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The biggest CHANGE of the year! Starting today, older free content will be available exclusively for Basic and Premium subscribers. Not a Basic or Premium subscriber? Not a problem, we’ve made becoming a subscriber the easiest EVER! Simply enter CHANGE in the coupon field to save 45% off instantly! Don’t get left behind, we’re moving quickly and we want you to come along with us. Stop by JapanesePod101.com to redeem 45% off any Basic or Premium Subscription now! This is a limited time offer!

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pm and is filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

38 Responses to “News #66 - Change, Don’t Be Left Behind”

JapanesePod101.com says:

To save 45% off instantly, go here:
http://www.JapanesePod101.com/coupon/CHANGE/

To read more on this change, go here:
http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/2008/11/07/change-dont-be-left-behind/

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Musouka says:

Quick question. My account expires on 3/14/2009. If I used the offer and upgraded now, will my account get extended to expire on 3/14/2010 or will it end on 11/10/2009?

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Musouka says:

Never mind, I should have listened to the podcast before asking the question :oops:

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JKid says:

Musouka-san,
Assuming you got a one year subscription, to the best of my knowledge it will expire a year after it is activated so it will expire on 3/14/2010 because the new subscription you buy will not start until after your current one ends. :smile:

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katafei says:

I just posted the same question….
ごめんね  :oops:

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FortFukushima says:

I was wondering if you guys might do something like this.
All the work you guys put in, i’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
I hope you can pull in the well deserved memberships and bucks to keep putting out great quality productions.
Also, I love the new PDFs. They are much easier for me to read on the screen and on prints, plus the copy option is gold.
Best with the biz! :dogeza:

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katafei says:

I agree with FortFukushimasan :wink:
But, if I check my account, it still says the new subscription runs from today till a year from today???
(my previous account does not end until Dec the 30th, or sth)

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Peter says:

FortFukushima-san and Katafei-san, thank you for the support. :dogeza: We have some really nice content planned over the next few months, and the lesson content and quality will continue to improve. :grin:

We’re really glad to hear that you like the new PDFs! :smile:

Katafei-san, we’ll look into that. Please e-mail us at contactus too. Thx!

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JapanesePod101.com says:

katafei-san, you should be good to go.

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Hiron says:

I extended my subscription with a half year :grin: I also agree with FortFukushima, with the content (high quality and quantity) you guys are delivering I was suprised it was free for such a long time. Keep up the good work!!!

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katafei says:

Yup, Thanks :dogeza:

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Arabela says:

:shock: The economic crisis is as bad as thought… :cry: from now on for new users won’t be easy to learn japanese anymore… :cool: but business is business… :roll: mhhh… anyway… What if for some reason I lose the files from my computer but I do not want to pay again because in a year subscription I got the level that I want? Because I had already paid for these lessons … Clearly I can not say the same of what I did not pay … what was once free … :neutral: mata ne! I’m not angry but some sad… to teach isn’t more a pleasure but a business, it’s ok… it’s just sad…

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ジャービジ says:

Exactly, JPod is a business, not a language charity. You don’t buy the rights to the lessons, you pay for a subscription to the site. If Jpod helps you get to the level you want, and you need to download lessons again, surely you could find it in your generous heart to part with the measly $8 for a basic monthly subscription to help support the site that got you there.

You can’t fault the attitude of the team at all; they work hard, they deliver a quality product, and they’re sensitive to the needs of their users. I think it’s great that they’re finally protecting their best asset from all the useless leeches out there. It’s always those people that complain as well: they’ve got nothing to bring to the site except their arrogance and complete lack of a grip on reality and how the world works. That’s what is sad.

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Codexus says:

I’m a premium subscriber of japanesepod101, koreanclass101, germanpod101, italianpod101 and russianpod101 and I’m not sure this is such a great idea. Sure, it will increase the number of subscribers in the short term but it’s now more difficult to recommend your sites as free resources for language learning to our friends. Because that’s the first thing that people always ask: “Is it free?”. And it’s not really possible to answer “Yes!!!” anymore. So in the long term, that could mean less people discovering your sites and less people subscribing once they see how great they are.

Well, I’m sure you thought about it a lot before making this move and weighted the pros and cons. So I hope it’s the best choice, both for your business and the community.

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Mihara says:

Only one problem, though- When I go to the “Popup” option that I always use, it now says I have to be a Premium member to use it. Nani? o.O

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Charles says:

Mihara-san,
With lessons older than 3 weeks, you will need to log in to the site first before trying to play the audio on the lessons page. Please be sure you are logged in- and if you have any problems feel free to contact us!

