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| Learn Japanese Now! 9.0 | 
| List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $29.99
You Save: $10.00 (25%)
Buy New/Used from $25.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 14 reviews)
Sales Rank: 8523
Category: Software
Publisher: Transparent Language
Studio: Transparent Language
Brand: Transparent Language
Label: Transparent Language
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Macintosh, Windows
Media: CD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 8.2 x 2
Model: 744573057305
UPC: 744573057329
EAN: 0744573057305
ASIN: B00005Y3VG
Release Date: March 6, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
Learn Japanese Now! 9.0 Deluxe takes you from beginner to confident speaker in no time. Listening and speaking activities, grammar tools, and vocabulary games build a solid foundation, while real-life video content lets you interact with native speakers. Learn Japanese Now! also adds online features that create an interesting and authentic atmosphere, making learning Japanese fast, fun, and highly effective. Learn Japanese Now!'s four stimulating titles include: The Most Common Words in Japanese, Survival Phrases for Japanese, Essential Japanese Signs, and Japan: The Island Empire. GrammarPro!, the software's comprehensive grammar tool, adds more than 10,000 words, extensive tutorials, and grammar quizzes to your desktop. Installed, GrammarPro! integrates seamlessly with all four Learn Japanese Now! titles to provide detailed grammar analyses with just a click of your mouse. Online features, fun interactive games, and conversations and phrases round out this deluxe suite. Practice your pronunciation using the integrated speech features, then record your voice and replay your conversation. Learn at your own pace by deciding when you need translation. The software even includes GlobalWriter98 for Microsoft Windows users and a handy screen saver. GlobalWriter98 is a word-processing tool that helps you write in more than 100 languages.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
LanguageNot! April 24, 2005
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
This software isn't very good unless your going to actually sit down and memorize hundreds of phrases. No sentance structure is given so, unless you have a book on Japanese grammer, you wont actually know how to change one of the sentances to better suit a situation you might be in.
Also, this software didn't go into the Japanese writing systems (Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana) except in a chart of the kana sounds and a few signs that you'll see around Japan. Other than that, the whole things was written in Romanji. You can learn to talk from this but then you'll have to go and learn all over again if you ever want to actually write or read any Japanese.
The additional features are ok, though not the best. This also comes with a Bonuc CD which had GrammerPro! and Unitype Global Writer. Unitype Global Write is, in my opinion, a great idea. But, sadly, it constantly has problems and needs to be re-loaded to the computer. (Which it never wants to do because the CD doesn't, and never did, work quite properly.
So, before you resort to buying this CD, I suggest you look around for some other software or a good book. If you do resort to buying this CD, try to find it on eBay or somewhere cheaper, as it isn't worth my fifty bucks.
Good for speech study, though not the friendliest program September 25, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
How does a person rate a piece of software like this? It has some amazingly innovative design to aid a person to speak with a good accent. It also has some attrociously designed ease of use features.
Ultimately, if you can get through the tiny buttons that you have to get your mouse over to go to the next phrase or play the current one, with no real keyboard equivalent of being able to go back a phrase and play, or go forward one phrase and play, then you'll probably really like this software. This whole program is plagued with buttons about a quarter the size of a dime that you have to get your mouse over so you can access the feature. Those little buttons are annoying, what can I say?
Is the software buggy? Yes. Badly? No. If you happen to be on a newer mac with OS X, you'll note that there isn't OS 9 on your system. So, since the kana syllabery is only OS 9, that won't work. And the grammar word processor only works on PCs, so you might start feeling like all the extras went out the window... and they did.
On the other hand, maybe it's just me, but it seemed like they took the little back a phrase button out of the version 9.0. Since, OS X runs 8.1, you'll have the little back a phrase button if you're on OS X.
The good news is that it works with the iBook internal mic. Isn't it nice when language software works with internal mics on laptops? It just makes things so much easier.
If you are just starting to learn a language, I'd suggest you wonder over to Eurotalk Talk NOW series. And if your willing, immerse yourself into a World TALK afterwards. This Transparent software does work, and they did spend time on innovative methods towards accuracy in testing inputted speech. The problem is that they didn't spend time on making their software simple and a pleasure to use on a daily level. Eurotalk stuck to the basics. They just tried to make easy to use software that was a pleasure to use, using proven methods. This software has bells and whistles and bugs. Eurotalk doesn't have bells and whistles and they don't have bugs. I'm into the bugless one at the moment. I've bought both and installed both and use both. It's just the Eurotalk is so much less annoying.
In reality, you should probably own both. Eurotalk series will help you understand the language much quicker and more efficiently than Transparent series will. However, Transparent series will make you understood better in your own speech than Eurotalk series will. Still... better to understand what they are saying, than the other way around. Both is the best though (-= .
 Best product I've found August 8, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This language software is far and away the best product I've found for learning Japanese. I am currently in Japan and this software has helped me much more than any of the books I had bought. The interactive aspect as well as the opportunity to listen to native speakers has made it indispensible. My only criticism is that it doesn't give you the written Japanese to look at as you learn the words, it just shows you the romanji which is of no help over here when it comes to reading the language.
All in all, it's a bargain given the results you will get from it.
 Worthless. Absolutely worthless. April 26, 2004
9 out of 17 found this review helpful
Save your money. The interface is god-awful, buggy as hell, and the program clearly was rushed out for production. Little thought has been put into this program. The games are cheesy, stupid and boring. However, one cool feature was a section with extremely short video segments with the corresponding Japanese (in romaji) scrolling on the left side. I would pay good money for a program that did just that in more extensive amounts. Hope this helps prevent people from wasting their $39.99 on this program. -sev
Learn Japanese? Don't waste your money! February 11, 2004
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I was looking for a product that would help me learn some basic Japanese - a few words and phrases. Instead, I got the worst interface imaginable... and I get to see a lot of bad interfaces in my job as Information Architect. I've used a couple of different language CD products as primers to upcoming foreign trips and both were wonderful by comparison. The 'Bonus CD' that comes with this package has a grammar checker for every language EXCEPT Japanese... perhaps that makes sense of the editorial review that mentions "Learn Japanese Now! also adds online features that create an interesting and authentic atmosphere, making learning ITALIAN fast, fun, and highly effective." Italian? Well, it certainly doesn't make learning Japanese the slightest bit fun or effective.Do yourself a favor, when it comes to "Learn Japanese Now! 9.0" keep your credit card in your wallet.
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