Learn to Speak German 8.1 (2002)

by The Learning Company

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005TQ1E
• Item model number: 381417
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 7, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,482 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #47 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Build your fluency in German using this feature-rich five-CD collection. Learn to Speak German's 100 lessons and adjustable study plan expand your German vocabulary and perfect your pronunciation. Choose from a variety of instructional features, including cultural video clips and a talking dictionary. Learn to Speak's voice recording, playback tools, and speech recognition technology let you practice your German, develop your ear, and hone your pronunciation. A conversational CD completes the collection, adding a final polish to your newly acquired abilities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works well for me!, September 19, 2002

By 

P. Canniff "paul206" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learn to Speak German 8.1 (2002) (CD-ROM)

I bought this product to supplement private lessons to prepare for a trip to Austria. I had ten weeks to get ready.

For [price] the product is pretty good. The software worked fine on my Windows XP laptop and the audio supplement CD also worked fine.

The book seems quite comprehensive and extends well beyond my simple needs or ability. The basics are covered in the first few pages. It includes written dialogs to complement the interactive lessons.

The lessons so far have proven helpful in reinforcing and expanding my weekly face-to-face lessons. It has also allowed me to venture into specific areas I know I will need, such as travel dialogs: where is the train station, can I make a reservation, how much is a taxi to the hotel.

The book includes a vocabulary section, but that is a small piece of a large book. I plan to buy a pocket dictionary for my trip.

One warning: the speech recognition feature is extremely generous and forgiving. I found I could say entirely different words and still get a rating well above average for pronunciation. Anyone who relies on this program may be quite surprised when they meet a German speaker in person. Find some other way of checking your pronuciation before you entrench bad habits!

On the plus side, any feedback at all encourages people to talk. The simple listen-repeat of an audio-only lesson plan doesn't engage as much as this. I just ignore the "accuracy meter" and its lavish praise of my native-like accent. Yeah, right! :)

My only REAL problem with the software: that stupid cartoon bird that inroduces each section. The good news is you can skip him entirely, he adds no important content and doesn't show up durind the lessons.

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the best product I've come across, March 1, 2002

By 

Revolver1010 (New York baby!!!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learn to Speak German 8.1 (2002) (CD-ROM)

I've tried a few other programs, which I won't mention names, but all lacked in some major area. One didn't have any translations at all but had great reading and writing, another had no organized method at all (ie. lesson 1, lesson 2, etc). So anyway I figured I'd give another software a try and looked around and this one seemed to look the best (interface, method, content, etc) and it sure is. For one, the software is laid out into lessons. Finish one part move to the next. If you're only looking to learn some useful things for travel or business you also have the option to jump to those specific sections. Second, the software incorporates audio, video, written, and graphical aspects all together so you see it in writing, in picture/video form, and hear it as well. You can even have interactive conversations! Also the translations, while not perfectly literal, are still closer to the literal meaning than most softwares or books. Oh and the software tests you too which is great cause you know where you're at and how good you're doing. Now the three coolest things about the software is that 1. It comes with 4 cd-roms, 1 audio cd, and a 280 page book! The book and cd have the same content as the software. This means that you can brush up or continue working whilst away from your computer!! 2... After using the software a bit I thought... is this company not for profit or something? For all this material and value it's pretty much like they're giving it away. 3. There is a LARGE amount of content. The boxes of previous versions say two years worth of german... it definitely looks like it. So anyway, there's my review :-) One more thing... there's this little cartoon bird that introduces you to each lesson that I think is really cool. It sounds silly but he's kinda funny and I think it's helps to break the ice and give you a little laugh.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best For Learning German Without A Doubt!, May 12, 2002

By 

Christopher L.Johnson (Bakersfield, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learn to Speak German 8.1 (2002) (CD-ROM)

This is the best learning product I have ever bought. It comes with the most content (5 cd's & Study book) I have seen. I bought a Learn Spanish product by someone else and it [stinks] by far compared to this one!...This one only cost $[money]...It's crazy, you just talk in your mic and it understands about 95% of the time...That's good! I'm sorry, I am just so happy with this product I had to say something. Auf Wiedersehen(Owf-Veed-er-sayn) means Goodbye in German...