playsay vocabulary mp3 review

[mieth]

my review of this product. .... it is terrible. nuff said please dont waste your money on it. why would jpod put their name on this? anyway back to my knuckles in china land game.weeee

[sashimidimsum7250]

To each his own I guess. I like it a lot. I find it very useful for remembering vocabulary. I bought the level4&3 bundle, and plan on buying the 2&1 bundle in the future.

[wccrawford]

I disagree. Not "nuff said". I never listen to a review that just says 'It's horrible' and I never listen a review that says it's good, no matter the reason. (Though I might use some of the reasons provided to decided if it's for me.)

Do you actually have reasons for hating it? Why not list them out here. I'm considering buying it, and I'd like to know why I shouldn't.

[Psy]

I seem to remember a similar thread on the forum somewhere about this product, but regardless, I've had some experience with vocabulary systems like this... while they seem like great ideas on the surface, there is an often-forgotten rule in language learning: Never learn outside of context. If every word followed with a complete example sentence, it would be an invaluable resource, but because it doesn't I can promise you:

1) After around 100 words you'll get bored,
2) Synonyms will be confusing regardless of how much you review, and
3) You will forget a lot.

So please, for your own good, stay away. Fishing your way through an illustrated examples dictionary would be a much better investment of both your time and money. For context in listening you could also buy a few Ghibli Ippai (even if you're not into Japanese animation, many of them are still worth seeing) DVDs and turn on the Japanese subtitles. The only concern is you will need a way to play Region 2 DVDs.

[sashimidimsum7250]

Playsay is just basically flashcards for your iPod, so I really don't understand all the hate.

If you rely on flashcards as your only learning tool,then there's a problem,but...

I use it for jogging my memory, not actually learning new vocabulary. So in that regard I don't really see what's wrong with it. If you have ever used flashcards for re-enforcing your vocab, then this is really no different.

And remember, everyone learns differently. So I don't think anyone can say that this has no value. You'll get out it what you put into it.

[mieth]

first off hey psy actaully I am the one who previously mentioned this software. I kind of already assumed that it wouldnt be that good as the words are not introduced in context. I bought mainly so that I could listen to words over and over to help my listening ability.
Ochazuke I am glad you are using this software effectively for learning new vocabulary. I agree with you that vocabulary study probably wont help with your grammar too much.

So ok I will list my issue with this. The whole thing feels like it is made for a native japanese speaker trying to learn english rather than the other way around. They use a very dominant male voice for the english side and what I consider rather unclear female voice the japanese. It is the same type of strange voice that you often hear in audio style listening materials. Anyway the english voice is spoken very clearly and smoothly almost painfully flow whereas the the japanese sounds strange. To me anyway. others may have a different experience than I do. Anyway that is my beef. I think the audio quality is low as far as the dominant voice for what they are trying to teach. If you listen to this and then listen to the japanese on the videovocab you will see a huge difference in.

ok let me know your thoughts.

[wccrawford]

Thanks everyone, that actually does help quite a bit. At this point, I definitely wouldn't buy without trying it first, since my purposes would have been to learn vocab.

I'm aiming at recognition, not production, so I'm not so worried about synonyms yet, though. Right now, I want to be able to read books/games/etc. I'd also like to be able to watch anime without subs. I figure if I can get to that point, I can pick up more vocab, plus the common usage of words and phrases pretty easily. In fact, I've managed to learn a few kanji and their meaning/pronunciation from reading already, even with my lousy vocab.

So really, if all it managed to help me with was learning to recognize a few words, it would be a good help.

[Psy]

Playsay is just basically flashcards for your iPod, so I really don't understand all the hate.

If you rely on flashcards as your only learning tool,then there's a problem,but...

I use it for jogging my memory, not actually learning new vocabulary. So in that regard I don't really see what's wrong with it. If you have ever used flashcards for re-enforcing your vocab, then this is really no different.

And remember, everyone learns differently. So I don't think anyone can say that this has no value. You'll get out it what you put into it.

You've just reinforced my point-- of course I use flashcards. They're extremely effective when used properly. The point is one shouldn't attack large amounts of vocabulary without having a frame of reference-- if you're using them to refresh your memory on words you've already heard or otherwise found in context, the usage is already set in your mind and you'll have little trouble with review. Granted everyone does learn differently, but aside from those with mental disorders, the study of human memory does seem to agree on one universal point: the more connections there are, the better something is remembered.

So ok I will list my issue with this. The whole thing feels like it is made for a native japanese speaker trying to learn english rather than the other way around. They use a very dominant male voice for the english side and what I consider rather unclear female voice the japanese.

This is something that has always bothered me-- why, why does it always have to be a female speaker? As a man it's always harder for me to pronounce/imitate based on a model like that... I'll sometimes find my voice going much higher than it's supposed to.

So really, if all it managed to help me with was learning to recognize a few words, it would be a good help.

It would since some exposure > no exposure. Still, if you decide to go this route, make sure you get a lot of listening practice.

Good luck!

[Hiroko]

Playsay is just basically flashcards for your iPod, so I really don't understand all the hate.

If you rely on flashcards as your only learning tool,then there's a problem,but...

I use it for jogging my memory, not actually learning new vocabulary. So in that regard I don't really see what's wrong with it. If you have ever used flashcards for re-enforcing your vocab, then this is really no different.

And remember, everyone learns differently. So I don't think anyone can say that this has no value. You'll get out it what you put into it.

You've just reinforced my point-- of course I use flashcards. They're extremely effective when used properly. The point is one shouldn't attack large amounts of vocabulary without having a frame of reference-- if you're using them to refresh your memory on words you've already heard or otherwise found in context, the usage is already set in your mind and you'll have little trouble with review. Granted everyone does learn differently, but aside from those with mental disorders, the study of human memory does seem to agree on one universal point: the more connections there are, the better something is remembered.

So ok I will list my issue with this. The whole thing feels like it is made for a native japanese speaker trying to learn english rather than the other way around. They use a very dominant male voice for the english side and what I consider rather unclear female voice the japanese.

This is something that has always bothered me-- why, why does it always have to be a female speaker? As a man it's always harder for me to pronounce/imitate based on a model like that... I'll sometimes find my voice going much higher than it's supposed to.

So really, if all it managed to help me with was learning to recognize a few words, it would be a good help.

It would since some exposure > no exposure. Still, if you decide to go this route, make sure you get a lot of listening practice.

Good luck!

Mina-san> Thanks for all your ideas! Your opinions/suggestions are added to our idea bank!

[wccrawford]

Mina-san> Thanks for all your ideas! Your opinions/suggestions are added to our idea bank!

Forgive my ignorance, Hiroko... Who do you work for/with? JapanesePod101? Or... ?

(I'm just wondering where all these good ideas are being put to good use!)

[Hiroko]

Mina-san> Thanks for all your ideas! Your opinions/suggestions are added to our idea bank!

Forgive my ignorance, Hiroko... Who do you work for/with? JapanesePod101? Or... ?

(I'm just wondering where all these good ideas are being put to good use!)

wccrawford san>Yes, I work with JapanesePod101 I'm still working mainly for Epod101 but ...you hear my voice here and there in JP101 dialogues And, as for the ideas from the listners, we listen, read, value them and these great ideas are what keep us creating better lessons in the future So, thank you again!

[wccrawford]

Yes, I work with JapanesePod101

Ah, I haven't gotten to any of yours yet, then. I just subscribed recently and I'm still on the few lessons.

Thanks!