Nihongo Dekimasu

Recently I've found a great way to improve my Japanese skills. It's called "Erin ga chôsen! Nihongo Dekimasu" and it's a TV show for young gaijins learning the language. However, it's not for total beginners, since most of the speech is in Japanese without subtitles (the skits have subtitles though).


It consists of several parts: First, there are three anime characters (they look really absurd in the beginning but you'll get used to it ;)) that explain grammar and stuff. One of them is a cute girl, Erin. In every episode, she goes into the "real world" to learn new stuff. This is the best part, since it's like a funny little dorama but easy to understand and new grammar gets explained afterwards. Also there are subtitles during the skits for better understanding. At the end, there is some cultural info on Japan in general and they visit Japan freaks like us in different countries, which is very interesting.

At first it might look kind of... weak... but you'll get to like it the more you watch it. I do one episode everyday and add example sentences of the new grammar I learn to my Mnemosyne. You will also hear some new words you can use. You should buy the DVD I guess, and I will do that too, but you can also get them on Tomsato's blog:
:)