Fluenz Mandarin 1 + 2 Learning Suite Plus Mobile - Windows

by Fluenz

Product Features

• Build your vocabulary and language abilities
• Spell and write accurately
• Speak without a script
• Retain what you've learned
• Read and understand your new language

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5 x 5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• ASIN: B000UV4FYG
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 7, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,664 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

The only interactive language program offering an immersive environment that recreates the best elements of great one-on-one tutoring.

The Mobile version of Fluenz Mandarin includes everything that comes with the standard Fluenz Mandarin suite, as well as software that installs the program on smartphones running Windows Mobile.

Be Fluent in Mandarin

On-screen tutor Sonia Gil, a recent Cornell graduate, and alumni from Harvard and the University of Chicago created Fluenz Mandarin to be the kind of application they had always wanted when learning languages. The result of their work is ideal for those who seek common sense explanations, sophisticated workouts that lead to real learning, and who thrive on a great teacher to keep them focused and engaged.

Love Mandarin, Actually Learn It

The team of passionate language learners behind Fluenz wanted to move beyond what they felt was wrong with computer language education: simplistic methods that boast a natural, passive way to learn a language and treat adults like children.

Fluenz Mandarin brings the power of an amazing teacher to lead, challenge, and inspire adults and teens with a real love for the language. The application is ideal for those who need everyday conversation skills, as well as for those who want to establish a strong foundation for advanced learning.

An effective approach for English Speakers

Chinese is easier to learn than most people imagine, but it must be clearly explained. For example, one of the biggest challenges for Westerners is the fact that each syllable must be pronounced with one of five different tones. Two words can have the same letters but mean totally different things depending on which tones are used. While these tones are very difficult to learn by simply listening and hoping to imitate them, a common sense explanation can go a long w

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fluenz is a beautiful concept, October 14, 2007

By 

R. Vencu - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fluenz Mandarin 1 + 2 Learning Suite Plus Mobile - Windows (DVD-ROM)

I am a Romanian 40 years old engineer and I studied French and Russian languages in school. After school I studied English on my own, having an instructor for only a brief period of time at the beginning. Becoming involved in computing sciences as a profession, I had to use English more and more so I learned how to use it by the "immersion" technique, also being helped by the numerous English content available around such as traveling or movies.

Recently I became interested in Chinese language and decided to learn it. I quickly understood that the usual approach to learn a foreign language does not fit here. Apparently one should learn to speak and build some vocabulary before starting to study the writing Chinese languages. Therefore I started to gather many learning tools like books or websites and also found out that there is no Chinese language class available that I could attend at home. I also bought various computer software, dictionaries, etc but I got really excited with Fluenz product that seems to fill all the gaps I encountered so far. The product is so well designed both as learning concept and software modeling that I was able to pass first ten sessions in only three weeks instead of five as the producer recommends.

The PC version is really well built and very accessible even for non native English speakers such as myself. After a while I also received the mobile version. The producer recommends only Windows Mobile 5 based smartphones but I discovered that Windows Mobile 6 smartphones (such as HTC S710) can do the job very well. Even it was not recommended, I also tried the software on Pocket PC and it failed on Mio A701 but it ran quite well on my new HTC TyTN II Windows Mobile 6 based PPC. The catch is to get the PPC version of Adobe Flash Lite 2.1 from Adobe's website and to use only a hardware keyboard in same way as instructed for the smartphone setup. On PPC some navigation buttons can be pressed using the touch screen interface but not all, especially during workout sessions.

As one inside the computing and software business I also was very pleased by the very good standards at the support team, both in courtesy and effectiveness. I feel that becoming a customer of Fluenz I really did made a very good deal.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for my business in China, September 3, 2007

By 

David W. Kunst - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fluenz Mandarin 1 + 2 Learning Suite Plus Mobile - Windows (DVD-ROM)

Excellent software. I go to China a lot on business so I needed to learn some basic Mandarin. I bought Fluenz because of their teaching approach. I had to go to their website to really learn about the program (MUCH more in depth than their Amazon page), but I liked the idea of having a teacher instruct me as I learned the language. I have found myself using the smartphone application much more than I expected. It's basically the same as the computer version and has allowed me a lot of flexibility in watching the lessons, doing the workouts, etc. Overall, I have been completely happy with the experience and am now much more comfortable making business transactions in Chinese.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fluenz Mandarin is a great innovative language learning product, August 30, 2007

By 

Shantanu Dhaka (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fluenz Mandarin 1 + 2 Learning Suite Plus Mobile - Windows (DVD-ROM)

Fluenz Mandarin 1+2 Suite bundles the well-regarded language learning program for computers with a new application for smartphones. The reviews here at Amazon for the stand-alone computer software are overwhelmingly positive, and rightly so. Fluenz has come up with an innovative, well-reasoned approach to learning Mandarin. The smartphone application, which I will review below, takes this innovation a step further, allowing on-the-go access to the same useful features you get on the computer (though keep in mind you will need a Windows Mobile smartphone).
Fluenz Mobile 1.0 mirrors the computer application, making available the same number of sessions (45), all video tutorials, introductions and conclusions, as well as most of the workouts. It does not have the recording workouts, but those still can be done on the computer.
The application has a great look and feel on the phone. Few if any applications I have ever seen for Windows Mobile look that good. The developers have taken a great deal of care in porting the video tutorials, conversations and workouts to the Windows Mobile environment without sacrificing quality of design. In many other areas of life this would not be as critical, but trying to learn Mandarin on a phone is enough of a challenge. Stunning visuals go a long way. The videos are crisp, and the titles used to support the tutorial can be read clearly. The workouts have been slightly redesigned to better fit the phone screen, and the work has paid off. I used ear phones, as the Treo's speakers alone are not quite strong enough to understand what's going on (this may not be a problem with other Windows Mobile smartphones). The actual typing of words with the correct tones initially can be time consuming, but it is simple and straightforward once you get used to it. If you don't like typing on your phone, you should stick to the computer application, but for me the much-needed portability offered by Fluenz Mobile was worth the added typing effort.
If you are worried about not getting the full learning experience provided on the computer, I can assure you that the Fluenz learning system, based on guided instruction in English, remains at the core of the mobile application. When at work on the road there are always distractions, so with the mobile application I found that knowing what's going on in my own language was especially useful. After a few sessions I realized the developers really put a lot of thought into building the learner's ability to form sentences with useful, relevant nouns and adjectives. The combination of workouts covering speaking. listening, writing and reading is again very helpful in actually learning to speak Mandarin.
Overall, if you have a Windows Mobile smartphone and want to learn Mandarin, it makes sense to buy the Fluenz Suite rather than the stand alone computer program. The ability to simply pick up on your phone where you had to stop while doing the program on your computer is worth the extra money. And because Fluenz Mobile looks that good on the phone, you don't feel like you are making a huge trade off.