Customer Reviews

Learn German Now! 9.0

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

 

 

I have used several LanguageNow courses and I like them. However, reviews for these courses seem to be all over the place, so I thought it might be helpful to describe what they are and what they aren't.

The CD always has at least four parts. 1)The first section teaches common words in sample sentences and dialogues. 2)The second section teaches survival phrases. 3) Other sections are monologues on travel and culture, or are stories full of dialogues. These sections are more difficult than the first two.

Everything you hear is written on the screen. You can stop and start anyplace and at any time. You can listen to one sentence a hundred times if you want. You can listen to a slowed down version. You can click on a word at any time for a translation into English. When ready, you can go to the games section and practice what you have learned. I really like the games section, as it really reinforces what I am learning without wearing me out.

Beware! The courses don't teach grammar, but they still work well if you buy a simple grammar reference. The courses do teach vocabulary, and how to speak and listen. I know several languages and find that I learn more quickly if I focus on communication and just check on a grammar point now and then. This company also has "add-on-titles" which are good if you want to become near fluent even without much real life practice. If you are a complete beginner, you might find these courses frustrating. If you have some background or know a related language, these courses really work well.

I received my copy of this new product today. First impression is very positive. I have bought most all the CD-based products for German and this one is way ahead of the rest. For my money, the others are toys with no depth at all. What makes this one effective for language learning is a design and technology that makes use of concurrent inputs: sound,text,and visuals. And these three sensory inputs can be slowed down and/or repeated as desired. It's not perfect, but it is clearly better than the rest.For this reason, I give it a 'relative' rating of 5.

I started out with "Learn German Now 9.0" when it was still called "German Now 5.0", and I've purchased various versions with other languages (Dutch 7.0, French 5.0, Latin 8.0, Italian 6.0, Spanish 9.0). I think this product is best suited for someone with some knowledge of the foreign language already (even a very basic knowledge), and/or someone who's already living someplace where the studied language is spoken a fair amount.

This software basically gives you a written passage, story, dialogue or whatever; a means to listen to that passage, story or dialogue spoken by a native (some titles are actually text to a TV show or news program and accompanied by the video of the show); and a translation of each word while identifying what part of speech it is, as well as an overall meaning for each of the sentences. Very nice...

Both the Dutch and German packages helped immensely. Before I started using them, my knowledge of German was decent, and my Dutch was notch or two below that. After buying a few more advanced German modules (you can buy additional titles, stories, etc for each language), I definitely saw an increase in comprehension. The Dutch I ended up using in conjunction with another book, and it did an awesome job at better training my ear. The only language I've started entirely from scratch (hadn't studied it before I got the software) is French. So far, I'm impressed. Of all the other "learn French" books, CDs and software I have, this is definitely the best. Of course living in a French-speaking country has probably given me the impetus to use it more than I would were I still living back in the states (which is where I bought the "French Now" long before I moved back to Europe).

As for the Latin, Italian and Spanish, well, I basically bought them to just learn a bit more about Latin/Romance languages. Really never intended to learn those languages (and therefore haven't really tried) unless of course I move someplace where it would help...

Lastly, if you can find old versions of the software, consider buying it used. There's not a DRASTIC difference between the old and newer versions, and some of the later versions even use the exact same data, sound, and video files.

This product is good for learning and practicing the German Language. As an American businessman working for Volkswagen/BMW, a German car company, learning German seemed like a good idea since I took frequent business trips to Germany. I started with a class but soon started looking for alternatives. I picked up German Now and found that using it helped a lot. It focused on the language skills of listening, speaking, reading&writing, and vocabulary & grammar. The programs ability to say many of the words through audio allows you to recognize and pronounce words better. The Plug-n-Play game, along with others, helps to teach you to read and spell German. I highly recomend this product if you want to learn a new language or use it to help you in a language class. It has numerous games, activities and videos. The content is just endless and it works.

I started knowing no German, but because of recent work assignment, need to develop basic conversational and written skills. I did a reasonably thorough investigation of PC-based learning packages, but was only able to demo one fairly expensive option. Being frugal, I went with this lower cost alternative.

I am disappointed in the product for the following reasons:
- There is not an obvious starting point and not an obvious lesson sequence. The opening window is a video of a conversation. Although labeled Beginner, it is far beyond where a new learner would be at. I suspect it was done to show off the "multimedia" features as the first impression.
- The content is not organized in lessons. It's like using a dictionary and phrase book to teach yourself.
- The various References Tools have different user interfaces - suggesting this is an aggregation of completely different products.

I was expecting a carefully designed and packaged product aimed at helping me learn German. This looks like a quick effort to put together some multimedia sequences with translation, bundled with a few references. It is not a learning environment.

So, I recommend avoiding this product. I'm going to look at some other lower cost alternatives, but if I don't find anything suitable, I'm going to either find a German friend to help me learn, or bite the bullet and get the expensive solution.

Im a german soldier here in the US. I bought this program for my american neighbour. Today i checked this software out and I can say it's very cool stuff. I wish I can buy the same for my wife and me to make it so easy to get a new language.

This cdrom was the worst investment i have ever made. it was not organized for a beginner. there were no chapters, or any way to find out where to start. it made you repeat a bunch of phrases and sentences, so you had no idea what you were saying, unless you chose to see the translation, but it did not teach you the basics. it is rubbish!!!!!! do not buy it!

I am very surprised at how good German Now really is. This software makes very good use of what a computer has to offer and has a great method by which to learn the German language. I really liked the review games, conversation practices and the voice recognition features. I think that it is incredible that this software will let you hear every word in German and you can even slow it down to help you with your pronunciation. Overall this program is put together well, does what it is meant to do and is just plain good.