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Welcome to Rocket Japanese

Welcome to your unique multimedia interactive learning program! Rocket Japanese has been designed with you in mind, to take you on a learning adventure. You'll be able to challenge yourself with conversational Japanese by starting to speak the language right away, and in contexts that reflect everyday life in a Japanese-speaking environment. At the same time, you'll be able to do so in a comfortable and supportive way - that's what Rocket Languages is all about. The Rocket Japanese package includes several different types of learning tools, including: The 31-lesson Interactive Audio Course The 31 Grammar Newsletter Series (via email) The MegaJapanese range of software-based learning games: o MegaVocab o MegaAudio o MegaHiragana AND dont forget the Rocket Japanese Learner's Forum on our web site!

1.1

About This Guide

This Read Me First Guide is designed to introduce you to how Rocket Japanese works and provide you with the means to get the most out of Rocket Japanese. Rocket Japanese is a beginner's course. That is why all of the written material you receive (such as transcripts of the audio lessons and Japanese words in the newsletters) will be presented with romanization, or rmaji, as it's called in Japanese. Rmaji is simply the use of our own (Latin) alphabet to write the Japanese language. Even though Japanese writing really consists of sets of characters (which you will learn about in your Grammar Newsletters), the system of rmaji is a hugely important stepping stone toward understanding and speaking Japanese. In addition, there are several different forms of rmaji. This is not designed to make things confusing for you I promise. Rather, because rmaji itself is not a -2www.rocketlanguages.com

language, there are differences of opinion in how we should use the alphabet to represent the sounds of Japanese. Rocket Japanese makes use of what's called the Revised Hepburn Romanization - which sounds like a mouthful but it's quite simple, really! All you need to know is that we represent the long vowel sound in Japanese with a little symbol called a "macron" that appears over the vowel. For example, we write the long "o" sound in arigat (meaning "thank you") with the macron, instead of arigatou as it appears in other systems of romanization. The long "o" in the word rmaji itself is another example. Rocket Japanese, however, does not strictly follow the Revised Hepburn Romanization in every regard: namely, we do not separate difficult sounds with an apostrophe (such as onegai'shimasu). Instead, whenever separating a longish Japanese word or phrase will make it easier to read and say, we have added a full space (as in onegai shimasu). It reads easier and looks better this way. The reason we chose to generally follow Revised Hepburn Romanization is that this system is the emerging standard for new Japanese speakers, especially those in Western nations. But you should be aware that rmaji is above all a tool for future learning and understanding Japanese writing. We also understand that it can be difficult to input those little symbols on a computer, which is why we have included Instructions and shortcut keys at the end of this guide (see section 1.9).

1.2

How the Interactive Audio Course Works!

So, what exactly is an Interactive Audio Course, and how do you use it? The best way to learn any language is to actually use it in conversation, and the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course will teach you to do just that. Its interactive because youll be speaking Japanese with us by the end of each lesson. As a result, make sure that you listen to this course in a place where you can speak aloud. Repeating the words aloud is an essential part of this course. You may think that repeating words in your head is good enough, but from experience I know that thinking of the right words doesnt always help you say them on cue!

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When you listen to the Interactive Audio Course you may feel overwhelmed at first by all the new words. Relax. After the initial conversation on each track, each new word will be broken down. Youll learn what it means, when to say it, and how to pronounce it! You will be prompted to say new words and expressions throughout each track of the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course. You will get a sense of building on each phase of the course as you move through the audio tracks and will get a feel for what its like to express yourself in Japanese. I recommend that you listen to each track at least twice, so that when you move on you will have a good grasp of the Japanese covered. Otherwise you may find yourself getting lost and unmotivated. There are 31 tracks in the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course, specifically designed so that you can learn a new Japanese conversation every day for a month. You dont have to push yourself that hard but if you need to then you can! The scripts for each track of the Interactive Audio Course are given in the Members Area, next to the track downloads. For a start you may wish to print these out so that you can see the conversation as well as hear it. Remember, you can listen to the Interactive Audio Course, either online in the Members Area, or off-line on your MP3 player.

1.3

About the Grammar Newsletter Series

These Japanese grammar lessons give you the building blocks to understanding the structure of the language. There is one newsletter for each Interactive Audio Course track, though the newsletters do not necessarily follow the Interactive Audio Course exactly. There are always grammatical principles that are best left to the textual newsletter lessons. Also, we wanted to make plenty of room for the other great stuff that is included in the newsletter lessons. Sure, we call them "grammar" newsletters, but you'll also get:

beginners lessons on Japanese writing; and lessons on Japanese culture that will put you ahead of the game when visiting Japan or even getting to know Japanese people anywhere.

