Customer Reviews

Instant Immersion German Deluxe

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

 

 

I received a B.A. in German in 1998 and spent a year in Kassel on a university exchange in 1996-1997. Since I haven't used my language skills in several years, I wanted to get something to help me get my skills back.

I seriously doubt a beginner will enjoy this software. The beginner disks don't have any introductory phrases, doesn't discuss the alphabet, or numbers until you have already been forced to learn that hundreds of people get off the train everyday, creating a large crowd. How about teaching, "Guten Morgen," "Guten Tag," and "Guten Abend," or "Mein Name ist..." before learning "Erscheinung des Totes" is a "Gespenst"?

As for the person who said "...the software recognizes your voice and can correct your pronunciation mistakes." Not true. I can say "Morgen" with a thick Southern accent and poor inflection and still receive 7/7 bars!

If you want the ROMs for your computer, save yourself some money and buy the 5 disc set for $20. If you are a true beginner, listen to the additional 3 audio CDs in the set to get some basic "listening/speaking" skills, before using the ROMs.

As for someone who already has a background in German and needs to brush up, this software will do.

I don't know any German and I am really struggling with these CD's. They don't give you any instructions on which CD's to use first. I installed the beginner software and tried that first - I couldn't understand most of what they presented. Then I listened to the audio CD's (there are three, each with different content,) and that helped a little. The audio CD's are more helpful and I think you're actually supposed to listen to those first before trying the software. I hope to use this software when I become a little bit more familiar with German.

I purchased this software on the premise that it was for "beginners" as the box had indicated. There are no basic fundamentals at all for someone new to the language, it throws you right into complex phrases as their starting point. No basic numbers, greetings, phrases, or anything. I did not bother to explore any further because if I cannot say "hello" how on earth am I supposed to learn "Do you have any grandchildren" as my first phrase? The interface is horribly designed as well. My advice is to save your money and keep looking. However, if you are familiar with the language already and need a refresher or advanced topics, then this may be for you. Otherwise avoid it and look for a true beginner program.

This is really a great tool that fits a variety of needs. First of all, it helps someone like myself continue my study of the language that I never got to finish in high school many years ago. Second, it is a great supplemental tool for anyone taking German at either the High School or College level. One can program the skills that need attention, such as reading, listening, dictation, speaking. Wish I had had this tool 3o years ago. Third, it would be great for someone planning to visit a German speaking country and has some advanced notice.
I say this because it is not something that one can use in two or three days, and be able to know what is going on.

Overall, this is a great product. The speaking graphs of one's voice inflection are mind boggeling! But it is just like having a private tutor there with you. The only thing that I would recommend is that one could well benefit from even a brief introduction to the language prior to using these CDS.

I bought this product thinking I could, as a beginner, learn to speak German. Ha, was I wrong. Maybe if I had had a year of German in school I would have found this useful. If you are a true beginner with no knowledge of the German language then this product is not for you; it is missing the basic fundamentals needed for a beginner. If you have a year or so of traditional German you might find it helpful, at least you have the absolute basics to work with. Beginners beware.

I'm a Spanish and Chinese teacher who has decided to learn German. I received this set for Xmas, and I love it! The lessons are well presented with a variety of activities that help you work on all four aspects of language learning--reading, writing, listening, and speaking--with an emphasis on listening and speaking skills. It has a variety of activities to help you learn, and you can spend a lot of time on favorite activities--I love the crossword puzzles for vocabulary development. The input is generally comprehensible, and unlike other reviewers, I find that there is more than enough material to keep me busy for many many hours. The only shortcoming of the program is the somewhat inaccessible dictionary--I would suggest you buy your own German-English dictionary for convenience.

I plan to recommend the Spanish version of this program to my students who are having trouble in class.

This software is very complete, with all the skills to learn German involved: speaking, writing, grammar, listening, comprehension...

The speaking capabilities is outstanding, as the software recognizes your voice and can correct your pronunciation mistakes.

Activities are very interactive and diverse, making it very engaging and fun.

I used it a lot, and still the length of the software is amazing.

Very well designed!

I am trying to learn german and I am finding this software almost impossible to remember anything at all.They just start you right off with long sentences and nothing basic for the beginner.Avoid this product I wish I had researched more into what would help me learn another language. I give this three stars for the cultural activities that were fun.

I am very impressed with this software program. There's a feature where you speak into a microphone some text on screen and it'll tell you if it didn't understand you, and which words specifically you had trouble with. The 3 audio CDs are also helpful for listening in your car to become as immersed as possible in German. Mind you- I don't see someone becoming fully fluent in German with this product, but it's definitely a good tool to give yourself some ground knowledge to build from if you were to eventually take a more advanced course or just to travel lightly in Europe. I'd definitely recommend this and the other language versions.

This is one of the worst language programs I have used. The user interface is terrible and there is almost no help available. The help icon is there but is disabled most of the time. The exercises are hard to decode--you can never tell what you need to accomplish. And the help (the few times the icon is enabled) is very generic and almost never applies to what you are doing. Don't let the number of discs fool you--everything could have fit on a single disc.
Save your money and keep looking.