But it works. It's not going to turn anyone into a fluent Japanese speaker, but the progression is very natural, with enough options and games to help the experience appeal to a wide range of people. And it's not just me; JC, as mentioned, found the game's setup questionable from a practical learning standpoint, until he was able to watch someone using My Japanese Coach and actually learning -- and having that knowledge stick. And my husband was also impressed with the title and what I was able to do after only a few days, though he was similarly boggled by the progression and focus. And when I stepped away from the game and started digging out his homemade flash cards in my quest to study kana more quickly, he was even more impressed, since My Japanese Coach is far, far less expensive than most of the learning materials he's purchased over the years.There are some problems with the title. Listen, nothing's perfect, but a couple of these really should have been rectified. There's a dictionary and phrasebook in the reference section, and in the dictionary, you can compare pronunciation of the words, just as in the lessons, but you can't practice writing there. That's my major quibble with the title, along with the fact that the touchscreen could be more responsive in the writing games. It takes some time to get the proper pressure so you're not turning one stroke into two (and thus being penalized).
There are some less-annoying issues that are, thankfully, easier to accept and avoid. The inclusion of Japanese-specific mini-games is fantastic, but My Japanese Coach pulls too many of the other games from Ubisoft's language franchise, games that aren't particularly helpful here, like the spelling game. I think that including the romanized words is important, because learning Japanese is tough, and we newbs need to be able to relate the language to English in order to keep it from being too overwhelming. But we don't need to drill and reinforce spelling words in romaji. And I still find some of the other games, like Hit-a-Word, to be not terribly useful, though I think the touchscreen is better on that in My Japanese Coach than it was in My French Coach.But the real question, the burning question, is this: will this DS game teach you Japanese? Yes and no. You'll learn some Japanese, yes; enough for a foundation. But not only are you only going to get out out of it what you put in, just as with any other self-teaching product, it's not going to be enough on its own, either. But it's likely that you won't become fluent by using a single textbook, either.
Like the other language trainers from Ubisoft, My Japanese Coach is certainly worth the money, flaws and all, and even with those flaws, it's a testament to the amazing potential of the DS. I've long wanted to study Japanese, since I see it all the time and wonder just what those characters mean, but I feel like a lot of materials are geared toward the aural learner, which I am not. I need to see, to read, to touch and interact as well as to hear the sounds of the language, so for me, the language coaches are excellent. Your mileage may vary.
Enjoy DS Fanboy's non-non-coverage of non-games? Then you might want to check out our week of French, our yogathon, our teriyaki chicken, and our crepes!