My Japanese coach
 

Ubi soft is coming out with this new software for DS which is supposed to help studying Japanese. Anyone knows anything about it?

I'm just got it, but still haven't tried it, looks like a great learning tool for English speakers, since all the others that I know are in Japanese, I'll give my input about it once I tried it out. There is also a Mandarin version of it, from what I understand.

Awesome, I want to know if it's worth it too! ~

That sounds really cool :D plus I have a DS :p so when (or if) if comes out in the UK, I'll definately be buying it =]

That sounds pretty good. I know some japanese but I still want to know the whole language and how to write in it so hopefully it will be good.

I just played it(for about 20 just to get the general idea of it), and it fits really well to the NDS concept, you use the mic and the touch screens a lot and it really adds a bunch to the learning experience.
First you take an entrance exam with about 50 question, it's a multiple choice test, and they give you a level (I got five), so it can know where you stand, and after that you just start the lessons, you can do it at your own term, listening and writing everything very carefully or just listen to it once and jump in to the test, which can be either crosswords or one of does carnival games where you it the Marmots (can't recall the name) with the right words, per example, after you finish the first lesson you have access to a dictionary, the games to test your knowledge of the Japanese language and the lessons, as soon as you finish one and pass the test you can get to the next one. It's a great tool for those who want to learn japanese for themselves or just need to pratice there basic japanese. As for those who are fluent or almost, you may buy it for the dictionary, but there are far better options for the console if you just want the dictionary.

I dont but when anyone knows pm me please if you will.

It's official USA release was 3 days ago (14 October). It's already on Amazon.

35 words correct when i started ^^

I ordered it after it was released lol. Crani, great review of it. ^_^ Now I really can't wait.

I ordered it through Amazon.com and it was already shipped.
Now I got a doubt tho...is it all romaji???? Please please please tell me nooooooo.

For every word or sentence they give you the pronunciation, the romaji, the kana and the kanji (If available).

I just got it today, and I really like it. I got a level five on the quiz, and I'm at level nine now. LOL.

Hmm... Now I might have to get this... Sounds good, but I'd have to steal my moms DS though.

I just bought it but haven't had much time to play with it, but it seems like it's going to be fun. It was pretty hard to find here at first o.0

DS Game - My Japanese Coach
 

For those who have a DS and want to learn Japanese, this is actually quite good if you have some basic Japanese knowledge and want a software to help you practice. I won't say its any good to "teach" you, but it "help" you practice. Give it a shot.

Agree with you. Too much romaji and few kanji so far (I am only at class 40 out of 1000???? then is it true???).
It is good to learn new words and helps alot practicing writing kana and few kanji, even tho every learning game has a timer and that, in my opinion, slows down alot the learning part.
As per the grammar, so far it is done in not a very detailed way. So far it tackled some grammar aspects giving away only few aspects of them and not covering them entirely...but of course it might change in the long run.

it takes time, it will get to Hiragana and kitakana later..... then kanji.. grammar will also come later

A good idea is maybe a borders near you or walmart? You may have to order it online though since your store may not have it in stock.

I checked for you, writing exercise will start at lesson 7.......... grammar is a long way to go, so if you are looking for stuff on ni, no, ga, de etc etc etc, you will have to keep playing

One thing that does bug me about the game is that, when you quit a minigame, Haruka glares at you and says "You should really play the game if you want to learn the language". WTF? Maybe I quit the game because I wasn't sure of some of the words and wanted to go back to review. Every time she does that to me, I actually talk back to her IRL. XDDD

Relax its just an educational title.

Lulz, I know. It still can get on my nerves though.

It's great! I bought one about 2 weeks ago and I know more than I used to, the months, the days, conjugations, etc. Really great game. Get it.

50/50 on Entrance Exam ;)

In short, This game is a decent attempt at an educational title even if it is a bit quirky at times. This is the first time I've ever seen anyone use whack a mole to learn vocabulary! The content is there for basic japanese but the effort for a comprehensive learning tool is not - japanese coach 2? Its a good start for those who want to learn the basics/test what they already know without buying books or going to classes but it ain't no magic fairy fluent dust.

