Human Japanese
My wife is currently enrolled in her second term of Japanese. One of her classmates turned her on to Human Japanese 2, a software package designed to teach someone with no knowledge of Japanese how to speak, read, and write Japanese. We downloaded it last week and have been messing around with it ever since.
I’ve been pretty impressed with this package, although I must admit that I haven’t tried much of the competition. The main reason for not comparing it to the other programs out there is you have to fork over $50+ for them (and sometimes well over $100) before knowing if the software is even useful.
The audio is very good (even funny at times when you get to compare how a foreigner pronounces a Japanese word versus a native for instance); the lessons are logical and clear. Stroke order is animated (and always correct unlike My Japanese Coach) and easy to follow. They even toss in some Japan culture items between some of the lessons.
Overall I think this is an excellent package for the price for anyone at the beginner level in their Japanese studies. One of the nice things about Human Japanese is you can try it before you buy. Once you are ready to buy, the version from Amazon is actually cheaper (at the time of this writing at least) than if you purchase directly from the publisher. The trial version allows you to go through the first 12 lessons. The full version gives you another 28 lessons. I don’t know if the version that costs about $20 adds anything to the first 12 trial version lessons.
If you are past the beginner level in your Japanese studies then this software won’t be of much use to you. It would be really nice if they did a subsequent version for more advanced learners.