so many catories of lessons. isn't there a guide to them?

[shishikyuu]

I recently got hooked on jpod101 and got a 1month basic membership so I could leech the entire database through itunes :p
now I'm happily going through the beginner lessons with the culture lessons and survival phrases makeing it a nice whole package, but of course I see there are so many other kinds developed later..

I mean, the "newbie" lessons which started much later seems to be a redo of the beginner lessons >.> or something.
and what is (s2) and the unlisted (s3) for beginner lessons?
and how does lower intermediate hook into beginner/newbie? I see the first one of those was made around the time beginner #30 was made... could you start doing those at around #30 if you had no other previous japanese experience?

I'm so confused I've looked around the site and forum but haven't found much. did I miss something?

[Corscaria]

S2 and S3 are Season 2 and Season 3 (or Series 2 and Series 3 if your from the UK).

The classes are in this order of difficulty :
Newbie
Beginner (S1)
Beginner S2
Beginner S3
Lower Intermediate (S1)
Lower Intermediate S2
Intermediate
Upper Intermediate

If you complete all of Beginner (S1), you are actually at lower intermediate level, according to the last episodes of Beginner S1.

[shishikyuu]

Thanks for the response Corscaria.

What you say is what I'd think is logical too, but I've been following beginner and it really seemed to start at the very basics imo, yet newbie seems to do the exact same. hence my confusion.
also, when done with season 1 you could move on to lower intermediate lessens, then what are seasons 2 and 3 for? in what way do they complement each other?

Is it like the beginner series continues on with only minor grammar and mostly just teaches new vocabulary, and the other series goes deeper into grammar?

[markystar]

one thing to keep in mind, although you just found the site, we've been around for nearly 3 years now and we have listeners who are with us from day one and listeners who just joined today. so we are trying to accommodate everyone as much as we can.

things will repeat... just like a normal classroom.
imagine if you started taking a first year japanese course at school. then you went on to major in japanese. if you went back and met your old teacher from the first year class, they'd still be teaching that same level.

eventually we will archive the old lessons and present only new ones, but the site will always be a work in progress --- both ours and the listeners'

keeping in mind the site has been a work in progress.... we started with a beginner series. but some people said that was too difficult, so we added a newbie level to go slower and more methodically).

also, when done with season 1 you could move on to lower intermediate lessens, then what are seasons 2 and 3 for? in what way do they complement each other?

the original beginner series is about 170 lessons. at the end of that series it's downright advanced. it's linear - by that, i mean it's starts somewhere and builds up lesson by lesson.

the idea behind Beginner Season 2 and Beginner Season 3 is to create a comfortable buffer level. it is non-linear. we intend to reinforce old grammar points and introduce (slowly) colloquial speech patterns, variations on grammar and basically just repeat. these levels are for practice, practice, practice.

IMHO, Beginner Season 1 and 2 and the launch pad into Lower Intermediate or Intermediate. some of our listeners study at school or live in japan, but most of them have no access to japanese language training outside of our site (they live in the country, or no japanese program where they live, etc...). since the beginner s2 and s3 feature some pretty wild stories, you'll find a lot of advanced listeners tuning into those levels simply for reenforcement or entertainment.

. could you start doing those at around #30 if you had no other previous japanese experience?

that depends on the person...
if you're new to the language, i'd recommend going thru the Nihongo Dojo series and the original Beginner Series.
It wouldn't hurt to listen to the current lessons too. If you're new to the language, of the current series, I'd especially recommend Beginner Season 3, and Sights & Sounds. If you're seasoned, I'd recommend Beginner Season 3 and Lower Intermediate. If you're advanced, I'd recommend the Audio Blog and Lower Intermediate and Upper Intermediate.

[shishikyuu]

wow that's awesome Markystar! a guide like that was exactly what I was looking around for ^^ it should be put into a faq or something linked from the main site imo! great work.

now that I have a much better understanding of the various categories I can plan what to listen to and in what order ^^';;

Personally, I'd consider myself of lower intermediate level at this point, but I'm worried about the basics since I never followed a "linear" course or anything, just self thought by using many many sources (and watching way too much anime :s)
that's why a linear course like the original beginner series seemed so interesting to me, and I'm learning heaps of new stuff too so I really can't complain either way :p
Thanks to you, I know how the other lessons fit around the original series.

本当にどうも有り難うございます！

[markystar]

it should be put into a faq or something linked from the main site imo!

it kind of is, but kind of not....
i think you're absolutely right, and i'll see about getting something like that posted.

I'd consider myself of lower intermediate level at this point, but I'm worried about the basics since I never followed a "linear" course or anything

a lot of listeners listen to everything. i've seen advanced listeners commenting on the newbie lessons. so don't be afraid to listen below your level too. sometimes i learn things from the newbie lessons too!

and also we have a great bunch of listeners who are active here in the forum and on the main site. so make the most of them too! 頑張ってくだせぇ！