TeLL me More Dutch (3 levels: Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced)

by Auralog

Product Features

• Dutch language software with more than 500 hours of learning
• Covers reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, and culture
• 2,600 exercises, organized in 35 different types of activities; 3 learning modes
• Speech recognition technology; modern, user-friendly interface
• Contains levels Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000630NAS
• Item model number: 7-008-123
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 2, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,035 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #95 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Tell Me More, the world's leading software for language learning, is valued by users and teachers alike for its speech recognition technology and personalized language courses. Tell Me More now counts more than five million satisfied users worldwide. Global leading organizations have placed their trust in Tell Me More, including the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Government, the FBI, the Canadian Federal Government, EDS, BMW, Carnival Cruise Lines, Mercedes, and more.

Used everyday in more than 10,000 academic institutions, this latest version evaluates your progress as you learn, and uses your results to suggest the activities and exercises best suited to your needs, just as a teacher would. The package includes levels Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, and contains 2,600 exercises, organized in 35 different types of activities. All the skills critical to learning Dutch are addressed including reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, and culture. With more than 500 hours of learning, this is the most extensive offer on the market to help you learn Dutch.

500 hours of learning, divided into six workshops:

• Lesson workshop organizes activities by topic.
• Cultural workshop helps to improve your knowledge of the countries in which the language is spoken.
• Grammar and vocabulary workshops include sets of exercises linked to grammar rules, verb conjugations, and key vocabulary words (classified by either topic or level).
• Written workshop includes sets of exercises designed to help you improve your written expression.
• Oral workshop contains numerous dialogues and interactive videos focusing on both oral comprehension and expression.

Three alternative learning modes to help personalize your Dutch learning:

• The Dynamic mode uses real-time performance analysis to tailor the Dutch learning process to your individual needs. Evaluating your progress as you work, it adjusts your activities based on the results of your previous exercises.
• The Guided mode offers a personalized lesson structure based on your own objectives and time constraints.
• The Free-to-Roam mode allows you to select the activities and workshops of your choice, giving you the freedom to create your own Dutch lessons.

The latest technology to help you learn Dutch:

• State-of-the-art speech recognition technology enables you to evaluate your pronunciation, and automatically detects and corrects your errors (using S.E.T.S. technology).
• 3D animations illustrate the movements of the lips and mouth to help improve your pronunciation.
• A modern, user-friendly interface ensures effortless browsing.
• Two hours of video activities included.

Product Description

Sold in a White Box. TELL ME MORE®, the worlds leading software for language learning, is valued by users and teachers alike for its speech recognition technology and personalized language courses. TELL ME MORE® now counts more than 5 MILLION SATISFIED USERS WORLDWIDE. This package contains levels Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, and is the perfect solution to learn DUTCH. 500 HOURS OF LANGUAGE LEARNING & OVER 2,400 EXERCISES. Interactive dialogues with 550 sentences and 15,000 words. 8,000-Word glossary. Grammar and conjugation Grammar rules and 700 conjugated words using simple, animated explanations. Lesson report: a detailed account of your progress where you are able to play back your dialogues. Personalized learning paths: The Progress Chart and Diary organize your study by selecting activities and proposing a study plan corresponding to your level and objectives, as well as your schedule. State-of-the-Art Speech Recognition: With speech recognition technology, TeLL me More recognizes what you say, assesses your pronunciation and corrects any mistakes. Spoken Error Tracking System: TeLL me More pinpoints and highlights mispronounced words within individual sentences using the exclusive S.E.T.S. technology. Phonetic Animations in 3D: 3D animations allow you to visualize the articulation of words with dynamic animations and advice on how to formulate words. Free headset with microphone included.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great product for intermediate learners of Dutch, November 21, 2005

By 

Elliott P. (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TeLL me More Dutch (3 levels: Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced) (CD-ROM)

Let's get one thing out of the way. If you are a complete beginner to the Dutch language, this is probably not the product for you. As the previous reviewer said, you're dropped right into the middle of things with no real introduction at all. I can say that, if I were just getting started with Dutch and had purchased this package, I would be extremely frustrated. I've been able to progress fairly easily through the lessons but I've been studying Dutch for almost a year. Constantly, throughout the program, I find myself acknowledging how frustrated I would be if I didn't know the things I know in the way of vocabulary and grammar. There are really no grammar lessons to speak of, only an exercise with a link to a grammar explanation that relates to that particular gramatical topic. The explanations themselves are fine, if a bit technical. Having been away from any formal grammatical learning for nearly twenty years, I find the terminology in many of the explanations to be unclear and sometimes rather cryptic. A vocabulary list is given for each lesson but it is by no means an exhaustive list of the words that are used in the lesson. It doesn't even come at the beginning. Only after you have stumbled your way through a couple exercises is a list of key words presented. These two things, grammar and vocabulary are the biggest stumbling blocks for the total beginner to a language who is using the TMM system.

