Rocket Japanese VS Pimsleur Japanese

When it comes down to Rocket Japanese VS Pimsleur Japanese, here are a couple of things that you should know about each language course before you make the decision on which one is best for you.

Rocket Japanese:

The Approach

The approach that Rocket Japanese takes is the natural method, also known as, the interactive conversational approach.  This method is based on how we all first learned how to speak- which pretty much came before us learning how to read, let alone write.  Children pick up a language simply by listening, understanding, and speaking alone.  With the help of certain features and learning tools, that is how Rocket Languages claim to be able to teach you Japanese.

However, since the Japanese characters are totally different from English, a quick writing class is also provided to help you out.

Features and Learning Tools

Audio Lessons-  With Rocket Japanese, you will get 31 interactive audio lessons.  Each lesson basically covers a casual, everyday, Japanese conversation focusing on topics like simple greetings and small talk or ordering in a restaurant.  By listening and actively taking part in these 20 minute lessons, your Japanese conversation skills are supposed to improve.  Plus, since you will also have the full transcripts of the lessons in romaji, hiragana and katakana, complete with the English translation, you will also actually start on building your Japanese reading and writing skills at the same time- even if they are not the focus of the course.

Rocket Record- This features is supposed to give you a chance to practice your pronunciation and eventually improve it.  You basically record your own voice, then you compare what you have said to how a native Japanese speaker would say it.  You have the option to repeat this process until you have a perfect match.

MegaJapanese Games- Currently Rocket Japanese offers three educational games that are supposed to help you learn the language while having fun at the same time.  MegaVocab is designed to help you retain words that you have already encountered and learn a couple others too.  MegaAudio focuses on improving your listening comprehension.  MegaHiragana, as they claim, is supposed to help you written Japanese.

Language and Culture Lessons- You will also get 31 Japanese language and culture lessons.  With the language lessons, you will get detailed explanations on the characters plus you will even have a step by step easy to follow video guide on writing Kanji.  The culture lesson will give you a better insight into the whole country itself- from the culture to the traditions to the history.  You will also have embedded audio clips, tips, and notes.

Quizzes and tests- you will also be able to keep track of your progress with the numerous quizzes and tests that you will have access to.

Personal Japanese Teacher- You will also have access to a 24/7 online Japanese teacher that you can contact about all of your questions regarding the Japanese language.

Pimsleur Japanese:

The Approach

The Pimsleur Japanese method is actually quite similar to that of the one of Rocket Japanese except with this course, it’s pure focus is on listening and speaking.  There won’t be even a little bit on the written side of the language.

Basically, this course was developed with two main principles in mind- Graduated Interval Recall, which pretty much means that as soon as you forget a Japanese word or phrase, you will be instantly encouraged to remember it, and Principle of Anticipation, which means that you will be given a short time to anticipate the right answer before you actually hear it.

These two main principles are backed up by two key factors- Core vocabulary, which is a list of selected important Japanese words that will serve as your foundation, and the organic learning concept, which means that as you learn common Japanese phrases, you will actually also be learning other important parts of the language too, like vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.

Features and Learning Tools

Another thing that makes this program different from Rocket Japanese is that it does not offer a lot of features and tools.  Since the focus is pure oral skills, basically audio is all you will get.

Audio Lessons- Pimsleur Japanese offers 30 minute audio lessons that come in three different levels with 10 classes each.  Since the Japanese language is a very respectful on, all of the conversations you will hear will use polite Japanese terms and phrases, no matter what level you take.

The first level focuses on the basics.  This covers simple conversations, like good morning and good night with a little small talk here and there, asking for directions, and understanding answering and asking questions.  The second level will expand on what you have learned in the first one.  The third level should be able to turn any beginner to an intermediate level Japanese speaker.

Cultural Notes- You will also have one full hour dedicated to cultural notes.  This is supposed to help you understand not just the Japanese language but the country on the whole.

To Sum Up

Both of these language learning programs are great for people who want to learn the language –FAST for casual conversational purposes.  However, if you want to learn a little bit of writing and have access to various features, then Rocket Japanese is the better choice.  But if you want to keep things simple and really do only want to focus on speaking, the Pimsleur Japanese is most likely your best bet.