My Japanese Coach

Amazon product ASIN B001BZ8EX8Nintendo Released My Japanese Coach for the DS last month. If you looking for a nice mobile addition to your studying materials check this software out. It's a good learning tool.

• Has an assessment test at the beginning of setting up your profile. I aced the assessment but still got put at kindergartner level.
• Has very well structured learning and teaching system with games that test your knowledge and "mastery" of a word.
• Each lesson teaches about 10 different "words" and it goes up to about level 100 I have only unlocked levels 1-59.
• Some words appear to be outdated but are taught in case you hear them in conversation and such.
• There is also a speak, write, option allowing you to practice stroke order and pronunciation for words in any lesson you are currently on or have completed.
• You have the option to switch to Romaji or Kana depending on your comfort level later in the lessons.
• Includes a basic dictionary that works on the English lettering system.
• Includes a handy phrase guide with translations for common phrases.
• Learning games include:
  • Flash Cards (word is spoken and you have to select the English translate)
  • Multiple Choice (English is given and you choose the best answer in Japanese)
  • Fading Characters (shows you the stroke order then erases it to allow you to try to write it yourself)
  • Write Cards (gives you the word in Romaji and you write it in Kana or Kanji)
• There are 3 difficulty levels which change the options of the game. You can set the default level in options and then change the level when select a training game. (Learning game)
• You can also choose to practice current lesson words or words you have already "mastered". Unfortunately you cannot select specific words unless you go back to the lesson you learned them on.☝

Overall I feel this worth a try and is a good investment for beginner to intermediate users.

Amazon product ASIN B001BZ8EX8

Funny you should mention this. A girl in my Japanese class brought this "game" to class and 7 of us wound up buying it. Now we all sit in the hallway before class with our heads in our DS' playing. It's actually quite helpful.

I also have it. I picked it up because I used the French Coach version and loved it so I thought I would try it.

I love most of the mini games.

Sounds fun.

I don't actually own a Nintendo DS but might consider buying one: this 'game' would be a justification, so to speak...

This is sort of off topic so quick, terse replies pefectly acceptable (or mail me).

I had a quick look on AmazonUK and the price varies considerably with the colour of the thing!

Are they all the same? apart from the colour? Personally I don't care what colour it is so I'd rather spend less than GBP100 for the Turquoise coloured one than GBP176 for the silver one! An extra GBP76 just for a silver colourd one seems a bit over the top: if the guts of the thing is actually the same?

As usual ebay new prices are more than Amazons and second-hand only about 10GBP less than Amazon new: why do people pay more on ebay, beats me. (no repllies necessary about ebay).

Ok: after a bit more searching I see that I only need pay about GBP100 for one of whatever colour (Amazon pricing seems a bit odd).