Learn Chinese Now! 9.0

Other products by Transparent Language

Product Features

• Over 15,000 Words. Hundreds of Useful Phrases
• Full Motion "Big Picture" Video
• Full Native Speaker Pronunciation
• SlowSound to Hear Every Nuance
• Advanced Pronunciation Practice

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005Y3VF
• Item model number: 744573059330
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 4, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,396 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Software > Macintosh > Education & How-To > Typing
  #43 in	Software > Education & Reference > Writing & Literature
  #59 in	Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Asian

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
With the modern PC having a variety of possibilities of which traditional language-learning methods could only dream--voice recognition, video dialogues, and so on--the past few years have seen an extraordinary boom in language-learning software packages. However, as picking through this surfeit can be tricky, it is important to find a reliable brand, and the Learn Now! series is definitely among the best software packages.

The program comes equipped with 2 CDs, one of which has various key sections--useful "survival phrases", fun activities, conversations, and practicing speech against the voice of a native speaker--while the other has a thorough grammar tutorial. This combination is certainly a valuable one for people who are serious about learning a language, and the product is clear and easy to use: in role-plays, phrases are highlighted in a box and their English translations placed underneath, while the voice recognition software allows you to measure your own voice against that of a native speaker, and the games hone the things that have been learnt. Sections are tailored to various activities, such as getting around, going out, and business situations, while at any point you can call up a grammar tutorial which explains a particular point on which you are unsure.

In addition to these sections, the part on survival phrases will be of much use to those who have already reached a basic level. There are several practice dialogues based around commonplace situations--in the hotel, the bar, the airport, etc. Although some of the advice borders on the infantile ("When you decide to travel outside the USA, you will probably need a passport"), much of it is useful, and rounds out what is a well composed package for someone starting out on the road to using the language overseas. --Toby Green, Amazon.co.uk

Product Description
Learn Language Now! is an immersion program that enables learners take basic vocabulary and quickly progress to more advanced comprehension and use. Grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, pronunciation skills, and more are emphasized through the use of native language texts, videos, and stories that immerse the user in the foreign language and provide opportunities for language investigation, skill-building and role play. Engaged in this rich multimedia experience, you may never feel like you're studying, and the fact that you are actually using another language becomes transparent.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best for the Price, July 3, 2002

By	B. J Wilson (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have struggled through several introductory chinese language products, and to date this has been the most useful for conversational development. It is not a full integrated course, in that it is conversation and pinyin, but even my Chinese friends consider that a good beginning. It has an amazing collection of learning methods in an inexpensive package.

Chinese is extremely difficult to start. It has taken me many hours to get get down the most basic phrases. I found this, along with the Pimsleur programs to be the most helpful.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an amazing Tool, May 30, 2003

By	Jane Black (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews

Hi I'm an English teacher who teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to students in China. Before starting this job I took a Madarin Chinese class and found it very hard. I got this program and using it helped me immensly. I was able to put into practice what I learned in class through this program. This provided excellent practice in pronunciation and contains a very large vocabulary section. The games and media were very good tools to practice and learn with, especially Vocabulous, my favorite game. After the class, when I was in China, I still used this program to help keep my language skills sharp and to expand my knowledge of it. Chinese Now is a very good learning program and it works.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good supplement for the serious student of Chinese, September 30, 2004

By	reader - See all my reviews

This software is not for the complete beginner. If you are a complete beginner, try Beginner's Chinese by Yong Ho and/or the pricey Ultimate Mandarin Chinese (ISBN 0517708779) instead. The software has 4 'chapters,' two being in the 'beginner' level and the other two being in the 'intermediate' level. The chapters consist of dialogues that are rendered in Pinyin only (NO Chinese characters are used). You can listen to the dialogue and follow along with the Pinyin; you can also click on the Pinyin and the program will display the definition of the word/character. Except for one chapter which contains Chinese survival phrases, all the other chapters are better suited for a college student of Chinese than it is for the person who is doing self-study or one who is a complete beginner. The dialogues are in fact very interesting because they explore various aspects of Chinese culture, but one would have to have one semester of college Chinese before being able to appreciate it; after 2 semesters of college Chinese, one could probably understand 40-50% of the dialogue without looking at the translation; after 4 semesters (that is, two years of college Chinese), one could understand most of the simpler dialogues, but the software is still a very good tool for developing listening skills. Overall, if you are a complete beginner, skip this software; if you are taking college/high school Chinese, and you plan to stick with it either by taking more classes or doing serious self-study, then this software is definitely valuable as a supplement; and I would highly recommend it.

P.S. The grammar section and the Pinyin guide is so basic and lacking in substance that it is basically worthless.