Japanese For Dummies Audio Set

The information on the CD is almost the same like you can find online. But this is very handy on your car with a CD player, so while you driving you can learn the basic Japanese conversation and basic words. It depends how deep you want to learn besides, this is a good refresher course for those who started to learn.

Helpful and very needed.

I agree with several of the other reviews of theses CD's and the booklet--good quality and excllent lesson coordination between the booklet and the CD's. I have one major complaint: the booklet clearly states in the Introduction "The CDs also contain MP3 files of all the audio tracks, so you can use your computer to copy the files to your MP3 player and listen to the tracks wherever and whenever you want. We saved you the trouble of converting the files yourself!" There were no MP3 files on these CDs and I had to convert them (I used Switch by NCH) and then edit each title to add the Lesson number. Otherwise I would have rated this product 5 stars.

Great review to the book while riding in the car. I wish I could download this to my MP3 player so I could listen when I walking or riding my bike.

Bought for my granddaughter who want to go to Japan as an exchange student. She likes it and is learning.

It's not very comprehensive. I've also read the Japanese for dummies book and some of the material is repeated here. The booklet says that the CD's contain mp3's of each lesson to save you from ripping the CD's yourself, but my copy had no mp3's. The booklet contains more detailed descriptions of what you're listening to on the audio, which makes it less of an audio program in my opinion. Some of the essential words that you must know include, apple, pig... ??? Overall I did learn a thing or two, and that is what counts even though I could have used a few more examples and better explanations of certain things.

The case came cracked, but that's the Carriers fault I think.

I got this for my 12 year old daughter and she loves it. It may not be as good as Rosetta Stone, but it sure is budget freindly. The CD's let you hear the words and the booklet was insightful.

Learning basic Japanese that helps as would love to go visit there someday. Great hearing clear speech and can listen along and repeat as much as I like. I think Audio Set good idea and goes along with other resources like general phrase books etc you can get.

Excellent purchase

Most would probably see CDs as outdated, but I prefer having a hard copy. The booklet says 2008 and the case has the old version of the "For Dummies" mascot, so I'm guessing there aren't too many of these kicking aorund in this condition. There are three CDs and a small book, that covers the content of each, neatly packed in a double sized DVD case. This is all about learning how to say things in Japanese, so everything in the book is written using the Roman alphabet. There are no kanji or kana here. It's all beginner Japanese, and very textbook, so kind of of on the formal/polite side. Depending on your learning style/program these discs could be a useful resource in terms of shadowing and practicing pronunciation of dialogue. Despite the level of formality/politeness, there are some very useful phrases and general vocabulary. Given the number of (free) online resources available, some may not see the appeal to purchasing a set like this.

I bought this about a month before going to Japan. Too late to learn anything I hear you say? No... not at all, by constantly listening to it on the way to work every day (2hrs each day), I was soon mastering the basics. Without this I'd have had some real trouble on my trip, with it I manged to master the basics, and grasp the pronunciation, so even though I might not have been able to recall the correct phrase when confronted with a real life situation, I could at least pronounce it correctly when I looked it up in the handy book. The only fault I'd give the CDs is that it would be handy to have split the CD tracks by word/phrase, rather than section of the book to aid skipping back and forth in the car, but then that's more a limitation of my car stereo than a real flaw with the CD.

Love these, as listen to them in the car to and from work or any journey long enough to go through it.