I have an important comment for JP101...

[chatmonchyonna7449]

I am not sure if this is the right category to post this in but I hope, because I hear over and over on the podcasts to leave a comment on the website. So I have something to say to the JapanesePod101 staff.
Please read this, I have been meaning to say what I think and leave feedback.

I think your podcasts are great, the conversations are a good way to get exposed to the language and you have some good grammar points. But I really wish that after a conversation is heard and you explain some vocabulary that you would go over all the words, not just some. In the "Eigo ga hairimasu" part of the conversations I wish you would explain what each word means instead of just putting an English equivalent. I find myself stuck because I feel like I cannot get a good understanding of what is being said. I really really feel like I am just remembering the English equivalent when i hear it again in Japanese, and not actually translating it in my head based on what they are saying. Unless I can learn to do that then I won't be able to learn. Most of the time I don't listen to the "Eigo ga hairimasu" part because it messes me up.

One more thing. There is something that really really bothers me. I am very busy, I am 16 and I have school and work and extra classes and a lot of homework. I hardly have any time to study Japanese but I find a way to make time because it is very important to me. I listen to your podcasts on an old mp3 player I have specifically for learning Japanese. I listen to it while walking to work, walking home from school, getting ready in the morning, or for a few minutes before I go to bed. I am always very exhausted but I try to focus very hard on learning when I can.

Now sometimes you will be explaining the use for an important word or particle and it may have multiple uses or meaning. You will explain one way it is used but not explain all the other uses and say that we can find out the other uses of this word by going to the pdf of the website. After I hear that I just get shut down, frustrated and sad. I do not have any time what so ever to try and find my way through the confusing website and struggle just so I can get the other half of the definition. I really do not understand one bit why you would only half explain something. We deserve to know all of it. It's like you are dangling candy in front of our faces from a string and then pulling the string back to the website to lure us in.
Sometimes I wonder if your true goal is to teach Japanese or to advertise your website.
I am not trying to sound hostile. I am very grateful for this website's help, but I just get really frustrated and I think if you know these things then maybe you can improve on it. Please here what I am saying and I hope you understand.


Sincerely,
Mira

[Yolan]

Hi Mira

Not a JPOD101 person anymore, but I read your post after scanning these forums for the first time in months and thought I would reply as it seems you are working hard.

I suggest you stop trying to translate the word in your head. I know it might run against the grain of wanting to understand, but a language cannot be mastered by accumulating enough discrete facts. You need to dive in, and over time (several thousand hours) have it soak into you. Yes, dictionaries are important, and learning grammar/rules can be helpful for polishing (especially at later stages when you can read such explanations in the language itself), but if you want to get fluent than I suggest you leave the lesson format behind and have as much fun contact with Japanese as you can. You will learn. Every small bit counts.

I gotta recommend www.ajatt.com
I don't agree with everything on it, but a lot of great ideas. It will get you thinking about language learning.
www.antimoon.com and www.l2languagemastery.com are also worth reading.

(Personal experience: I spent 7 years studying Japanese (including a year of exchange) and was still stuck in (upper?) intermediate because I refused to step outside attempting to accumulate language facts and just engage as much as possible. After reading AJATT I rethought my approach radically, and eight months later I can say I am pretty much fluent. My experience is of course my experience, not proof of some general rule that my way is the right way, but I just hope to convince you to read those sites. I only wish I could go back in time and convince myself...)

[Jessi]

Miraさん,
Thanks for your comments and feedback!
A lot of it has to do with time and prioritizing certain points over others to cover in a lesson. If we gave the all possible definitions and usages of all words and phrases, we'd have some very long podcasts! So we focus on a particular meaning (usually the one used in the dialogue) and if there are others, we put them in the lesson notes.
That's one of the main reasons why our podcasts work best not just by themselves but as part of the whole package, which includes the lesson notes.