Customer Reviews

EuroTalk Interactive - Talk Now! Learn Malayalam

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this DVD with interactive lessons, and i-pod download... and I really like it. It has 6 or 7 categories.,,, 1st words, colors, body parts, phrases, countries, telling time, more words, etc . Then there are like 4-5 things you can do. 1st they say the word and you repeat. Then there's easy game (they say a few things, then hide and say and you find them., like memory) and hard game,,, they say only in malayalam... and another game.. then there's a voice recorder where the easy version, they say, you repeat... and hard version.. you say show me 4, 8, or 10 things and in so much time you say the names.... and it records you on both, and you can play it back and on both they say it 1st so you can compare how you sound. Also, for everything, there's a man and a woman speaker, so you hear 2 pronunciations. and sometimes (I know it is with hindi) the female word seems to end in "A:" and the male in "uh"... anyway... you do all the parts and your score grows toward a goal of like 1800.

Also, there's a printable "picture dictionary" on each section, And on that, the malayalam typeface is also on it, so you learn the written form, And for visual learners, ther pictures trigger words.

Then, there's i-pod integration. On your ipod it says the english word on your screen while they say the malayalam word (phrase), It's by far the best learning tool I've got so far, I only wish it would go on with more words/phrases after I have this mastered.

I really like it and the only bad part is that for malayalam they only have the one beginner product, where for hindi, ie, they have 5 products.., 3 levels and learning tools.

I bought this software with prior ability in understanding basic Malayalam and in forming simple sentences.

The teaching methods are interesting (games, etc.)

But I found the instruction itself extremely limited - you learn a few words, but don't learn much about how to make NEW sentences. The basis of instruction is the wholesale repeating of words/sentences. You're never told what the individual words in a given sentence even mean -- you're only told that the phrase for "Please speak a little more slowly," for example, is "Korchakudi patheyka samsarikyuka" (I probably didn't reproduce the Malayalam accurately.) It's only from prior exposure to the language that I know that korchakudi means "a little more," patheyka means slowly, samsarikyu means speak -- the software will never tell you this. But someone who already understands the meaning of the individual words in the above sentence will feel disappointed by the software, because he/she will end up not learning many new words.

Disclosure: In all fairness, the cover DOES indicate that this software consists of "Essential words and phrases for absolute beginners."

They do include some helpful words for beginners: help, please, thank you, Where is X?, etc.

very pleased! the c-rom has worked great except on my computer... something doesn't match with compatibility. but the cd-rom easily loaded on a different lap top. thanks! hope to work with you again.

I used this product to prepare for a two-month project stay in Kerala and after using it for a few weeks I learned from my Malayali friends that it was dated, awkward and in many cases just plain wrong in it's translation of vocabulary. If you use phrases you learn from this system, the response you will get from people in Kerala is a mix of confusion and amusement. The Malayalam speakers in the system are indeed native speakers but from what I can gather they are reading a script provided to them by a non-Malayalam speaking director who has compiled the program using a Colonial era British-English/Malayalam dictionary and some misguided assumptions. It will help you with your pronunciation because you can listen to native speakers so maybe it is still worth the low cost. I will hold onto mine for that purpose.