If however, you are like me and have been studying for a while and have a basic grasp of Dutch grammar (very basic in my case) and know some vocabulary, I think this would be a valuable addition to your study agenda. There are dialogs and speaking exercises with a very good voice recognition system that really makes you feel like you're having a conversation with your computer. Crosswords, word search and other games help to introduce you to new words. Videos with follow-up questions to test your comprehension are worth their weight in gold when you live in a country where access to spoken Dutch materials is non-existant.

In short, for the learner with some knowledge of the language, TMM Dutch provides valuable exercises and games that help to take the monotony out of the learning process and give you some much appreciated interactivity to balance out the somtimes laborious book and audio CD approach that so many of us start out with. This program should be thought of as one more tool to use and not as a replacement for the other, time tested methods of learning a language.

My recommendation would be to start off with one of the book and audio CD's from either Donaldson or Quist to build a foundation of grammar and vocabulary. TMM Dutch would, in my opinion, make an excellent follow-on to either of these books and would invigorate the learning process rather than frustrate it. As well, another very important thing for me has been to get out of the "learning" environment and to try and start getting some experience with some "real" Dutch. Order a Dutch Harry Potter book and start reading it. Once you have some core grammar concepts and good dictionary by your side you can do it. Make flashcards of the words you don't know and learn them. Getting outside of my lessons and into some actual dutchiness has been a real boost to my motivation.

I hope that the previous reviewer will continue their Dutch learning and revisit this program sometime in the future. I think they will find that it does have a good deal of value for a learner who is bit farther along in thier studies. That has been my experience.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply miraculous, January 30, 2005

By 

Jerry E. Sullivan "drjesullivan" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TeLL me More Dutch (3 levels: Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced) (CD-ROM)

Over the years, I have looked at many different ways to study foreign languages. I have, basically, two different styles: either a multimedia approach, or the tried and true "read, listen and repeat" drills that are far more effective than most people give them credit. The language course reviews I see on Amazon look to me like they generally fall into one of two categories: either people who are really serious and want to explore every facet of the language, or people who thought that 15 minutes after popping in a CD they would have achieved cultural fluency.

Tell Me More Dutch is for people who really want to achieve some measure of fluency or proficiency in Dutch. Although you could become conversant through using it, it is more for people who are almost looking to adopt a second language. Yes, you will work at it, but it is extremely fun, bordering on addicting, and the feedback it provides throughout all facets of learning, inspire you to grow and achieve more in the language. Tell Me More Dutch comes on two CDs, each of which has many, many lessons, with a load of exercises within each lesson. The software will track your completion of language modules, and if you so desire, give you a schedule to complete each disk based on the goals and objectives you select.

Tell Me More Dutch is, without a doubt, the best foreign language learning program I have ever seen, and I have tried several: Berlitz, the Living Language "Ultimate" series, Barron's FSI, and Language Now (note: only the Language Now series was in Dutch, but the method used by those others pales compared to Tell Me More).

Yes, Tell Me More is a little pricey, but remember that the goal of this software is to give you Dutch as a second language (at least, that's my perspective). My package included a microphone that allowed for feedback on my accent. The package also includes, reading, writing and listening comprehension exercises. Within completing the first lesson, I am actually able to feel somewhat comfortable visiting Dutch web sites.

There is none better. Please note that you may want to use better quality headphones when you are in the dictation modules. Also, if there was anything to say that was critical of this product, it would be that there are no companion CDs, other than those I've acquired independently, for learning and refresher away from the computer.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pronunciation is not standard Dutch, February 19, 2008

By 

Jo Hindriks (Leesburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TeLL me More Dutch (3 levels: Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced) (CD-ROM)

I am a native speaker of Dutch and reviewed a couple of the lessons in the free trial portion of the manufacturer's website. I noticed right away that the female voice overs are decidedly not standard Dutch pronunciation, the person who speaks the texts is from the south, or from Flemish Belgium. This may not be a big deal but if you want to learn a standard Dutch pronunciation don't rely on this software.