Bastiaan wrote:Thanks,
But can you specify "some Japanese"?
Bastiaan
This is a very subjective question, and most importantly, really depend on how you use Jpod101. There are many ways to use Jpod101.
For example, when I first started, I started with Beginner Season 1 (there was no newbie series at that time.) By the time I reach lesson 90++, I realized that I can read JLPT 4 materials without having any trouble, you can also possibly read some Japanese kid story books without much trouble. By the time you reach lesson 170, you are actually in the lower intermediate level, from there on, you start with lower intermediate series, it will start to get difficult, as you progress you should be in the intermediate level, at that level you should be able to read Japanese newspaper with dictionary help.
Once you reach intermediate, it is when the real tough time comes. If you are living in Japan and have a lot of Japanese friends and speak Japanese everyday, then it is probably not going to be a problem, but you are living outside of Japan and have no Japanese friends, it might be tough to learn. That being said, just like learning any languages, once you an intermediate level, progressing to advanced level is always the toughest.
That was my method of using Jpod.
Today, Jpod101 offer way more series and options then it was 4 years ago. If I were you, I will probably start off with Newbie Season 1, Survival Phrases Season 1, 2, and Beginner Season 1 (Lesson 1-50) at the same time. Once you finished all, I will start beginner season 4, after finishing season 4, jump back to beginner season 1 lesson 51 and finish it. You can skip some lessons in between if you want to.
I tried Rosetta before, didn't work, Langlearn is pretty similar to Rosetta. Both of them share the same downside, that is they don't teach you the grammar and the culture behind it. If you just want to go for a holiday in Japan and learn a few phrases just to get you through, I think Langlearn is a good option. If you are a serious learner and want to learn Japanese, both Rosetta and Langlearn are not able to help you to achieve that.
Without learning the grammar and culture behind a language, one just can't progress far. That is why I personally think Jpod is still one of the best options available, because of its strong emphasis on grammar and culture.
Going back to your questions, if you want to understand replies in different way, you need to master the grammar and know enough of vocabs. Language is a flexible thing, you can express the same thing in many different ways, and to achieve that, one need to have an understanding of the grammar and know enough of vocabs.