Thank you everyone for your great feedback :dogeza:
Charles

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Arabela says:

Dear ジャービジ, I didn’t say “Japanesepod” is bad is the best site to learn japanese… Not all people is rich like you, some people have to work hard to get money to pay the lessons, do you think the money grow ups in the trees? So “Japanesepod” is not so great now for new users, all we knew it from a while know this but new members won’t be able to see it easily :roll: And I don’t want all free because I paid…

Dear CODEXUS I didn’t see that problem… but you’re right I say to the people see this site is great because has some free and great things… (the great things is what you pay) This site has fun and a good way to teach… but yeah now it’s difficult to recomend… :cry:

Japanesepod: May be you don’t do it beacause the money but because necessity and it’s ok… it’s a business and like a business it’s ok… the world economic crisis is hard and will be worst take it like an advice… :neutral:

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Mihara says:

No, I am logged in, but it still comes up…

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Charles says:

Mihara-san,
We are working on a fix, thank you for letting us know.
Charles

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ジャービジ says:

Arabela, the second part of that rant wasn’t aimed directly at you. I’ve seen people in the past who weren’t even subscribers commenting with a high and mighty attitude, as if they were what’s important, which I found pretty ridiculous.

What I’m saying is, if you don’t buy one coffee in Starbucks next month, you practically have enough for a basic subscription, so surely the work the team puts in is worth that much, at least. Even if you get an occasional basic subscription, you’re doing your part to support the site.

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Allie says:

yes…buisness is buisness, but even though the rates are cheap everyone doesn’t have the means to pay for a subscription yet i.e kids whose parents wouldn’t support them. i guess it’s off to another site for those people :nihon: japanesepod101 is still a great place to learn, just not the most accessable anymore…

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Will says:

You guys could at least keep the latest newbie season free so that new comers could get a taste of the site. I suppose the 7 day trial takes care of this though, and they can always listen to the latest lessons. :wink:

Keep up the great work! :dogeza:

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Louise says:

Hi Team!

I’ve been a fan of jpod101 for 3 years now, and although not my main learning strategy it played a big part when I was first learning Japanese. Now I’m JLPT level 2, part of a billingual speech club, and take all my grad school classes in Tokyo in Japanese so thanks for everything you did for me.

I actually haven’t been spent any time on your site for over 5 months now, and the reason why was that the buttons on the top of your site that narrow the posts according to category only point to old content.

I haven’t got time to search all the way through the newbie lessons and news and stuff to get to the content aimed at my level so I always just click the top buttons…. and for the past 5 months or so, the upper intermediate button goes to content from July, the intermediate content which I presume you have stopped making now (?!) is from January, and even the lower intermediate that I listen to for quirky phrases that I don’t learn anywhere else points to content from 2007!

Since you have decided to archive all of the old material into subscriber access only, I looked around the site and realised there’s like 15 posts that I missed!

Could you sort this button problem out, and maybe let us know which levels of Japanese you intend to keep doing and which you will not, because I’m teetering on whether to subscribe, but less inclined to if the content is in short supply or if a level is just going to be stopped in the near future….

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JapanesePod101.com says:

Louise-san, thank you for your comment. You’ll be happy to hear that we’re working on a new interface that will make finding and searching through lessons and seasons much, much easier. I don’t have an exact release date, but I can tell you that it’s in the near future.

In the meantime, you can use the the Lesson Categories links on the right side of the page (below the “Japanese Language Solution” section and above the “Free Public Feeds” section.) Those links are accurate and include all the lessons and levels to date.

I hope this helps. Thanks for your patience and support.

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Angie says:

Hi Peter & team. I’ve read carefully at yours email and all the comments to this post /unfortunately this morning I can’t get the audio).
Well this decision does not affect me because I am already a basic subscriber since several months.

Then, what can I say? I always thought that 8 dollars for a basic monthly subscription were nothing compared with all the interesting audios and pdfs. I agree, 8 dollars is a pack of cigarettes or a pair of coffee.
I was surprised too that all those audio files were free, totally free.

Somehow I agree with who suggested to keep a newbie season free, just to let new users to get through the site and appreciate it..
Also, both the majority of “new users” and “young new users” will not look for material after the newbie level in their first steps, so leaving that free could be a good choice to keep making new users and to allow young users (who can’t clearly pay a basic subscription) to introduce themselves into this wonderful language.

My fear is that storing all the series in a basic subscription, somehow people will not reach jpod anymore because now is not FREE, so no new users can appreciate your work, then no new paying-users, then no jpod anymore :sad:
I know I am being “a bit” catastrophic but that’s really my fear.
You KNOW, you really know how much I enjoyed this site, the community, all of you :kokoro: :kokoro: so that’s why I am really scared :cry:

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Angie says:

* I enjoyed = as per “I am enjoying”

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Peter says:

Thank you everyone for your support.

@Arabela-san, please don’t be sad. Please remember if you download everyday, you’ll get every new lesson free. :)

@ジャービジさん、thank you for the great support!

@Codexus-san, thanks for the great support! (bow) Remember the most recent lessons are free. It rewards the long time listeners, as the had the opportunity to get everything for free. New listeners can get all the new lessons for free, but if you want to access.

