KidSpeak 10-in-1 Language Learning

by Transparent Language

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002S8BZ
• Item model number: M10-KO1-3-CD
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 3, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,044 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #25 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Italian
  • #46 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German
  • #55 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > French
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

How can we tell that KidSpeak: 10-in-1 Language Learning is a superb language-learning package for kids? Because it's a bit too hard for Mom and Dad. The cognitive sponge that makes setting the VCR easy for your 7-year-old is the same cognitive sponge that makes foreign languages so easy--and exactly why having your kids use software like this is a terribly good idea, the younger the better.

This multi-CD package offers equally well implemented modules for Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese, and Portuguese. Whew! We think it's a great idea to offer 10 languages at once, because there's no telling what language your child will decide to take later on--so the more exposure earlier, the better. Plus, this number of languages won't put off kids the way it will adults--instead it will probably inspire your kid's curiosity.

Unlike adults, who freak out when they don't see new words written out, children usually handle linguistic unknowns with an instinctive curiosity. Hinting at the solid pedagogical underpinnings of its design, KidSpeak takes advantage of this instinct at every turn: in the Chinese module, for instance, Chinese characters are used right off the bat--no Romanization here. This is actually exactly what you want--unlike adults, children won't be afraid, and they'll learn the characters faster this way. Each module offers effective alphabet games, number games, animal games, a few songs with animations--all with navigation instinctive to children. None of the modules is a course in conversation--they're much more concerned with recognition of everyday words, which is a good way to introduce your kids to new languages and cultures in a fun, painless way.

Each language has its own animated host and culture-specific stylization, but the games and learning activities in each are similar and well designed. Each CD has both Macintosh and Windows versions on board, and (brilliantly) there is no installation involved--you can run each language module immediately off the CD. Especially cool: the CD includes a resourceful parents' guide and an impressive children's workbook for each language, all in PDF format you can print out at your leisure. (Ages 6 to 10) --Erik Macki

Amazon.com Product Description

KidSpeak combines state-of-the-art animations with fun interactive activities, puzzles, and songs to make second languages simple. Your child will build a solid foreign-language foundation using the successful immersion approach preferred by educators. Each language activity is hosted by a fun cartoon friend and his or her playful pet that uses only the language being taught. Your child simply points and clicks. (Of course, help in English is never more than a mouse click away.) With KidSpeak, your child will automatically learn correct pronunciation, alphabet and word recognition, simple sentence structure, plural and singular forms, numbers, simple addition and subtraction, and how to tell time. KidSpeak covers Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, European Portuguese, and Castillian Spanish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

164 of 173 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice program, February 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: KidSpeak 10-in-1 Language Learning (CD-ROM)

This product is easy to get around in. There are some cases where I would have liked a bit of explanation, but MOST of the games are easy to figure out. It is a total Emerson style software. The only English is in SOME of the help menus. The Spanish spoken is Spain Spanish, where some of the words like "diez" (ten), is pronounced as "dee-ath". I was personally looking for Mexican (Central American) Spanish. But this was MOST helpful. You learn the alphabet, the numbers (using basic math problems), how to tell time, clothes, colors, certain objects, animals, and body parts. The problem I found with this, was If you get good at some of the stuff, you'd like a way to test yourself. If they had a higher level where they showed a bunch of animals, and you click on them, and it shows the name and speaks it, that would be more helpful. Here it has a room, and all the animals are hidden. You have to remember where they are hid to click on them. After a while the animations get too long. I know it's meant for kids, but It could use about 20% more material. It only has about 10 food Items, and never teaches house-hold objects. This is a good starter software, if you intend to get around in a language. It gives a taste of 10 languages.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KidSpeak 1- in 1 Language Learning, February 12, 2001

By 

Dr Patrick A OConnor (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: KidSpeak 10-in-1 Language Learning (CD-ROM)

I found this to be a delightful software program. Very computer and user friendly as I ran it on three different systems and never had a glich. Put the disk in and it runs. No system alterations, no installation, just clean and simple. My children enjoy the animation and games and given the time they have put into playing the software, I feel this ranks as one of the "best values" for the money of most of the software programs we have gone through. This is definitely oriented towards children and is very basic but gives the children a chance to explore 10 different languages (on 3 CDs).

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use for Kids and Adults, June 15, 2001

By 

Amazon shopper (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: KidSpeak 10-in-1 Language Learning (CD-ROM)

This software delivers exactly what it promises. Ease of use (there is no "installation" required) and very consistent design among the 10 languages offered makes it easy to navigate. We have a 2YO, and I originally intended to use this myself for now, and introduce it to my child when he is older (the packaging recommends ages 6 and up). But he finds the animations captivating now, and he is already interested in letters, numbers, animals, colors, and using the computer. So while I won't pretend he's a whiz-bang user, I do feel confident that this is software your child can grow with and not become easily bored. The accompanying booklet offers proficiency standards you can use to help direct your child in learning the language, so you could take the approach of getting basic familiarity with letters/pictograms, or numbers, etc. Or you could direct your child through the languages one at a time. And the games are fun to play...they're not mindless and boring, and you can raise the difficulty level on activities (each game has 3 levels). I feel that even if you only ever used one or two of the language modules, you would get your money's worth, especially considering the additional paper exercises that are included (you need Adobe Acrobat to download these, and you can print them up as often as you like). And it's not all just fill-in-the-blank type stuff. You can make flashcards and simple puzzles from some of the sheets. I do wish that maybe Russian or Greek or Arabic was available in the package, but good grief! There are TEN languages in this package! It's a great learning opportunity at a good value.