Customer Reviews

Spanish Now! 8.0

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

 

 

This is not a program for those who want a grammar based way to learn a language. Actually I don't have version 8 but I have version 7. I think their concept is the same, though-learn language through conversation practice, not grammar exercises. If you have had some Spanish and want to improve your speaking abilities, this is a good program for you, but if you have never had Spanish and would like to understand grammar concepts, this program will not provide a chapter based grammar, learning program.

I surfed the internet for language software. It was a soupy mess! GAZILLIONS to choose from!! In the end, after reading different reviews I decided to buy this one. It is NOT the kind of language learning where you memorize nouns by nouns and verbs by verbs which is just too monotonous!. This program is like jumping in without checking how the water is first.. The way REAL people talk.. how you would talk back. And it is NOT intimidating at all; I mean, how great to talk to your computer all alone on a Wednesday night with nobody to hear how bad you are? An example of how this software works: we follow this guy from the airport in Madrid greeted by his aunt and uncle. A little movie shows him walking through the airport, etc. There is also a box which translates it for you in english. Then you have choices on your screen to choose how you want to break these words or conversations down: 1. You can slow down the pace of the speech. 2. You can click on any one word and hear it said 3. You can click on one word, hear it said, then use the microphone (provided for PC users only, Mac must use the Plain Talk mic) which records your voice and you play it back. A little meter rates how you sound compared to the local guy.. 4.You can also click on a whole phrase, hear the guy say it then you can repeat it and compare.. 5. You can also click on the 'game' icon where you have a choice of 5 games to practice with as well (also called 'sneaky learning..' ). Whatever screen you are looking at you can click on the '?' (help) button and it will show you EVERYTHING that you need to know. Like the little turtle on the screen, I kept thinking 'what the heck is that little turtle for?' I clicked on the '?' button, which opened up a sample of the page I was just on, then I clicked on the turtle. Voila! Click on this to slow up or down the speech .. Duh. guess I shoulda known. I didn't know how to work the microphone thing; click help, then the icon, it tells me to hold down my mouse while speaking..

One of the reviewers of this software said that it was just way too advanced for him. I just don't think he gave it (or himself) a chance. I was TERRIFIED of buying software.. I know nothing about computers and kept thinking it would be a huge waste. I'd never figure it out. I have to tell you that I stuck it in, clicked around, READ THE '?' HELP SECTION and completely got the hang of it and am learning like mad!!

The question for those who are looking to buy language software is the question of grammer based learning or jumping in and doing it. I think it's better jumping in. People say that you should just move to a country where you want to learn a language -- and who can do that?? So I'm thinking software like this is the next best thing. I have high school level spanish (which was 15 some odd years ago) and I live in Los Angeles so I know a bunch of words but couldn't figure out the whole verb meets sentence structure thing. This software is EXACTLY what I needed. No matter what you choose, you have to do is stick with it and commit to learning. You won't learn unless you use it.

Oh, and the ... rebate didn't hurt, either!!

This program is not for beginners! If you are an intermediate to advanced Spanish learner, then you may get some good use out of the program. As a beginner with very limited Spanish knowledge, I wasted my money trying to learn anything from this program. The speakers in the video talk way to fast to understand and when you slow the speech down, it garbles the audio.

I do not recommend Spanish Now. First of all, it's not very good for a beginner because it has no good way to build the vocabulary. Other Spanish programs I have tried showed pictures of items and gave the Spanish name for it to help build one's vocabulary. Anything like that is absent from this program. All it does is give a list of sentences and read them to you and, if you're a beginner, you're expected to learn a lot of new words all at once. You can learn words from it, but it is a very boring and tedious way of doing so. Secondly, the program is just stupid. In one section, it gives a list of phrases that you would need to know if you're planning a trip to a Spanish speaking country. Before each set of phrases, it has whole complicated paragraphs that tell about Spanish customs and they're all in Spanish. If a person can read all these paragraphs about customs then they wouldn't need to be learning how to ask the location of a good restaurant or something simple like that. Third, I found the games that this thing has to be pretty boring. Fourth, the company obviously didn't proofread their product very well because it contains errors in the text. Worst of all, it has translational errors. So no matter what level you're at in learning Spanish, I don't recommend this software. As a matter of fact, if you're a beginner and you want to learn the language, don't buy any language software and expect it to be your sole learning source. I've used several Spanish CD-ROMs and none of them alone will teach you much about Spanish. They're only useful when used in conjuction with books, tapes, or other programs. And if you just want to learn enough Spanish to get by, this one will help you but there are far cheaper ones that will teach you just as much. I would recommend QuickStudy Spanish by The Learning Company.

I am trying to learn to speak spanish at home and I find this program to be a great tool for learning to pronounce words and sentences. I listen to the native speaker while watching the sentence on the screen then speak the sentence into the microphone provide with the program. The computer uses a voice pattern to show me how my sentence compares to the native speaker. I can slow the speaker down if needed and I can compare various aspects of my recorded sentence with the native speaker. There are games and other helpful activities included with the program. I really enjoy this program

My experience with this product was not a pleasant one. First, I caught two translational errors and I'm a beginner, so I'm left wondering how many other errors there are that I'm not catching. I e-mailed the company about this and all they did was send me an attachment with just those two errors corrected. They didn't offer me my money back or even offer me so much as an apology. I also had problems with the sound. And I knew it was in the software and not my computer, so I e-mailed the technical department and they didn't even bother to e-mail me back. I e-mailed the company again about the technical department not responding to me and the compnay didn't respond this time either. And it's been about two months since I've e-mailed them. So I would just not recommend this product. Even without the errors, the product still isn't very good.

With more than 10,000 words,hundreds of useful phrases,full-motion, big-picture video,and allll pronunciation by native speakers, this CD-ROM is the closest thing you can have to your own personal Spanish tutor.

I am so impressed by Spanish Now! 8.0 that I would gladly purchase any updates they may issue, this resource is that good. If you search hard, you will be able to find it on sale along with a rebate.

The best feature is the record and play back, which greatly aids in that all important mastery of pronunciation.

This CD is excellent as a "stand alone" resource for those learning on their own, or it can be an excellent supplement to anyone studying the language formally.

If you have no experience with spanish, forget about this program. I do believe that this title would be good for someone who already has some classroom spanish experience. Those with no experience will be overwhelmed and lost from the outset with this title.

Don't buy this, unless you just have an overwhelming desire to waste 50 bucks. The sound on the thing is terrible. It has a button to click to slow the speed of the people talking, but when you click it, the sound is distorted. The sound is also sometimes distorted when a letter beginning with an 'r' is pronounced. And it's distorted a couple of other times as well. The sound on my computer is fine any other time so I know that it's in the software and not my computer. The product isn't really that good anyway, even if the sound were perfect. It's definitely not for a beginner. It lacks information that a beginner would need and it uses a boring method of building the vocabulary. So just don't buy this. It's a complete waste of money.

I do not recommend this product to anyone. It contains incorrect translations. For example, it says that veintisiete is 26. Veintisiete is 27. It contains other errors, too. In one section of the program, I found Spanish in the box where the English translation was suppose to be. I also had problems with the sound. When I clicked on the button to slow the speed of the dialogue, the sound was distorted. It's a shame that the software has these errors, because otherwise, it is a very good program. It teaches in a very well organized manner. It has a section on grammar and the letter sounds for beginners and is also designed for intermediate and advanced students. But unless you want to keep a dictionary nearby and make sure that each translation is correct, then I recommend finding another product.