Another Newbie Series?? Yet still no Proper Advanced Series?

[rpgherogaz]

I notice that there is now a new "absolute Beginner" series starting Jan 2011.

I do not mean to sound a little moany, as I do love the idea of this site, but all I hear regarding new series is for more advanced material, with full Japanese explanations and lessons for the die-hards that have been here for years and have reached the stage where we do not want to use English in our study.

There seems to be already sufficient amount of lessons for newbies now right? Hundreds and hundreds of lessons, to the point that after completing them all, no one could still be newbie anymore, so how can JPOD justify making a new series to explain the same stuff all over again?

It would just be nice to know the 2011 has something for the vetrians of Japanese study, who are more likely to stay than the odd person who thinks Japanese can be mastered in 2 months to read manga or understand anime.

Material for N2+ students is far too hard to come by, sadly I feel because companies reckon that most students quit after N4 level so they are trying to cash in on popular demand..... it's a shame.

Thanks for you time, all the best for 2011.

Gaz

[プチクレア]

How true !

And while I know all the arguments about advanced japanese being "wild" japanese, that is something you can only find by watching drama, reading newspapers, getting access to native material, etc... I don't think Jpod needs another newbie series... Even more since Absolute Beginner is supposed to be even more newbie than newbie, and the newbie lessons themselves had a pretty low grammar contents. Actually, and even if I don't particularly enjoy saying that, I think you are doing people a disservice when you tell them they will be able to learn japanese without the grammar ! They will have trouble getting further than 今日は (Right now I'm living in the Netherlands, with after a month only a very shaky grasp of the language; I can read things mostly because I have an OK knowledge of German, and the languages are close, but without grammar you can't express yourself properly in everyday life. Try asking where the toothbrush are in a supermarket and understanding the answer without grammar !). I'd even be happy with more lower intermediate material, or the kind of lessons we had during the first beginner series (the golden days of Jpod !!!). Best would be more Upper Intermediate, Advanced, Blogs, etc...

I suppose this is an attempt to streamline Jpod with the other innovative languages sites...

Can we at least have some info about the new year schedule : days, types of lessons, and so on ?

Claire (going for N1 this year... and learning Dutch in the process)

[Jessi]

Hello, and thank you for your comments!

While it's true that beginner level students make up the huge majority of our listeners, we haven't forgotten about the intermediate and advanced group Lower Intermediate Season 6 just started a couple of days ago, and goes over a lot of points not covered in other LI lessons (do you know fractions and decimals in Japanese? ), and we have an advanced Keigo series coming later in the year (featuring a keigo expert!). We are also continuing our Audio blog, which uses the same blog + freestyle conversation format we have been doing.

We have just posted our full 2011 lesson schedule here at our blog, so please check it out for more information!

http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/20 ... pod101com/

[rpgherogaz]

Hello, and thank you for your comments!

While it's true that beginner level students make up the huge majority of our listeners, we haven't forgotten about the intermediate and advanced group Lower Intermediate Season 6 just started a couple of days ago, and goes over a lot of points not covered in other LI lessons (do you know fractions and decimals in Japanese? ), and we have an advanced Keigo series coming later in the year (featuring a keigo expert!). We are also continuing our Audio blog, which uses the same blog + freestyle conversation format we have been doing.

We have just posted our full 2011 lesson schedule here at our blog, so please check it out for more information!

http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/20 ... pod101com/

Thanks for the reply Jessi. I look forward to Season 6 and the advanced(?) lessons but have to say I was slightly hoping for a little more.

Happy New Year

[プチクレア]

Excuse me Jessi, but I fail to understand how anyone can see this as an improvement :
- there is one lesson less each week when compared to last year (no lesson on wednesday at all), no intermediate, no upper intermediate, and lower intermediate every other week.
- With 2 seasons of intermediate, 5 seasons of Lower Intermediate, 4 seasons of Upper intermediate, I don't think there are many grammar points left uncovered ... except for high level, newspapers-and-academic japanese, which is what intermediate and advanced learners on the site are asking for in the most part.
- Keigo has already been reviewed extensively in the different levels, so while a compact course might mean having everything in one place instead of looking all over the site, it is hardly anything new... and by the sound of it won't come out until the second half of the year.
- New feature lessons are not lessons, they're infomercials.
- JLPT series has stopped after N3 ... as the OP said, there is very little material for N2+ students on the web, and this would attract people
- Video lessons ... well, it might just be me but I can't learn with them. And unless you're bringing back something along the lines of the old iLove, they're beginner (not to say newbie) level anyway.
- Blog once a month... well this has been the trend for a few years, so nothing new here

To sum it up, intermediate and advanced learners can hope for.... 3 lessons a month at most...(2 LI + 1 blog) and maybe a little more at the end of the year depending on the contents of the Keigo series. Beginners have 2 lessons a week by the lowest estimate (Absolute Beginner/Beginner + Video). It's difficult to justify the price of even the basic subscription for that.

(By the way, I saw on the sidebar of the blog page links to HebrewPod101, HindiPod101, SwedishPod101, IndonesianPod101... very nice, but I cannot but get the feeling lesson levels are suffering because you're spreading yourselves thin investing time and money in new languages instead of producing higher quality content like we had in the first 3 years of Jpod...)