@Allie-san, thanks for the support! Remember, just update everyday and you’ll get every lesson moving forward, which will be a lot. ;)

@Will-san, thanks for the support. Grab a basic and grab them all, or pace yourself as you can download the next Newbie season for free by downloading every week.

@Louise-san, great to hear how far you’ve come! Thanks for pointing that out. Looking into it now. For your level Upper Intermediate and Lower Intermediate, Audio Blog all in Japanese and Yojijukugo would be really good.

@Angie-san, thank you for your support, and kind words. We share the same opinion and thanks for understanding. :)

@Regarding FREE
Remember, all new podcasts are free. Download every lesson from here on out for free. Think of it like TV…watch it for free at it’s regularly scheduled time. Get our stuff in a timely manner and your good if you can’t afford a subscription.
The basic subscription now has a tremendous value, as you get everything for as low as $5 a month. $2.75 while the CHANGE special is valid.

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Mihara says:

The Popup feature is working again. Arigatou~ :smile:

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Arabela says:

thanks for your kind answer Peter-san… ganbatte

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Beki says:

Mina-san,

I can’t get a Basic Subscription yet as I’m not old enough for a credit card and as I am learning Japanese in my free time my parents think the purchase would be unjustified. I’ve only got as far as Newbie lesson #15 in S1 - for those who have followed these lessons and S4, I ask: Would I be able to follow S4 Newbie lessons, starting from #16 (this is the first available for free) without having heard the earlier ones?

Thanks for any advice,

Beki

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donalee says:

hi guys, today is my first day to subscribe and leave a post even though I have been listening japanese 101pod for a long time. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed at the change made, but I decided to subscribe immediately because it is worth and I love it. I am happy that I can still listen to Peter and other hosts’ voice. Especially, I am the biggest fan of Peter because I can relate to him for three reasons or more, I think we have something in common. First of all, he got a japanese wife. Second of all, he is studying japanese with passion and enthusiasm. Last of all, he is from NewYork, big yankee fan, and he works his tail off like I do.
Sayaka, my wife and I, originally from South Korea plan to go to Japan in about five yrs to live there permanentely, so she has been very supportive of me learning japanese through japanese pod 101, but my japanese level is not good enough to live in Japan. However, I will do my utmost to master Japanese like Peter who I envy so much until going to japan. I wish I can contact you through either email or phone. I am really really a big fan of you because you have been inspiring me and giving me confidence(I know how difficult it is to learn japanese as a english speaker). It was such an honor to leave a post, thanks a lot for your efforts

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Angie says:

@Donalee
Peterさん now candidate to be “best inspiring male” XD
So, his enthusiasm is really contagious for everyone who reach jpod :-)
The reason why everybody here can feel “one day I will really master japanese” is because of our great PETER! :grin:

Thank you Peteeeer!!!!!!!!! :kokoro:
Thank you all Jpod!!!!!!!!!! :kokoro:

(This was a fangirl-attack XD ごめんなさい :mrgreen: That’s only becouse I’m Italian… Italians all are like me XD 言い訳です :mrgreen: The truth is that I don’t know how to justificate my fangirl attacks XD) :cool:

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debondtjan says:

Whatever the reason, I already learned a lot using my premium subscription. I didn’t mind paying for it, although I had to work hard for that money too :/

Btw: I also noticed that my new ‘change’ subscription already started today, instead of after my current subscription :/ I’ve just sent a mail for that. Can you verify that? Thx

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viprr says:

after listen to your program for about two yrs
I just subscribe happily
thanks for bringing me here

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JKid says:

viprr-san,
Thanks for your support! I’m sure you will find your subscription to of great benefit. :)

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Gabriele says:

Well… what can I say… If CHANGE is always like this…
I hope next year there will be more ^_____^
I’m already a (proud) premium member of Jpod101.com and
now I can be for one more year for really cheap!! YAY!!

I wanna take this chance to really say THANK YOU Jpod101.com crew.
Your learning material is amazingly good and fun!! You guys really helped
me preparing for the Japanese placement test I took here at my university.
So thanks to you not only I was able to start taking Japanese from the
second year class, but I’m also doing very well in it. JPod101.com helps me
review the material over and over and also allows me to be exposed to new
grammar, vocab and kanji before we study them in class. Both these things
are incredibly helpful to me!!
Not to mention that I’m starting to get withdrawal symptoms if I
don’t watch at least two VideoVocabs every week ^_________^

If I think back at what was my level in Japanese only 6 months ago, I am
really surprised at the progress I made. I know there is much more to do, but
I also know Jpod101.com will be there for me!

So again, thank you and please keep up the good work!! :dogeza:

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Hiroko says:

Gabriele san> Thank YOU for your support! We will continue to provide with the most fun, helpful lessons, so get excited :kokoro: :nihon:

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putting lessons says:

putting lessons…

Your topic 21st century Pedagogy | Educational Origami was interesting when I found it on Thursday searching for putting lessons…

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