all "kana" option

breravinSun, 20 Sep 2009 08:21:26 -0500
こんにちは みんなさん,

New to the program, been studying Japanese on and off for the better part of two years. Coming back after a much-too-long hiatus. どぞよろしくおねがいします.

So far the program seems pretty good, but I had two quick thoughts.

1) For the interactive audio, it would be nice if you could set your preference for which text is the default - Romaji or Kana.

2) Site-wide, it would be nice is there was a "Kana only" option. Or at the very least, a quiz option that had hiragana and katakana only

Romaji definitely helps accessibility, but many people (myself included) find the earlier you can commit to Kana, the better. It's actually really odd to me to see a lot of these words in Romaji, and does a bit of a disservice to those who have learned.

I say this with every intention of being constructive! Can't wait to check out more of the program, and more of the advanced studies and games.

ありがとう!
breravinSun, 20 Sep 2009 08:32:21 -0500
Can't seem to find the edit button:

Just wanted to clarify - "Kana" for all the Japanese words. Of course the English can stay English.
breravinSun, 20 Sep 2009 09:20:26 -0500
Quote from breravin
Can't seem to find the edit button:

Just wanted to clarify - "Kana" for all the Japanese words. Of course the English can stay English.


Ya, I just tried the "Mega" games. MegaVocab definitely needs a kana version.
K73SKMon, 21 Sep 2009 20:00:53 -0500
I know it's a bit of work, but it's worth it...trust me :

href="http://japanese.rocketlanguages.com/miscellaneous/tips-for-katakana-megajapanese-program-t225.html
デレクSun, 27 Sep 2009 05:12:58 -0500
Why not go all the way and just get a Japanese OS? (Operating System for the technologically declined)

I had one for 5 minutes until I realized I was only doing things off of memory of it's physical location on the screen xD so I'm waiting until either I'm forced to switch back to vista or when I buy Windows 7...
Sayaka MatsuuraWed, 30 Sep 2009 20:14:08 -0500
Hello minnasan!

Kana is certainly a very essential part for mastering the Japanese language. As Breravin-san has suggested, we will surely find a way so that you can set up your default as Kana for the Interactive Audio lesson transcripts.

A Kana-only quiz is a matter we have looked into and will surely be advantageous for advanced learners. At first though, beginners may find it a little too intimidating to see all-kana sections... it's one thing to understand Japanese, to speak it, and hear it... and an entirely different level to be able to read and write it! But, we'll surely try to find a medium so that all Rocket Japanese learners are comfortable and at the same time feel challenged by the course.

Thanks for all your posts!
Tegan WMon, 04 Oct 2010 00:21:30 -0500
Thanks for this post!

I would just like to add that completely agree that I would benefit a lot more from the lessons being in kana, I think particularly the grammar lessons where kana is not even an option.

I also think this is not just something for advanced learners: I have done very little japanese previously, but I am a very visual learner and have picked up the reading/ writing bit quite quickly by memorising the katakana/ hiragana charts (and I have learned Chinese previously). I think it would be of much greater benefit to myself and other visual learners to have kana accompany the grammar lessons as well as the audio courses.

I also find the romaji confusing becuase when there is the little accent over a letter, i'm not sure what it correlates to in kana, which I get caught up on and have to look up before I can proceed.

An update would be much appreciated!
Sayaka MatsuuraMon, 18 Oct 2010 22:36:31 -0500
Konnichiwa Tegan-san,

This issue of Kana-grammar lessons has been taken on board by the Rocket Japanese team as we find ways to make our product better for learners like yourself.

Thank you for your post!

Sayaka
Elena SSat, 30 Oct 2010 08:02:43 -0500
Hello

I join to this requests, especially on MegaJapanes games.

As for Grammar, the explanation is fine in English, but grammar patterns (endings, suffixes) would be much better in Kana.
Sayaka MatsuuraTue, 02 Nov 2010 23:12:23 -0500
Thank for your comment Elena-san,

- Sayaka
Joe K1Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:54:55 -0600
I would like to see Kana versions of the site and games also.
ベン (Ben)Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:33:55 -0600
I would like to add my voice to having a kana option, or at least in addition to the romaji.

What would be even better is to have kanji with furigana as another option. Once you learn the kana you should start on the kanji if you plan on reading Japanese, which if you've learned the kana is a pretty logical next step. This is definitely the proverbial cherry-on-top, but it's a VERY nice cherry and the only gripe I have with the course so far.

Like a previous poster I'm also primarily a visual learner, so much better at reading/writing Japanese then speaking/listening (working on that...).
コッドSat, 11 Feb 2012 08:03:25 -0600
that would be nice for all the courses, but unfortunately only the platinum version of the program has the conversations written in Kanji.
ベン (Ben)Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:49:10 -0600
I was hoping that by the premium plus version Kanji would start being used in the transcripts and lessons. Romaji is externally difficult for me to read since I've never studied with it, even kana only is hard since I've pushed myself to get to the Kanji as fast as possible (not great yet, but practice makes perfect).

Is Kana at least a fairly universal option in the premium plus and platinum versions for the lessons? Also are kanji used in the platinum version lessons or only the transcripts?
コッドTue, 14 Feb 2012 07:46:52 -0600
kana, romaji and english translation scripts are used in all the lessons for all the levels. They are universal.
However, the platinum comes with another section for the conversation scripts: Kanji, where you can find the conversation written with kanji and kana (as you may well know, kanji cannot be used solely in the Japanese language).

All the writing lessons in platinum and the majority of the writing lessons in premium plus are about kanji, so they're really helpful even if overall you are not taught many kanji...
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