Review by J

The product consists of several PC CD-ROMS, audio CD’s, headset w/microphone, and instruction manuals. Installation was fairly straightforward although product activation is required. After installation and activation, we were prompted to configure the speech recognition. This was easy and it works surprisingly well. The beginning lessons were concise and easy to understand. It basically teaches you the words, you repeat them, and the speech recognition guages how well you did. This is a great way to learn because it also teaches pronunciation. As you progress, it gets more complex and the rules more strict, just like in a class. The immersion technique is a great approach and the accompanying visuals are great. My son is currently studying Japanese in high school. He’s had some difficulties along the way, however he finds the lessons in this product pretty easy to follow. This is an excellent study aid for him and is already boosting his confidence for the upcoming school year. Ultimately, the learning potential depends upon the individual. This won’t teach you Japanese overnight, however if you are persistent and serious about learning the language, it would definitly be a beneficial learning aid or supplemental resource for those already studying the language. I’ll update this review at a later time to report long-term results.