193
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #171,149 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
'Talk Now' and 'World Talk' deliver as stated
If you want a program to teach you how to speak the basics in a fast, fun, simple way, this would be a good one. If you want a program that will teach you as if you were taught in school, including grammar, writing, and verb conjugation(I did, she saw, we went, etc.), you will probably be disappointed. This program gives you two CD-ROM's per language, one for basics, one for intermediate level learning. The first CD, "Talk Now" gives you excercises in foods, colors, phrases, body parts, numbers, time, shopping, and countries. Under each heading, you play two word games, record yourself speaking and compare it to native speakers(your computer needs a microphone to do this), print vocabulary flash cards, and play a "Memory"-style game with the words you learned. They work on the premise that people remember things better if they've learned in fun situations. Though a bit cheesy at times, it _is_ fun, and you _will_ build your basic vocabulary. The second CD jumps more to full sentences, listening skills, identification, and writing dictation, all still in game-like form. It's a bit of a leap in knowlege, and can be a bit frustrating, but it's a good start for 'learning by listening', much as you would if you were struggling in the actual country, only without making a fool of yourself. At this level, if you have never been exposed to the language, the help/? icon becomes your best friend. Still little in grammar and verb forms, though. To get the most out of it, I would also recommend purchasing a pocket dictionary of the language(s), and maybe even one of those "500 [the language] Verbs" books, so you can actually have a better understanding of your vocabulary and how to form sentences. Overall, these programs are fun & effective as a means of learning to speak, by yourself (or with a friend), on your own time.
