My Japanese Coach

• My Spanish Coach
• My French Coach
• My Chinese Coach
• KORG DS-10 Synthesizer
• Personal Trainer: Cooking

Carry a tutor in your pocket with My Japanese Coach. View larger.

My Japanese Coach takes you on a virtual tour of Japan while you're learning the language. Lesson plans take place in a wide array of Japanese locations, from the densest of population centers like Tokyo, to the idyllic Japanese country side. You actually get to explore Japan while you learn new vocabulary as you open each point of interest.

Learn From a Master
Meet Haruka, the in-game digital sensei, or teacher, that exists solely for the purpose of teaching you Japanese. After giving you a small placement-style test, Haruka will get you started working through the various stages of your lessons. Gaining mastery points by playing the various learning games allow you to clear each level. Once you master all the words given in a specific level, you move on to the next level.

As you work your way through over a 1,000 lessons, your language skills are constantly tested and sharpened by various mini games. My Japanese Coach includes 12 types of mini games, ranging from Flash Cards, in which you hear a word and have seconds to choose the correct English translation, to Bridge Builder, where you are required to string words together in the correct order to create a complete sentence. And with mini-games that add a clever twist to classic favorites--like Memory that forces you to match the same words in two different languages--you will be sure to have fun while you learn.

My Japanese Coach also features a built-in dictionary and phrase book that includes over 12,000 words and hundreds of useful everyday phrases.

Meet Haruka, the in-game digital sensei, or teacher. View larger.

Sharpen and test your language skills with mini games. View larger.

Use the DS stylus to practice writing Japanese characters. View larger.

You are allowed to freely use any stroke order you want without being penalized. Also, there are times when I get a correctly written kanji marked as incorrect, just because I may not have been keeping adequate pressure on the touch screen.The grammar lessons are vital and are taught well, however there are no games that reinforce the grammar rules. The other 10 games are too heavily polluted with romaji. The DS stylus has so much potential here to teach the correct way to draw the Kanji, but unfortunately the stroke order is not enforced. These 2 games do a great job of converting vocabulary to your long term memory. I already spent months prior to wean myself off romaji, and this game continuously forces you to look at romaji in its mini games.My high rating of this game is because this is a million times more preferable to reading a textbook and grading your own answers to your quizzes. It is a large boost of confidence to see your grade level continue to rise.

This game badly needed some kind of verb-adjective conjugation game. I keep hearing how important stroke order is, so I feel I should point this out. Speaking of mini games, you will probably find yourself only using 2 of the 12 mini-games (mult choice and flash cards). In the end, it will always come down to brute force memorization of 10000 words to really learn Japanese.but this DS game is a good diversion.

This makes it hard to remember exactly how to draw or what characters are which, because it accepts so many wrong answers. It clearly teches you to pronounce words and phrases and helps you with sentence structures.The only thing about the game that I do not like so much is writing the kana/kanji. I recently bought MJC for the Nintendo DS and I have learned a great deal of Japanese so far. It's not sensative enough to my strokes, causing it to thing that just any squiggly line I draw is a character. Overall, 4/5 Stars

I knew Japanese but have forgotten much of it. This game is a great way to review and recall, as well as learning some new stuff.

Lots of fun too - games are used to help you recognize words. I've always wanted to learn a bit of Japanese so when I saw this product was available, I jumped on it. Then both the japanese pronunciation and your own are compared. Very useful tools. My son and I have been going through the lessons, testing each other. Then you get a chance to say the words yourself, with your voice being on the meter. The lessons make it very easy for you to learn things in a progressive ways.

A voice meter shows how the voice should "look" if it's pronounced properly. You also get a chance to get familiar with the Japanese characters by writing the symbols for the words you learn. Colors, numbers, days of the week, and small sentences step you along. You even get to listen to the Japanese pronunciations. We're really enjoying it.

We live in Japan and while it's helpful to know a little, it sure helps more to be able to read hiragana and have a light conversation. Great starter for learning Japanese. My daughter is taking Japanese and is actually enjoying learning more from this game than her class. I'm learning things from this little game that books weren't teaching me and I can use the things I've learned everyday to amuse my Japanese friends. I love it, you can create three profiles (so my husband, myself and my daughter) can all have fun learning. I recommend it.