Living Language vs. Eleanor Jorden

red_luthansa · Apr 15, 2005, 00:35

I'm a fairly advanced beginner (although still definitely a beginner) and am looking to buy a new course - I think I've decided between Eleanor Jorden's "Beginning Japanese" parts 1 and 2 with the tapes or the Living Language Basic/Intermediate + Advanced course. I know both are written in romanji but I am very confident with kana and will transcribe both myself.
Which do you think would be better - I am self-studying although I can talk to native speakers if I need help, and I prefer a more rigourous approach than the JBP series, which to the best of my knowlege, both of these courses offer.

Cheers for any help anyone can offer.

dc_johnson45 · Apr 15, 2005, 10:09

Just curious, what is your goal? I've used the "Reading Japanese" book, but found it... strange. Its transliteration seems out of date. I didn't like it much. Personally, I would recommend 'Japanese for Everyone' along with the tapes (if you can afford them... tapes are ~$100, book is only ~$20 - $30) Its heavy on grammar & vocab, and uses (practically) no romanji. Plus, it uses sentence structures that a native speaker might actually use

Poke around the forum & I'm sure you will see JfE comes highly recommended... the Genki series is also recommended (although I have not used it)

rajs20 · Apr 15, 2005, 11:49

Hrm, sorry I'm not really familiar w/ those courses you mentioned.

Anyways, I agree w/ dc_johnson45. Japanese for Everyone rocks... And actually now you can find the tapes for as low as $40, I think.

Genki is great too (I have used both Genki and J4E), but I like J4E more because it's more targeted to self-learners. All the exercises have answers in the back of the book so you can check yourself. With Genki, only about 30-40% of the exercises have answers on the audio tapes, and those which aren't on the tape have no answers given.

red_luthansa · Apr 15, 2005, 17:21

I've heard many great things about this book but unfortunately I live in England and as far as I can tell it would cost be nearly ｣100 to get the tapes - and I really can't afford that - I don't suppose anyone knows where I can get them cheaper?

rajs20 · Apr 16, 2005, 11:50

Hrmm, sorry I didn't understand, did you say 100 US dollars, or 100 pounds?

In any case, here is the site I was referring to which has it for $40:
http://japanbookplaza.com.au/shop/pr...ducts_id/22644

Apr 15, 2005, 00:35	#1
red_luthansa Junior Member Join Date: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 2	Living Language vs. Eleanor Jorden I'm a fairly advanced beginner (although still definitely a beginner) and am looking to buy a new course - I think I've decided between Eleanor Jorden's "Beginning Japanese" parts 1 and 2 with the tapes or the Living Language Basic/Intermediate + Advanced course. I know both are written in romanji but I am very confident with kana and will transcribe both myself. Which do you think would be better - I am self-studying although I can talk to native speakers if I need help, and I prefer a more rigourous approach than the JBP series, which to the best of my knowlege, both of these courses offer. Cheers for any help anyone can offer.

Apr 15, 2005, 17:21	#4
red_luthansa Junior Member Join Date: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 2	Japanese for everyone? I've heard many great things about this book but unfortunately I live in England and as far as I can tell it would cost be nearly ｣100 to get the tapes - and I really can't afford that - I don't suppose anyone knows where I can get them cheaper?

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Apr 15, 2005, 10:09	#2
dc_johnson45 Regular Member Join Date: Feb 1, 2005 Posts: 47	Just curious, what is your goal? I've used the "Reading Japanese" book, but found it... strange. Its transliteration seems out of date. I didn't like it much. Personally, I would recommend 'Japanese for Everyone' along with the tapes (if you can afford them... tapes are ~$100, book is only ~$20 - $30) Its heavy on grammar & vocab, and uses (practically) no romanji. Plus, it uses sentence structures that a native speaker might actually use Poke around the forum & I'm sure you will see JfE comes highly recommended... the Genki series is also recommended (although I have not used it)

Apr 15, 2005, 11:49	#3
rajs20 Hokage Join Date: Oct 23, 2004 Age: 27 Posts: 76	Hrm, sorry I'm not really familiar w/ those courses you mentioned. Anyways, I agree w/ dc_johnson45. Japanese for Everyone rocks... And actually now you can find the tapes for as low as $40, I think. Genki is great too (I have used both Genki and J4E), but I like J4E more because it's more targeted to self-learners. All the exercises have answers in the back of the book so you can check yourself. With Genki, only about 30-40% of the exercises have answers on the audio tapes, and those which aren't on the tape have no answers given.

Apr 16, 2005, 11:50	#5
rajs20 Hokage Join Date: Oct 23, 2004 Age: 27 Posts: 76	Hrmm, sorry I didn't understand, did you say 100 US dollars, or 100 pounds? In any case, here is the site I was referring to which has it for $40: http://japanbookplaza.com.au/shop/pr...ducts_id/22644