Reviews and More

Just when I thought my husband and I were catching up with our bills and getting out of debt, there are suddenly 20 more things that we need to buy or pay for. This always seems to happen to us, so maybe we should look into loans to help us take care of everything we need to do.

For example, if we got a decent secured loan quote and ended up accepting it, I’d first want to pay for some home improvements. We need to repaint — both indoors and out — sometime soon, and there’s also a loose door frame in the hallway that seems like it could give way at any moment, so a home improvement loan would definitely be put to good use right now.

I’ve heard that there are currently some pretty low interest rates on remortgages, so we should have several options in that regard. In fact, I think I’ve talked myself into applying for one! Perhaps I should start searching in earnest; then, if I find one that sounds too good to pass up, I’ll fill out the mortgage application on the spot and hope for the best. It sure would be nice to get extra money to take care of all these projects we keep putting off!

When I first started studying Japanese, I tried to use traditional textbooks. But since I was working on my own without the benefit of an instructor, I didn’t get very far. Some of the grammar was very difficult to understand, and since I didn’t have anyone to ask questions of, I gave up pretty quickly.

Then I heard about the so-called Pimsleur method, and decided to give the audio program a try. Fortunately, I knew someone who already had the CDs, so I didn’t have to spend $300 of my own.

The Pimsleur Japanese program relies entirely on audio input, repetition, and anticipation in order to help students learn the language. You start out by listening to basic conversations between a native Japanese speaker and a foreigner who doesn’t know much Japanese at all. Then, you have to repeat the sentences you hear — bit by bit at first — until you can say the whole thing by yourself. Along the way, different vocabulary words are introduced, but their meanings are just briefly explained. Grammar, too, is given just the most basic explanations possible.

There are 20 lessons in this Japanese 1 program, and each one lasts approximately 30 minutes. Students are encouraged to go back and repeat lessons as necessary until they achieve an 80% comprehension rate.

I found the Pimsleur audio lessons to be somewhat helpful, but can’t imagine ever becoming even close to fluent by relying on this method alone. First of all, there’s not nearly enough vocabulary given throughout the 20 lessons. Instead, the lessons just employ the same vocab: beer, sake, restaurant, lunch, dinner, etc. It doesn’t take much effort to remember those words, so I don’t see why lots of new words shouldn’t have been included.

Additionally, I felt the lessons themselves were pretty boring since you’re basically repeating the same two or three conversations for 30 minutes. I would have liked a bit more variety in that respect, but understand that the whole basis of the Pimsleur method is this very type of repetition.

Overall, I think the Pimsleur Japanese I series could help you learn enough Japanese to make your way as a tourist, but you certainly won’t be able to have substantial conversations after this course alone. In that regard, I don’t think this title is worth the $300 list price. If you can borrow it, I say go for it. But don’t waste your own money on the series.

It seems that everywhere I look, I see the new RAZR cell phones from Motorola. There’s no doubt that RAZR is the phone to have these days: it’s sleek, functional, and comes packed with all the features that you’d expect in a modern cell phone. I’d love to get one for myself, but can’t justify paying anywhere from $150-$250 just to have the latest models.

Actually, there still could be a way for me to get a RAZR cell phone for free: I’ve read that Wirefly.com has several deals in which they’ll give customers phone rebates with each new contract. The rebates make the phones free, and there are several RAZR models up for grabs in these deals, including the special red phone that I can use to show my support for the fight against AIDS in Africa. Moreover, many of the Wirefly rebates also cover a Bluetooth headset, which would of course give me convenient hands-free capabilities.

I’ve looked at some of the wireless plans that would allow me to qualify for the free phone, and they seem to be very competitively priced. For example, there’s a Sprint plan that costs $39.99 per month for 450 minutes. That’s enough for my monthly needs and that price is actually cheaper than what I’m paying now.

Overall, I have to say that Wirefly’s deals are the best I’ve seen on the Internet. Once I get out of my current phone contract, I’ll definitely be shopping at Wirefly for my next one!

I received an email response to my recent review of The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith. The person gave me permission to quote excerpts from her message, but wanted to remain anonymous. I’ll just post the gist of the message here:

I thought the Pursuit of Happyness was an inspiring movie. I’m sorry you didn’t think it was dramatic enough for the theaters, but that’s real life. I hope no one listens to you otherwise they’ll be missing a great movie.

After getting that email, I went back and read my review. I saw that I didn’t really get my points across very clearly in my original post, so I decided to post a follow-up. Here are some more specific reasons that The Pursuit of Happyness didn’t resonate with me.

1. In real life, Chris Gardner got paid for his internship at Dean Witter. I first read about that on IMDB.com (not exactly the highest authority), but have since confirmed it from other online sources that Gardner received $1,000 per month for his internship. Sure, that’s not an awful lot of money, but this was back in the early 1980s and should have been enough to keep Gardner and his son off the streets.
2. Gardner wasn’t at such a disadvantage at Dean Witter as the film would have you believe. According to other sources, he didn’t have to do the same amount of work in three fewer hours than his colleagues in order to make it back to the homeless shelter on time. He often worked just as late as they did, so that was another point that wasn’t accurate.
3. How responsible was it of Gardner (in the film version) to continue working for no pay while he and his son were essentially homeless? As a parent, I would never put my son through that kind of ordeal. Instead, I would take a job flipping burgers or whatever to ensure that he had a roof over his head and food on the table. Yes, Gardner’s gamble paid off and he became a millionaire in the end. But I can’t help thinking what would have become of them if he wasn’t hired by Dean Witter. He only had a 1 in 20 shot after all. That seems like too much of a risk when a child is at stake.

So taking all this into account, the Hollywood version of Gardner’s life just seemed like one cheap ploy after another. That certainly doesn’t diminish what Gardner really did accomplish, but it doesn’t make for a good movie, either.