listen to a few random JPod lessons to try to place myself, but if someone could provide some clue as to where to start JPod post-Michel Thomas, that would be great. I don't mind so much about missing some vocab from JPod (Michel Thomas vocab is not that great), I'm more interested in furthering my grammatical development and fluency.

Also, which parts of JPod should I download while I still have my temporary Premium membership? I already have the full Innovative Language course, so I won't bother with the lessons themselves. Is there anything else useful that I should get, that isn't in the Innovative Language course?

Thanks heaps for any assistance, sorry for the long post! Enjoying getting into Japanese .

Cheers,
Will

[mwbeale6642]

I'm not sure I know what the Innovative Language course is.

My view is that you should just subscribe to a Jpod101 premium membership and use the site and resources at your leisure. The value you get for the money is so great that I really wouldn't worry about the entirely reasonable amount of money that is asked for (especially if you sign up to one of the special offers that come out quite often).

マーティン

[doncorleone4633289]

Will-san,

I used the Pimsleur Method and some of Rosetta Stone prior to finding JapanesePod101, and I just started at Absolute Beginner. I found that there were some things that were new to me even in those early lessons. As for those things that I knew already, having it presented in the style JP101 uses served as a nice review.

Cheers!

Jon

[dominicashmole1350]

Hi Will,

I did the same - starting with Michel Thomas Foundation and "Advanced" courses, then switching to jPod.

Michel Thomas great, but clearly not anything like approaching "Advanced".

jPod Premium very good value for money in comparison, especially if you wait for a good discounted deal.

I started at Newbie Series 1, but I'd recommend starting with Series 2, as from then on its a pretty systematically designed course. I take the vocab flashcard set for every lesson, so I guess my progress is a bit slow as I insist on memorising the entire vocab.

You also need a way of learning Kana if you haven't already done so. I found the phone app JASensei from http://www.japan-activator.com/ perfect for that - although its Android only.

Likewise, the book Learning the Kanji by Heisig, in combination with a Skritter subscription, does it for me with regards to learning to write...

If you don't plan on continuing your Premium subscription, then download the lot now! It's exceptional value and great material. But I'd strongly recommend Premium, especially for the Flaschard system, despite its slightly erratic technical support.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Dominic

[Jessi]

HI Will,
I'm not very familiar with the Michel Thomas course, but I also second the recommendation of starting with Newbie Season 2. Even as a Newbie series, the pace is pretty quick, and it's very grammar-based so I think it will help you review what you've learned already. You can go through them quickly until you reach some lessons that challenge you a bit, then you can slow down your pace and take more time to study.
I hope that helps!

Jessi

[wpridmore1437]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the slow response - life takes over!

Many thanks for the suggestions. I'll start with Newbie S2 as recommended, and then may as well follow the Nihongo Doujou sequence, because it seems to be fairly popular.

Also thanks for the suggestions on other learning ideas, Dominic. I'm using Heisig's RTK, although am having a bit of difficulty getting the stories to stick in my head. I've learned kana (for the most part) using iKana, a Mac flash card application. I also plan to read a textbook in parallel, perhaps Japanese for Busy People.

I've also found a few people on language exchange sites, with whom I'm exchanging English lessons for Japanese lessons, through Skype. A great method if any of you haven't started doing that!

Planning a year of teaching ESL in Japan post-undergrad (2014), so 2013 needs to be the year I step it up .

Good luck everyone!

Cheers,
Will

[community.japanese]

Will-san,
wow, you're coming to teach English? That's brilliant!
Please feel free to let us know if we can help you in your step-up plan! Good luck!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com