Publisher's Synopsis
The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Japanese
Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what's going on in the world around you, learning Japanese will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life.
- Quick + Easy - Only 30 minutes a day.
- Portable + Flexible - Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
- Proven Method - Works when other methods fail.
- Self-Paced - Go fast or go slow - it's up to you.
- Based in Science - Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
- Cost-effective - Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
- Genius - Triggers your brain's natural aptitude to learn.
- Works for everyone - Recommended for ages 13 and above. What's Included?
- 30, 30-minute audio lessons
- One hour and twenty minutes of reading instruction to provide you with an introduction to reading the Japanese katakana script. These lessons are designed to teach you to sound out words with correct pronunciation and accent
- in total, 16 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers
- a Reading Booklet What You'll Learn
Builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur's Japanese Level 1. In the first 10 lessons you'll begin using the past tense. Structures become more complex and informal speech is introduced. Soon you'll take part in conversations about ordering meals, shopping, and local tourist attractions. As you progress, your fluency will increase as your vocabulary expands. The next 10 lessons will allow you to further combine and build upon known elements, and produce longer and more complex sentences. You'll be discussing business and social activities, expressing your interests, and talking about the weather. In the final 10 lessons you'll double your vocabulary and have several hundred structures to draw upon. You'll learn to express yourself with relative structures - faster, slower, etc. You'll be able to ask for assistance in many situations and to ask for directions to various locations. You'll explore sports and leisure activities, manage changing money and banking, and discuss travel plans. By the end of the program, you'll be speaking at a mid-intermediate level with near-native pronunciation, and you'll be comfortable meeting most social demands and limited job requirements. Reading and Writing in Japanese
By the 5th century AD Chinese characters began to be widely used in Japan. This early alphabet, kanji, created new literacy, but brought many complications in pronunciation. In the 8th century, two new phonetic alphabets, or kana, were devised to bridge the gap: hiragana and katakana. hiragana is used along with the kanji to show the syllables that form suffixes and particles - "sounds" in other words, while katakana was used for foreign loan words, like "coffee" or "computer." Today in Japan, the three writing systems are combined, with kanji, hiragana, and katakana often appearing within a single sentence. Twenty reading lessons are included in this program. In these lessons, you will begin to learn to read the katakana script. Learning the sound of each letter alone and in culturally distinct combinations allows your brain to process what you're hearing in the audio lessons from a new and different perspective. It's a powerful combination that makes Pimsleur different from every other method on the market. The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his "secrets" The Principle of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind. Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don't overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson. Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory. Organic Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture. Learning in Context
Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success. Active Participation
The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English. The Japanese Language
Japanese is spoken by about 130 million people, 122 million of whom are in Japan. There are also speakers in the Ryukyu Islands, Korea, Taiwan, parts of the United States, and Brazil. Japanese has many "registers" or levels of politeness. Pimsleur's Japanese courses will teach you how to speak at a polite register, which is appropriate in virtually any situation you are likely to encounter in Japan. Tech Talk
- CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in iTunes(R) or Windows Media Player(R).
