Customer Reviews

TeLL me More Arabic - Complete Beginner & Beginner

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

 

 

This product is great, but it is not for absolute beginners. It expects you to already know how to read the alphabet, understand what all the markings mean, and know basic words.

I like this program because it reinforces your knowledge and teaches you more through exercises and puzzles. It also records your voice and highlights the word in the phrase you need to work on. I found out that many of the words were pronounced differently than I thought. This is good because you hear the real pronunciation, not just your classmate's attempts. And you can hear the word or phrase as many times as you'd like.

The program runs great on one of my computers, but on the other computer it displays the letters unattatched and from left to right, instead of right to left. There is probably a cure for this, though.

If you already know how to read arabic and understand basic words, this program is great.

Unlike Rossetta Stone, I can use it on more than one computer. So when I buy a new computer, it will transfer.

This is the best program I have found in Modern Standard Arabic to reinforce knowledge learned. While it could be used as a stand alone program, it is best used in tandem with classwork. That being said, this program is light-years ahead of Rosetta Stone for Arabic which I have found to be pretty useless for Arabic learning. Rosetta Stone only reviews words that you have to guess from the pictures(they are often very confusing), and Rosetta does not offer a vocabulary book or grammar which is essential in learning any language. I like Pimsleur programs; but, unfortunately they do not make one for MSA, only for the dialects. Tell Me More is an awesome program because it makes learning fun and interactive for those who get bored easily. It is especially good for kinestic and visual learners because there is a heavy influence of Auditory learning with this program that helps pronounce words correctly and helps learners who find listening alone a hard way to learn.
The way the program works is that it has several levels to work with and takes the learner through different topics: if you want to learn about the weather - click on that section; about families -click on that section. Because it is so organized, it is easy to focus on topics that you want to review. Furthermore, there are about 10 activities to do per topic. For example, you can review the vocabulary, take a test using the words in sentences, learn how to pronounce words by comparing your voice to a natives (the best function of the program), learn new grammar, etc. It is a very easy product to use as well (basically install and everything is ready to go - make sure you by a good headset as well) This is definitely a program worth its price!

This is an excellent software package for learning a language. It's primary strength is in its comprehensive approach to teaching the material. You cover all aspects of the language including reading, writing, pronunciation, and conversation. To further that end, there a several activities each devoted to those main areas to provide practice and repetition which is key to quickly building vocabulary. The software is structured such that the student can choose whether he wants to tear through the activities if he/she feels confident in the material, or hover on one particular activity until becoming comfortable with it. The ability to tailor the lesson plan on the fly to your developing needs is a huge benefit with Tell Me More.

I highly recommend Tell Me More over the more popular Rosetta Stone, which I have also used. For one, Rosetta Stone really isn't a language STUDY program - it is merely a deluxe version of flashcards. You never "study" what you are saying, you just associate the sounds with images on the screen; endless digital flashcards if you will. I think this method is effective for learning vocabulary, but that's about it! The Rosetta Stone method is profoundly ineffective in teaching grammar and the structure of a language, which is obviously vital in being able to speak a language properly. Rosetta Stone will quickly get you to the level of simple phrases like "this is a small boy", and "there are two flowers"; past that point you will really struggle for gains.

On the other hand, Tell Me More is a full STUDY program which is packed with many different kinds of learning aids (picture association, word match, crossword puzzles, pronouncing phrases, video quizzes, etc.). It is capable of effectively taking you from beginner to more advanced stages.

This is a nice product to reinforce the language skills of speaking and recognition of words. I like the fact that it allows you to check on how you are doing. You may go at your own pace.
I am using Rosetta Stone, and both products are very helpful for me.

I bought this several months ago. I was extremely dissapointed in the quality of the software and its teaching methods. It does not seem to follow any structure in the least bit. The speach "recognition" does not seem to work very well either. All in all I was surprised on how some persons gave this great reviews. I even had trouble navigating through the menus to find stuff to work on. This box was marked homeschool edition and I don't know if that had anything to do with said product or not. In my humble opinion Rosetta Stone is by far a better product and actually worth the money if you intend to take language learning seriously. Leave Tell Me More Arabic on the shelf and choose another method of learning arabic.