Start Learning Japanese in the next 30 Seconds with
a Free Lifetime Account

Or sign up using Facebook

Intermediate Level 2X's a Week??

Moderators: Moderator Team, Admin Team

Johnnyltn
New in Town
Posts: 2
Joined: May 11th, 2006 8:39 am

Intermediate Level 2X's a Week??

Postby Johnnyltn » May 15th, 2006 3:48 am

I love your show and think that you're doing a fantastic job.

I'd like to ask if you could consider putting out an intermediate level program twice a week instead of the current once a week show?

tarokun
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 37
Joined: April 23rd, 2006 8:06 pm

Postby tarokun » May 15th, 2006 5:46 am

Err, I think that would be in Japanesepod201.com instead. :shock:
かなりの偏食なのでいろいろありすぎ。

Get 40% OFF
Johnnyltn
New in Town
Posts: 2
Joined: May 11th, 2006 8:39 am

Postby Johnnyltn » May 15th, 2006 6:02 am

Right, 201, but there are already Intermediate lessons offered in the 101 class so what about the precedent already set?

tarokun
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 37
Joined: April 23rd, 2006 8:06 pm

Postby tarokun » May 15th, 2006 7:00 am

I think the current format of 3 beginner lessons, 1 intermediate, 1 survival lesson, 1 cultural and 1 news/rest day is a good balance for a website teaching *beginner* Japanese.

The 3 beginner and 1 survival lessons form the core of the program from which I learn the most, and the culture class opens my eyes to a very different world. However, the intermediate lesson is the least useful of the lessons as I often find myself lost just 5 minutes into those. As for the news, I only chime in if I miss the voices of the jpod crew that much. :)

Ultimately, the target audience for Jpod101 are the beginners with little or no experience with the Japanese language; hence, the site-name: JPod101.com.

Your suggestion would make a ratio of 3:2 for beginning (and survival)-to-intermediate lessons. That would make jpod101.com ambiguous as to who their target audience is. It could end up having the beginners tuning in half the week and the intermediate listeners the other half. Both groups would feel like they're getting only half the benefits and would probably leave for other sites that can give them a fuller experience. That would make one *bad* business model.

In fact, I would prefer to have *less* of the intermediate lessons, like every *other* week instead.
かなりの偏食なのでいろいろありすぎ。

Satsujin
Established Presence
Posts: 56
Joined: April 25th, 2006 4:43 pm

Postby Satsujin » May 15th, 2006 2:28 pm

I agree that there should be more intermediate lessons if not now then in the future.

As the beginner lessons introduce more and more new vocab and grammar structure even they become closer to intermediate. There is already a huge difference in the level of the beginner lessons from the start and the new ones coming out and eventually the beginner lessons (to stay beginner lessons) will have to start reviewing material.

At this point if you want to keep your listening audience you will need to start doing more intermediate lessons.

In terms of learning you are better off only understanding 70-80% (or less) of the dialogue and then learning the new stuff in the explanation than you are understanding 90%+ of the dialogue. There is probably some optimal level of understanding for learning but I don't know what that would be and the level is probably different for everyone. If you don't understand enough you just tune out the dialogue as the new information is too much to absorb. On the other hand, if you understand too much then you don't pick-up anything new. Somewhere in the middle is where learning takes place.

My point being is that even as a "beginner" you are better off being a little lost listening to the intermediate lesson than always understanding 100% of the beginner lessons. And even if right now twice a week for the intermediate Japanese lesson is too much at some point in the future they really should move to twice a week intermediate lessons.

The Frankensteiner
Expert on Something
Posts: 153
Joined: April 25th, 2006 11:57 am

Postby The Frankensteiner » May 15th, 2006 4:19 pm

Maybe in the future when they run out of beginner material but for now I like it how it is.
Image
Find out what it's like to live, work and play in Japan!
http://guzenmedia.com/

Janis
New in Town
Posts: 3
Joined: April 23rd, 2006 6:49 pm

Postby Janis » May 15th, 2006 5:06 pm

I am a beginner (since January) and find it difficult to master all the material in the 3 beginner and 1 survival lesson as it is. I would be okay with two intermediate classes and two beginner a week. Besides, I like the challenge of listening to the intermediate lessons and realizing how much I'm learning.

metablue
Expert on Something
Posts: 249
Joined: April 24th, 2006 5:18 am

Postby metablue » May 16th, 2006 4:08 am

I'm a beginner too - I started in March - and I find the beginner lessons challenging enough. They're more than 20-30% new material. As the beginner lessons get more and more complex they'll naturally evolve into intermediate lessons, I suppose, but there's a way to go yet. I'd be happiest with mostly beginner and the occasional intermediate.

Return to “Feature Requests”