In long I've noticed a few annoyances.. probably due to the game being rushed or whatever. Amongst these is having to play minigames 4 maybe 5 times per each set of 10 words before being able to move on to the next lesson instead of a comprehension test or something to summarise every few lessons. In one of the minigames you have to pick the correct answer to a question (or translation) from 4 multiple choice options. so the word on the top screen might be "How are you?" and you would have to choose between

a) konnichiwa
b) onna no hito
c) demo
d) genki desu ka?

By tapping the correct answer on the bottom screen. Often the choices are completely random so the correct word might be blindingly obvious like asking for a translation of say Febuary and choice C being the only one of the four with a number in it.

Theres much worse cases such as the audio questions on kana.

Q: ひ

a) neko
b) genki desu
c) hi
d) onna no hito

This really annoys me cuz its not even a real question. its just like its testing if you heard her properly (hard to mistake C for D) or if your speakers work. pointless.

Theres also strange written questions like this:

Q：RI

a) KA
b) り
c) SE
d) A

And questions like this have popped up a few times..

Q：ＳＥ

a) SE
b) せ
ｃ） taberu
c) どもありがとう

So I thought "the answers got to be B right? the others are just stupid?" and tapped B but no Ｉ was wrong?! A was correct???? Sometimes its just a matter of luck..

The selection buttons are really close together and hyper sensitive (unless your trying to draw kana such as ウ where you have to get it spot on perfect or the game says your answer is incorrect) so be careful not to tap the wrong thing when your against the clock.

Miss Attitude-Problem doesn't introduce herself unless you start at lesson 1. This means if you get a enough answers correct on the entrance exam, you don't get told how the game works or how to use any of the learning material. Whatshername says some really uninspiring things during your lessons. "What?! Your leaving?! These words aren't going to master themselves!" amongst other things which are rude and demotivating..

Another thing is TOO MUCH ROMAJI! I'm on lesson 40+ and I still can't get rid of it. Before i bought this i was told that this game had enough content to get you through JLPT4.. which I'm doubting now..

I've got more to say on this but can't be bothered to write it now.. If you have any questions PM me or write them here..

My Japanese Coach in DS
 

Hi,

Has anyone tried My Japanese Coach in DS? I'm planning to learn Japanese and I want to use it as a tool. Would it be really helpful?

Thanks

I have it and I am enjoying it kind of. It's structure is really weird. It has helped me out with learning vocabulary, but when it comes to verbs, sentence structures, and particles then it is weird in my opinion. However, it has fun minigames that pretty much train your brain to immediately connect a Japanese word with the English meaning. For example, it has the Hit-a-Word game, and the Multiple Choice game, where when you play them on Hard, you have very little time to react, so your brain adapts.

A couple things I don't like is that it moves too slow in my opinion. It starts out with romaji, and doesn't switch fully to kana until I believe lesson 30. Also, I do not remember when it starts teaching you kanji, but I wish it was started at the beginning when they were teaching you the words.

I would advise you, if you were to get it, to try and get it used so that it is cheaper.

By all means, don't take my word as a get it or not though, I would recommend people with a DS that want to learn Japanese to get it. There are a lot of Japanese games that help out a ton too when you start to learn kanji.

I bought a CycloDS and use that to hold all of my games. It's probably my best purchase that I've ever had and has benefitted me greatly. I recommend you look into it if you have a DS.
Hope this helped. If you have any more questions just ask!

Hey, yea... I *Obtained* A digital version of the game... It ran fairly well, but I could not hear the audio well, so I completly gave up, this seems to be the ONLY game I would purchase for my DS. It would be more responsive and well worth your while.

Writing the Kanji is super fun.

More discussion here:

http://www.japanforum.com/forum/japa...ese-coach.html

I've got the game already and so far, the audio was okay.