Textfugu...is it worth it?
 

Ok so here's the deal! I got approximately 2 years and half before I finish my degree (fell a semester behind since I changed majors), therefore 2 years and half before I go off to Japan. I wanted to pick up as much Japanese as possible since I want to understand what's going on around me. So I looked through the net for some nice sources to learn Japanese. I've tried Rosetta Stones borrowed it from a friend (he's an older dude and travels A LOT) and honestly it was absolute crap...I would've amputated one of my legs to be able to afford it and I would've amputated the other after I realize how much of a waste of money that shit is!

So now I've been looking into Textfugu and it looks really really nice. It has a 110% guarantee (gives you a refund if you don't like it) and the whole thing is worth 120$. But since I'm a broke student and I've got to save lots of money AND I've got my own expenses I need to take care off...I was wondering has anyone tried it? And would you recommend it?

Bump.....:o

First of all, if you have two and a half years left of your degree, that doesn't mean two and a half years until you go to Japan ;) You'll need your actual degree certificate to get a visa, which takes time, and then go through the whole visa process and job hunt . . . I get my degree results next month, but I still won't be going until around next April.

Anyways, on-topic :D There are many, many free resources you can use to learn Japanese. If you do a quick search on the forum you'll find a fair few, the one I always recomend is the NHK website. Anyways, it may be a better idea than to fork out a lot of dollars for a product you're not even sure about :)

What if you're not answered? Do you create a duplicate thread? Won't this just congest things?

Reeeaaallly?! I never knew that...I knew that looking for a job\visa and stuff like that would take some time...but waiting for the actual degree certicate I never knew that :/ kinda sucks IMO

Anyways thx for the reply I'll check out NHK.

@MMM
Iight I'll watch out for that next time

A very good point. I swear people making forums don't think about these things!

If you don't get an answer, you don't get an answer. That's the way life is.

What's 'power trip' in Japanese?

Well you should work on stopping life being like it then!

Yeah, I'm like 99% certain you need the degree certificate. I've had to do a lot of research about the country and visa processes, plus I've spoken to a few people who were turned down from jobs solely as they hadn't the actual certificate itself. In your country of origin your 'provisional' certificate to say you've passed is enough, but the visa offices for Japan demand the actual certificate as solid proof. It's a pain, but at least it gives you a few precious months to get prepared, and a month or two to rest and relax before the stress of moving. I'll also add to get your certificate of elligibility can take around three months, from there it seems a fast/easy process, but it may take you a while to find a job, so you could be looking at four or more months to get a visa, that is if you're unlucky and it's slow getting a job and/or your COE.

Edit:

List of Lessons | Japanese Lessons, free text/audio downloads | Japanese Lessons at NHK WORLD - for oral speaking

Drill and learn the Japanese kanji - for kanji reading

http://www.japanforum.com/forum/japa...rning+japanese - a list of various sites compiled by kind forum users

Thanks A LOT man! I was hesitating on whether I should take spring\summer classes next year or not since I fell behind a semester because I changed Degree Program....Now I'm pretty sure I'll do that :p

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up A LOT of Japanese before I take off to Japan.

Thanks again man

What kind of job do you have lined up in Japan?

I don't have anything lined up at the moment. I'm still a Uni student, I've got 2 and half more years before I graduate. I'm actually studying to become a teacher...So I thought since I'm still young might as well go travel, so I wanna teach in Japan for a couple years see how things go and then come back to Canada.

Ah, so the JET program then?

Yeah or any other teaching related job.