Note that all the drills in BJ and JSL are intended to be oral drills; many of them are not that hard on paper but when you're trying to respond at normal speed after the oral prompt, without looking at any written form, it can be a lot harder. Then in class, you're expected to use the material from the drills (and core conversations) in simulated contexts, without any explicit prompts (e.g. "now we're going to do drill E" or the like).
Basically it follows a pretty regimented plan for introducing material:
- All new patterns and vocab are introduced as "core conversations" that are supposed to be memorized along with viewing the videos which contextualize them
- The new patterns and vocab are then drilled mechanically
- The mechanical drills are then applied with "application exercises" and in-class exercises that simulate contexts (classes ideally conducted in all Japanese with no books or notes)
- Finally, short English prompts are used to serve as the starting point for whole conversations based on the material from the lesson.
In my experience as a teacher of this method it works quite well for students who are willing to put in the work. They tend to lag behind in kanji and reading, but their speaking ability is way ahead.
Last edited by yudantaiteki (2010 March 02, 6:14 pm)
