Japanese Language Software

Today, I was at BJ's with my mom (yea, I know... laugh it up...)
And I found Instant Immersion Japanese Deluxe 2.0..

EDIT: Available on Amazon.com since October 2005
Now this is not to be confused with the regular Instant Immersion Japanese (1.0??) which is a complete waste of money.

I wasn't sure if this new version was a waste of money, so I bought it, and I'll tell you guys whether or not it was ..

Anyway, on the ride home I was installing it on my laptop (its 8 CDs, but really only 100MB or so disk space needed). The first thing I'd like to note is that the last 4 CDs are rather worthless to me. They're audio lessons meant to be played in a CD player, and I already know 95% of all the vocabulary and such on these CDs (Numbers, Alphabet (Kana) sounds/pronunciation, Greetings, Jobs, Telephone numbers, Age, Time/Hours, Days/Months, Shopping, Asking questions, Colors, and adjectives)..

But it is important to note that those 4 CDs are absolutely CRUCIAL if you're starting to learn Japanese for the first time. In fact, when I started learning Japanese, I used Pimsleur Audio CDs myself. These CDs are very similar to what Pimsleur offers, BUT there isn't anywhere near as much content as the complete Japanese I, II, and III Pimsleur Audio CD set (Very expensive).

I must say, within about 10 minutes of starting up the software, I was giddy with excitement.. On the first CD, (yes, the beginner CD), there was stuff on there that I didn't know.. I was really surprised at this, I've been quite thorough with my Japanese studies, and I'd certainly not consider myself a "Beginner"..

Anyway, as I *think* I've said in another thread.. You're definitely going to want a good headset if you're studying a language. Also, if you get a headset, you can talk with Japanese people over Skype, and also play those games which are speech-enabled (TeamSpeak, Ventrillo, etc. etc.).
Get a good headset!! If you don't have a microphone in on your laptop, there are headsets with USB.

This Instant Immersion software also uses the headset. I haven't had a chance to plug in the headset and try it out yet, but this is looking really cool.

Summary:
1. Don't buy this unless you have a headset. 90% of the content is "Playback" "Record" "Check". This is actually a VERY good way to learn. Your voice sounds different from what you think it does.
2. I bought it for $29.99 at BJ's.
3. 8 CDs, looks like a great deal.. If you've already studied Japanese extensively, then you won't need the last 4 CDs. Maybe there is a version without the Audio CDs. I think the old instant immersion Japanese has a basic and deluxe version (don't get the old version, it sucks).

Cons:
1. Fixed Resolution: Plays at 1024x768 at 32 bit colors. You can't change this. So if you're on a widescreen laptop, you'll have black borders on the sides (Like I do, but its no big deal).
2. Some of the characters look just a tiny bit squashed sometimes (either vertically or horizontally, this is potentially a REALLY big problem with the software.. I'll post more about it later. The characters are clearly readable, but you don't want to learn distorted characters). It's very difficult to notice , I didn't notice it at first... I actually had to write out a character from memory and then compare it to the one on the screen to be sure my eyes weren't going screwy.. Its true though, in some areas of the software they are a little bit distorted.


I'll post more info in this thread when I get a chance to use the software more.
Good night all.


In case you missed it, I posted some good stuff in this thread too:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=37806&highlight=Japanese+Sidicas

Amazon.com reference link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...6/103-5064309-4804659?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance

 

nice review -_-