From the beginning

[ta104mor7845]

When I first began pod101 I wasn't sure if I was a Beginner or Newbie. I find instead if I just go through the lessons as they come including the Culture, Survival Phrases and Lower Intermediate as well as Beginner, I am keeping my ear up to speed. By going through the intermediate lessons, I can hear and understand many words in the Beginner lessons at lower speed. Many years ago, I began learning Japanese Kanji first. I wanted to know what the captions around the beautiful Japanese girls were saying in magazines. Learning the radicals and how to count strokes helps when using a kanji dictionary. Knowing the Hiragana alphabet is essential for using the regular dictionary. NJ Star is a Japanese word processing program I bought many years ago. I still use it for composing letters to my Japanese friends. It was the first program I found where I could make my printer make Japanese characters.
Thank you Japanesepod101. There are no unimportant lessons. They all have something to teach. The humorous dialogs really help to remember phrases. I am enjoying my Premium membership. Best money I ever spent learning Japanese. Stores like Yaohan in Edgewater, NJ and Uwagimaya in the Seattle area have great book stores. J-List.com or J-Box if you are under 18 are good sources for subscribing to Japanese magazines. Frank