I suppose it would help if anyone that had actually taken the course chimed in. There can’t be a 0% overlap of people using WK and Yuta. The only reason I could see for silence is perhaps a novice user used his program, it was actually pretty bad, but they blamed it on themselves thinking they didn’t put in the effort, the way that Amway and the like reps make you feel like it’s your fault you’re not a millionaire using their pyramid scheme program (while they work as a busser at Denny’s hoping to leech commissions off of you). We don’t have problem finding people to give feedback on Duo, Memrise, Bunpro, or a dozen other programs.
Maybe as no one as yet has said they have tried the course doing a bit of research about this person would help. Previously when I have been unsure about embarking on something with an unknown person/company I have looked into their background. It is amazing what information is available. We all leave a trail.
I kind of like George. He’s very upfront and will tell you if you’re at a certain point, don’t buy this or that book in his series. He’s provided literally thousands of videos for free, and he clearly states what you get with the site, giving guided walkthroughs. He does live sessions where he writes his books on-stream. Can’t get much more transparent than that. He can come off as a little abrasive, but I don’t find any fault with his business practice or his content. I think he really milks kana out in the book series with his “progressive kana” model, but meh, it actually does help some people.
1 Like
Just checking but you’re aware the person in question is an educational Japanese YouTuber, right?
Just seems dismissive of that content to say his teaching ability is only based on a picture of books.
2 Likes
Hmm. It seems you have done your research. If you like his approach go for it. I am afraid it’s the overselling that puts me off ie the pile of books.
So maybe I am just over cautious!
Any time I see a ticking counter for a limited time offer, I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s judgmental, disapproving stare, letting me know I have let him down for even considering it.
2 Likes
If you left it till the limited offer expired I wonder if you would get another or better offer? Are you desperate to do this course or is it just a interest?
No, the offer actually expires and then the program is actually locked out. I was surprised when I waited for it to happen the first time. First time I have ever seen a limited time offer clock actually expire and the offer was actually over.
And no, I won’t sign up for a course if they have shown exactly zero of it. I think the most realistic scenario and reason for this is that the course content is just regurgitated information from his videos and some loosely strung together other sources, and not the comprehensive model he hints at.
I would have thought a new course must have some new content in it to make it viable to rerun at a later date. He has a reputation to keep up.
I can think of a couple of reasons why no one would chime in. One being that the vast majority of WaniKani users don’t even visit the forums. The second being that even among those who visit the forums, few actually read all the new topics. The third being that with a post title like that, I wouldn’t blame anyone from not even wanting to open it. If you wanted a thread discussing Yuta’s lessons, maybe a title that attracted people interested in giving you feedback on that topic would be more helpful.
12 Likes
According to this, it seems like a decent course:
It starts off teaching plain/dictionary forms and casual speech, but then does also introduce keigo and places a lot of emphasis on when it’s appropriate.
It has a lot of dialogue. It seems every other lesson will be a dialogue, either made-up or from video interviews. Everything that happens in the dialogue is explained. There are also many sentence examples with furigana and audio.
It doesn’t use unnatural Japanese with saying “you” and “I” all the time like some platforms do.
There are quizzes at certain points. Some you have to pass to move on to the next thing (I noticed this in the kana sections), and others are just there for your own benefit.
There are writing exercises of various kinds. Some ask you to answer a question in Japanese. Others might be more conversational, with Yuta “starting” and you replying to him in Japanese however you choose. The admins/moderators seem very active in responding to these, so it feels more like an actual classroom with teachers giving feedback.
It has what seems to be a ton of bonus content on top of the 25 Modules (and kana module) for the main course.
The romaji use is a bit inconsistent. Especially in the kana lessons you might see じ as “zi”, づ as “du” and ぢ as “di”, but you’ll otherwise likely see them as “ji”, “zu” and “ji” respectively. They don’t focus much on it, sorta saying the romaji is unimportant (which is true), but it will be jarring for Westerners.
Quick update. I usually post about 7-10 comments in a day, some of them expected (answers you’re supposed to post) and others random questions about usages and such. Every night/morning an assistant teacher answers every single post, so they seem pretty dedicated to interacting with students. Definitely a pro that helps make the price seem a bit more worth it (though I’m reserving judgment until I get further!).
I think it’s fair to say that he doesn’t do a good job of showcasing what you’re getting and a lot of the marketing is off-putting, but I don’t think it’s fair to judge content that you haven’t seen.
5 Likes
I think I might need to see the original version of this image to get the full effect. Could you mail me one? Or several? 
1 Like
I signed up for his mailing list too and his free videos were solid enough. I couldn’t bare to make myself pay for his premium course though because the emails were so sketchy. You’ll get another marketing e-mail each day until the registration period is over that are just as sketchy. Also, I wonder if there’s someone manually sending out these emails or if there’s an automated system with multiple templates. The equivalent email I got about two weeks ago was similar but somewhat different.
IMO, without knowing much of anything about this course, I would click away. The scarcity tactic seems very sketchy to me, and the price seems pretty high compared to just using a Textbook + Bunpro + Japanese Ammo. Plus, if that email was completely unsolicited, that’s another huge red flag to me.
I can’t tell you with certainty if this is legit or not, but I can tell you I wouldn’t give them my credit card number.
2 Likes
(post deleted by author)
1 Like
That was hardly adversarial unlike your thread’s title and the river of rant posts that followed >.>. I recommend a second look at them, because as it stands now, this thread is inflammatory and nothing more.
6 Likes
Is Yuta a user here? Otherwise how am I being adversarial to anyone in this space?
I changed the name of the thread since it is beginning to attract… low quality responses.
1 Like
It seems to be en vogue to go on a witch hunt against people offering premium paid services for Japanese learning. Not that I mind against people like MattvsJapan, lawl
2 Likes
“Scam or scum” isn’t a thread title people would like to click I think. I was offering suggestions on why the people you wanted feedback from (users of wanikani who also got Yuta’s programme) might not want to reply here. Sorry if that came across as adversarial.
I see what you mean about “someone in this space”, but even attacking someone who isn’t here doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, myself included. Not that I know the guy or anything, it just seemed excessive to describe him as “scam or scum” based on one email.
7 Likes
That is fair. Honestly I think Alo had the best response and I marked his answer as correct. I’m good with this being closed down because it was honestly not a well thought out post and not very productive. Better to shut it down before it begins to deteriorate further. Nobody is actually being hostile with anyone else (yet), but it’s best to put this one to bed.
8 Likes