Is this Rosetta Stone language software any good for a beginner? Iam just doing it because iam interested in it not for a degree or something.
i started about 2 months ago using the rosetta stone japanese level 1.
for building vocabulary, hearing pronunciation (even if it's a bit slowed and overdone), and having to craft short japanese sentences quickly in your mind, it's been outstanding. i would not recommend it for learning the kanas or kanji, or for getting a solid grasp on grammar or sentence structure. the program is TOTAL immersion and if you start wondering why "ga" is used instead of "ha/wa" or when you get to the counters, there is zero help unless you google it. i know a lot of japanese is situational and eventually you'll just "know" when to use particles/verbs/etc, but i can't work that way, i have to ask questions.
i have been supplementing rosetta stone with the following:
Kanji de Manga Vol 1 - for learning kanji, obviously, uses short comics to reinforce the kanji's meaning and usage.
Japanese for Busy People I: Romanized Version - for learning to read in kana and write in romaji (which also helps to read in kanas for me since it helps build vocab)
Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Workbook for writing and reading the kanas, writing them helps ingrain them into your memory immensely
RealKana.com - basically a practice app for learning the kanas. I started using this about a month+ ago, and within a week of studying and using the practice feature, I had learned at least 50 of both hiragana and katakana. i'm about 90-95% on recognizing all kanas now. this is web-based and there's an iOS version.
Kanji Flashcards (free)- includes the kanas as well, I use this whenever I have a few free minutes (bathroom, car ride, bored, etc). Another rote memorization tool, but it's been helping to reinforce the kanas and occasionally I manage to commit a new kanji to memory.
i've also just recently joined a local group of people who are into Japanese language and culture. it's a mix of native speakers, English speakers who've learned Japanese, and people who are just interested in Japanese culture/cuisine. i did this because i don't have the time or money to take a class, and i want to have some experience both speaking and hearing native speakers.
this kind of approach is a little off-putting to me. while i have no doubt that it results in RAPID progress and development, i am not so eager to learn Japanese as to pretend that i am in fact Japanese, or that i want to renounce my real heritage and American identity. japanophiles creep me out.