Very super new

[lamuness]

Hi, I'm super new here, and I really don't know where to start off. I was reading the "where to start section" and from what I understand, it seems like the newbie seasons are their own contained stories that talk about pretty much the same things right? Why does the instructions tell me to start on Season2 of Newbie instead of 1? I'm trying to get the most of the experience here so I'm just trying to understand how the curriculum works for this program. Thanks!

[QuackingShoe]

Probably because how the site functioned wasn't really standardized until after a year or so. This means starting a little while after (season 2) is probably a better choice from zero.
Although, listening in absolutely chronological order is kindof fun before it standardizes, because you get to listen to the company start out and establish itself, heh.

[Kobukuro]

Newbie Nihongo Dôjô - Welcome to style you (Newbie#31) is a great place to start with !

http://www.japanesepod101.com/index.php?p=732&cat=11

[lamuness]

Thanks for the replies! I was listening to those yesterday and I was wondering, does it give you time or quiz you like pimsleur does? It seems like a lot of listening comprehension, and not a lot of speaking.

[jkid]

lamuness,
Most of the lessons, certainly all the new ones have a review track that do exactly that. Although, the do require a paid premium subscription

[lamuness]

I have a premium account, but I haven't actually had the time to go through most of the PDF's and other tracks. I've only listened to about 3 of the lessons so far, and haven't really listened to the others. Mostly because my zune made the podcasts so unorganized it's hard to. I'll try them out when I get the chance though, and it's only been about a day since I paid for my subscription.

One more question: I've self-taught myself Japanese over they years, and my vocab sucks. But I can almost watch an anime episode until they start explaining stuff. Like I cannot watch Initial D for the life of me because they explain too much. So I thought I'd start off with the basics and learn from the very beginning, hence these questions . So do you think I should try to learn the kanji for the stuff like in the PDFs as I go along? Or should I stick to just listening / speaking? I already pretty much memorized the whole kana chart for Hiragana and Katakana.

Thanks again guys!

[Jessi]

Hmm, good question. Listening/speaking skills are important, but if you ever want to be able to read Japanese and study at more advanced levels, then it goes without saying that kanji is a must. What I would do is look at the kanji in the PDFs so that you get used to them, but don't feel that you have to memorize every single one in every single lesson - as a beginner, it might be too much. Just take it slowly! If you're just starting out with kanji, then I would really recommend watching the kanji video series. They introduce one kanji at a time and show you how to write it and everything.

[lamuness]

Hmm, I just finished Newbie Lesson 31 - 55 and they said that was Season 2. I just started listening to 56 and they also said that one was Season 2. Did I listen to the wrong season? It was fun regardless

[Kobukuro]

QuackingShoe has explained it in his post !