Customer Reviews

Learn To Speak Spanish 8.1

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The program makes you fly through the language and makes it a breeze to learn spanish. It covers everything from basics to advanced materials. The voice recognition is GREAT! It really gives you a good idea of what you sound like and how it compares to native speakers.The only tricky part is the dictionnary, which i don't think is very usefull.
Anyhow for the price it's a good buy, won't be disappointed!!

I bought this from another source, and so was less informed at the time about what this program works with -- I can't evaluate it for quality, but you'll notice that Windows XP is not a listed operating system, and for good reason: installating and attempting to run this program so fouled up my XP computer I had to do a system restore.

I already have some basics in Spanish, but after taking the pre-test I learned that I overestimated my Spanish skills alot. So far, this software has been great. There are alot of exercises and drills. The cultural movies are so so. The speech recognition is easy to use and understand though and the conversation feature is kind of cool also.

This version does run on my XP system, just click on product details on this page and you'll see that too. Broderbund will let you return this product to them if you're unsatisfied for any reason regardless of where you bought it from.

The bulk of this program requires a microphone. There is a section called Internet Lessons, whose lessons look interesting like: social interactions, business, etc., but when you click on it the download is unsuccessful. I went to the tech support page and it says that this feature is no longer available even though this product was released in 2002.

The cultural movies are all about Mexico. The first movie basically shows you scenes of some hotel's swimming pool over and over again. The movies and the people talking to you are of poor video quality. The games consist of boring Go Fish and english/spanish crossword.

After using this for 20 minutes, the sound went out, and no it wasn't my computer.

This program is quite entertaining. I am starting spanish from scratch and I have enjoyed learning. There is a pretest so the program can judge your level and start you at the right place. Navigation is a bit confusing, but once you figure it out it isn't that difficult.

If the idea of an Internet based Study Plan is one of your reasons for purchasing this program BEWARE. Since I purchased this program, for that exact reason, there has not been a functioning Study Plan available. It should be noted this program has been on the market for almost a year and the program information and packaging still indicate the existance of a Study Program. Granted it is only one feature, but still The Learning Company knows the feature is not usable and continues to produce the program as stated. This is a prime example of deceptive marketing.
One good feature of the program is the ability to record, judge and listen to your pronunciation.

Useful phrases, etc, but the playback and speech recognition technology features are hard to use, inconsistent, and erratic!

I took 3 yrs in High School and 2 semesters in College and I find this tool to be excellent when it comes to learning and brushing up on Spanish. The audio quality is based on your speakers and sound card installed on your PC not the application. If you are learning for the first time, you should start with the BASIC section and stay there for at least a month. If you try to jump ahead you won't be successful. If your native tongue is not English you'll probably have greater difficulty because this application leans towards English speaker to Spanish. As for the organization the opening screen is Pronunciation, then the Basic Course, Extended Courses, Internet Lessons then Cultural Movies. Where's the confusion. Once you go into the Basic Course, other options are given, including Games which is the only component I felt could using some improvement.

As for Robert Eastwood from Chino Hills, CA, you may want to connect to the Microsoft website and download the latest patches for Window 98 SE and most importantly upgrade your computer's BIOS or FLASH BIOS which you can get from your manufacturer of your PC's motherboard's chipset. Take your PC to a Circuit City, Best Buys, or similar to help you figure out the chipset. This application surely works in Windows 98 SE.

With other reviewers I agree that the nonexistent Internet portion of the program is deceptively advertised. Furthermore, on my copy, only some of the lessons have functioning video and audio clips, rendering the final conversation practice in each lesson inoperable too. You can still learn some vocabulary, and take the very simple grammar tests, but that's all.

On the whole, a very disappointing program. I don't recommend it for buyers who expect to advance beyond the most basic level.

I have a friend who speaks 7 languages fluently--he's a professional Bible translator. He recommended this, saying he even has his family use the whole Learn to Speak series to learn new languages, instead of teaching them the basics himself.

Now that I own it, I agree that it is a superb program! Learning on the computer is great, b/c one can replay a phrase or a word over and over and over (instead of a whole track, as on audio CD learning systems) by clicking with one's mouse. I like it. And it does come with an audio CD of the same phrases and words, so one can review while driving or out for a walk. The CD does only have 2 very long tracks, and they were clearly dubbed from a tape set (but this is true for many many of the sets sold today).

AMAZING price for the value.

10/2005 update:
I have since purchased all 3 levels of The Rosetta Stone, and that program is far superior--but far more expensive.