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About the MegaJapanese Games

MegaJapanese consists of three games: MegaVocab, MegaAudio MegaHiragana. Each of these is explained in more detail below. and

MegaJapanese is available in the Members Area. Just follow the link that says MegaJapanese Games Download. Once you have downloaded the file it will automatically install on to your computer (PC users). Mac users will have to use Stuffit expander to expand the files. There are more detailed instructions in the Members Area.

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1.4

How MegaVocab Works

MegaVocab is a multiple-choice word recognition game that you can add to yourself. To add more words and pictures to the game select the MegaVocab Creator tab. You will be prompted to add in your own words and pictures! There are already over 1000 words and pictures in the MegaVocab game so you can select one or more of the topics that you wish to be tested on and just click GO! to get started straight away.

Once you click GO! the game starts. All you have to do is match the correct Japanese word to the English word shown. You get 4 points if you get it right the first time and one less point for every incorrect answer. There are 25 questions so the maximum that you can get is 100! You can make the game more challenging by hiding the English word, but be warned that some pictures might be a bit tricky!

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1.5

How MegaAudio Works

MegaAudio takes MegaVocab a step further and really enhances your interpretation of spoken Japanese by using audio tracks for each word and phrase. Again, all you have to do is select the topic or topics that you would like to be tested on and click on GO!

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Once you have chosen your topics and selected GO! you will hear an audio track and be presented with a selection of 6 pictures. You have to choose the one that matches the audio. There are 20 questions and you get 6 points for getting it right the first time (again, you lose a point for every incorrect answer).

1.6

How MegaHiragana Works

MegaHiragana gives you a fantastic introduction to the world of Japanese writing. Hiragana is one vital component of the Japanese writing system, which is made up of three types of characters: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana allows us to represent the sounds of the Japanese language and build words from them! Just select GO! to get started. You will be shown a hiragana character and 4 multiple-choice options for the corresponding sound (written in rmaji). When you click the correct answer the audio for that character will be played.

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The game consists of 20 questions, and to move to the next question just click NEXT.

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1.7

About the Members Area

Remember to keep a record of your email address and password to the Members Area in a safe place that you wont forget. If you need to get back into the Members Area go to http://www.rocketlanguages.com/japanese and enter in your details in the Members Login on the left hand side. If you have forgotten your email address or password then you will be prompted for further information to enable you to retrieve your email address or password. If you have any problems then please let us know! The only way issues can be fixed is if we know about them! Email the Rocket Japanese team using members@rocketlanguages.com We also have a Japanese language Forum where you will be able to chat to other people who are finding their way around the language as well as getting feedback from our language experts. You can register for the forum by following the link in the Members Area called Rocket Japanese Forum Registration.

1.8

About the Rocket Japanese Web Site

The Rocket Japanese team is always adding new material to the web site so make sure that you come back regularly to see whats happening! If you have a Japanese culture or language web site then we are always interested in adding quality sites to our Useful Links page. If you think other Japanese learners would find your site useful then let us know. Just go to the Exchange Links link on the Rocket Japanese home page and fill out the relevant information.

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1.9

Inserting Macrons for Japanese Writing

In the system of rmaji that we use, long vowel sounds are marked with a line over the single letter, rather than doubling that letter. This symbol is called a macron, and inserting it is easy. If you'd like to type this symbol over any vowel in Microsoft Word, you can EITHER: 1) Go to the drop down menu for Insert, then select Symbol. You will see a character map displayed. All you have to do is find the vowel you need - lower case or upper case - and click the Insert button. Easy. OR 2) You can also use any of the following Shortcut keys on your keyboard to type the symbol directly:

Shortcut keys for Japanese rmaji:

= type: = type: = type: = type: = type: = type: = type: = type: = type: = type: 0100 0101 0112 0113 012a 012b 014c 014d 016a 016b then: then: then: then: then: then: then: then: then: then: Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x Alt+x

For the Japanese Learners Forum, you will have to use this method and then Copy (Ctrl+c) and Paste (Ctrl+v) the symbol in to the message field of your Forum post.

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We at Rocket Languages hope that you have fun using the Rocket Japanese course. Take the learning process at your own pace, and if you have any questions please go to our help site: http://www.rocketlanguages.com/help/. Good luck with your Japanese experience, and above all have fun!

Kind regards,

Sayaka Matsuura and the Team at Rocket Languages http://www.rocketlanguages.com/japanese

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