[rpgherogaz]

Excuse me Jessi, but I fail to understand how anyone can see this as an improvement :
- there is one lesson less each week when compared to last year (no lesson on wednesday at all), no intermediate, no upper intermediate, and lower intermediate every other week.
- With 2 seasons of intermediate, 5 seasons of Lower Intermediate, 4 seasons of Upper intermediate, I don't think there are many grammar points left uncovered ... except for high level, newspapers-and-academic japanese, which is what intermediate and advanced learners on the site are asking for in the most part.
- Keigo has already been reviewed extensively in the different levels, so while a compact course might mean having everything in one place instead of looking all over the site, it is hardly anything new... and by the sound of it won't come out until the second half of the year.
- New feature lessons are not lessons, they're infomercials.
- JLPT series has stopped after N3 ... as the OP said, there is very little material for N2+ students on the web, and this would attract people
- Video lessons ... well, it might just be me but I can't learn with them. And unless you're bringing back something along the lines of the old iLove, they're beginner (not to say newbie) level anyway.
- Blog once a month... well this has been the trend for a few years, so nothing new here

To sum it up, intermediate and advanced learners can hope for.... 3 lessons a month at most...(2 LI + 1 blog) and maybe a little more at the end of the year depending on the contents of the Keigo series. Beginners have 2 lessons a week by the lowest estimate (Absolute Beginner/Beginner + Video). It's difficult to justify the price of even the basic subscription for that.

(By the way, I saw on the sidebar of the blog page links to HebrewPod101, HindiPod101, SwedishPod101, IndonesianPod101... very nice, but I cannot but get the feeling lesson levels are suffering because you're spreading yourselves thin investing time and money in new languages instead of producing higher quality content like we had in the first 3 years of Jpod...)

I have to add I completely agree with this post. Personally, I wont be continuing my subscription after this year. Only because I will be paying a lot of money for a few lessons that are not going to teach me anything new, and even then those will have English explanations which is not what I find the most helpful (Japanese explanations for grammar and vocab has always seemed a way faster and more solid method for me personally)

That being said I will still enjoy this site for the rest of the year, and I will make sure I complete everything here that is to offer. I'll be sure to check to see if anything does come up which offers JPOD quality Advanced lessons I'm dying to find.

[sramkin]

I agree with the posts above. I am rather disappointed that there are just the audio blogs once a month for your advanced listeners. I had hoped for either a series for advanced lessons or maybe a continuation of the JLPT series with N2 ... but instead even the upper intermediate season got canceled.
Nothing in my post, that others in this thread didn't mention before ... except the information that there are other listeners for whom the current lesson schedule is disappointing.

[decals]

I will also not be continuing my subscription. I used to listen to the lower intermediate (pretty easy, so I used it as review) and the upper intermediate (kind of hard, but just right so I could learn a lot). With the upper intermediate gone and the lower intermediate made even easier, there's going to be nothing new for me. Keigo might be ok, but it will likely be geared for beginners with loads of English explanations. Not worth my money.

I understand that the beginner market is way more lucrative, but couldn't we at least have one lesson a week?

I'd agree that advanced learners should really start to learn from "wild" Japanese, but I'm still at the point where it really helps to get some grammar explanations. It's too bad to find out I won't be able to get that help from here anymore.

[richfowler6444]

I just found out that the Upper Intermediate series wasn't going to be continued, and I have to say that I'm very disappointed. I liked the Upper Intermediate series, because it had the perfect blend of difficulty and new material to keep me interested. The Lower Intermediate series can't replace it for me, because it covers a lot of material I already know. It was helpful when I needed it, but I'm past that point now.

I'm already using the site less often these days; hence me finding out about UI being cut only just now. This will probably keep me from renewing. (Although my sub isn't up for a while... but if nothing changes, when it's up, I'm gone.)

I wish the JPod folks would reconsider, and think about those of us who need more advanced material. I really don't want to be forced to go somewhere else, but having only the LI as the most advanced lesson just isn't going to do enough for me. I'm in the N2/N1 area, so I need to be fed stronger stuff on a biweekly basis. I can only loop the old UI lessons so many times in my car before I start to go bonkers.

[kongosan]

Wow that sucks. No more UI! My 2yr premium sub is up in about half a year so I guess that will be it for me. Its a shame cos the upper level content and presenters have been fantastic up until now. Anyone know of other services offering advanced lessons??

[kageri]

this new schedule looks to me like jpod101 is going to die slowly. The lessons are decreasing more and more. And if you leave out the beginner stuff there is only the tuesday left and it does even rotate with commercial stuff (shouldn't this be placed on sunday when its news and promotion day?) Thats far from being satisfying. The way it goes now, I'm also thinking about discontinuing my subsription. For three days with no content (I don't count the old lessons on thursdays), two days with little content (the few minutes on fridays and once a month the audio blog on sundays) and another day (monday) that is out of interest for me, its not worth it. I'm sure that I won't stay premium user this way, maybe I'm downgrading to basic. I have still almost a year subscription time left to decide. Wah, I miss the good old times

[gnossienne3]

I'm also very disappointed wih this new schedule.......
To the JaponesePod101.com
Don't fall asleep!!!!!!

[Thepuritans]

I am also dissapointed now.
It's been a long time i'm checking this page to find some new upper intermediate stuff.
I completed all this series but now there's nothing that suits me in here.
Audioblog contents is ok but can not replace a formal lesson.
That's why i'm not updating my account this month.
Hope it can go as it used to be in the past, i really miss it, and this site has being so useful to me, i really want to thank you anyway =)

[Jessi]

Hi everyone,
We've had a few issues with our schedule this year, and although we have a great Upper Intermediate series (Season 5) in the works, it has been pushed back to January of next year

The good news for our advanced listeners is that starting in July, we will be upping the Advanced Audio Blogs from once a month to once a week (and even a few extra here and there as we try and get them all out before the end of the year)

We apologize for the confusion, but hope you enjoy the increase in advanced lessons

よろしくお願いします！:ue:

[Jessi]

Update in the previous post!