Talk Now! Learn Japanese: Essential Words and Phrases for Absolute Beginners (CD-ROM)

Within a couple of days I knew how to count in japanese, the names of various foods, clothing, objects etc. It is a fun and fast way to learn if you look on it with a sense of humour.

I would recommend this to anyone of any age at all if you want to learn the names of objects or start looking at Japanese words. When you want to learn sentances you are going to need to graduate to another package very soon. Its a great starting point though and well worth the money. Very confidence building. It makes language fun instead of dull or intimidating.

I have just bought intermediate level 'World Talk Japanese' - the 'intermediate' stage from this company - but don't feel able to review it yet.

Words are introduced by means of pictures, accompanied by both male and female speakers, with captions in both Japanese and Roman script. A fifth option in each area allows these pictures and captions to be printed out for study when a computer isn't to hand. Speaking practice allows you to record your speech with a microphone and compare it with the native speakers recorded on the CD.

From the topic-selection screen, it's possible to select a quiz mode, wherein a card game (easy or hard) can be selected from a menu--another means to test your memory.

I can't offer any real criticism of the product. The interface is pretty bland looking, but simple, intuitive and functional. A few words and phrases are all that's to be learned; there's nothing on sentence structure or guidance on how to put the words you've learned into your own sentences, but that's apparently what the intermediate level CD's for...

Male and female speakers are used throughout, enabling users to hear native pronunciation of words and phrases grouped by vocabulary area. Vocabulary covers: First Words, Food, Colours, Phrases, Body, Numbers, Time, Shopping and Countries.

Instructions are generally very clear, appearing as text on screen and backed up by audio instructions. The audio files are nice and clear, with fun supporting images to reinforce the language. Words are also shown (mainly in kanji, but occasionally in hiragana, always with roman lettering backups too) in text format. There is also a 'record your own voice' and playback later facility (assuming you have a microphone on your PC), enabling you to hear easily how close your pronunciation is to that of the native speaker. The disk also allows you to choose the language of the help - so if you feel like picking up a tiny smattering of Welsh or Arabic along the way you can!

A wide range of games is used to support your language learning including multiple choice quizzes, 'build a body', put the food in the cupboard, labelling diagrams and maps, roulette, and cards. The animations used are good and support the language being taught.

There are two aspects of the disk which let it down slightly. More use could be made of the computer screen - there is a lot of wasted black space around the central screen where words and games appear. You will acquire mainly individual vocabulary words, with only a few phrases. However, overall it offers a fun easy way to pick up some basic Japanese in a short period of time.