When I search for what people think of JapanesePod101 the views sometimes seem a bit lukewarm. I disagree - I think their website is fantastic.

If you go for the premium version (and it really works much better if you do) you get a lot of material in each lesson and it is really well organised.

What I do for each lesson is take a look at the vocabulary they are targetting and make sure I am familiar with it (they give you a handy list). Then I will maybe go through the conversation which they give you in a kanji format and try to understand it. They I listen to the conversation and the rest of the lesson. If I understood the conversation at normal speed I skip the slow and translated versions. Then I listen to the rest of the lesson. After that I check out the kanji work sheet and just confirm I know the kanji and if not brush up on it. Then go through the pdf of the lesson notes to practice reading the kanji version of the conversation, study the grammar and go through the sample sentences. Then I finish off by doing their video vocab test and the review track (basically another test). The whole thing takes about 30 - 40 minutes which is about ideal for me in terms of my attention span.

At the moment I am still working my way through the beginner series - I am on series 4 - and I use it as a refresher for my other learning as much as anything. They have hundreds of beginner lessons but also lots of intermediate and advanced as well as some specialised stuff - a series on particles for example. Their survival phrases series is excellent too ahead of a trip to Japan.

I think some people underestimate Pod101 because some of what they offer is free and people seem obsessed with trying to avoid paying for anything on the internet. As a result they don't' sign up for the paid version and don't benefit from the way all the lessons have been organised and the massive amount of materials that support each 'podcast'. I started up as a basic member, moved up to premium and am very happy with that.

Another moan I see in some forums is that they find Peter Galante (one of the hosts and the original founder) somewhat annoying. I totally disagree - he is a really funny guy and I find the shows he hosts particularly enjoyable. (And because he is the founder he has the confidence to move away from the script somewhat which makes it more fun than some of the other presenters who can sometimes seem to be reading everything from the page).

I think it is true that the original podcasts were not very smooth and Peter had some annoying verbal tics but that got sorted after the first 10 shows or thereabouts. As there a now hundreds and hundreds of lessons that is pretty much irrelevant. Also people seem to forget that this was a start up by people who were developing it from zero. It wasn't some huge corporation with a ton of money and experience. I am not surprised the guy was unsure and a bit nervous at first - actually the nervousness is quite charming in an odd way - Pimsleur is great but it is SO polished and this was refreshing in a way. Anyway I admire what they have managed to achieve. They clearly worked really hard to get where they are and I just applaud that 100%

The only thing I don't much like about them is their marketing. They always seem to have discounts and go on about free accounts. This is a very high quality service and they market it as if it were a bit dodgy. They should have confidence in what they are doing.

Anyway I apologise for the length of this post. I just thought maybe some people are put off Pod101 by the poor marketing and wanted to share my appreciation of the site here. (And I am not related in any way, shape or form with Pod101 by the way!).

Last edited by Rusty (2013 October 20, 6:53 am)