Power Japanese is a widely acclaimed multimedia language program. It was named one of the top ten CD ROM Titles of 1994 by PC
Magazine and in 1993 and 1995 it won the Multimedia World Readers' Choice Award for Best Language Education Title. It also won the Silver Apple Award in the 1996 National Educational Media Competition.
Designed for native English speakers, Power Japanese is purported to focus on the principles that underlie the entire Japanese Language. The materials are presented in a vibrant learning environment using sound graphics, interactive exercises and games. The program is divided into four separate sections as follows:
Hiragana
Dialogs and Basic Grammar
The Homestretch
Katakana
Hiragana offers the basic syllables of the Japanese language in conjunction with their sound, following the stroke order with moving images. The listening component teaches spellings and assists in recognising sounds. Various useful expressions are also provided in this section.
Dialogs and Basic Grammar offer all the basic components of the Japanese language such as syntax, particles, sentence patterns and translations. Sentence patterns include interactive word phrase, and vocabulary drills to help learners build up their ability to express ideas.
The Homestretch presents the same set of Japanese sounds as the Hiragana symbols. The difference is that Katakana symbols are generally reserved for the transcription of foreign or imported words. Auxiliary verbs are also presented in this section.
Program requirements:
- Windows 9x or later
- Sound card and VGA graphics
- 32MB ram and 20MB HD