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| Software Review | 
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| Title: | Learn To Speak German |
| Version: | 8.0 |
| Manufacturer: | The Learning Company |
| Computer Tested On: | Generic 586-166 |
| Operating System: | Windows 98 |
| Reviewed By: | Frank Fogg |
| Review Date: | August, 2000 |
| Rating: | 
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OVERVIEW
Learn To Speak German is a program designed to teach a beginning student of German to speak the language or to improve current skills. The program integrates voice recognition technology as a major part of the content.
This program lets the user choose
a path for learning -- the user can follow along with the basic course, choose a
specialized course, or jump in at any point in the program. A short skills assessment
pre-test can be taken by those students with some language skills to determine the point
at which to begin. The system also tracks the student's progress through the various
lessons.
The main backbone of this course is the use of speech recognition technology. Recording and playback are used throughout the program. The user can listen to the German word or phrase, repeat it into the microphone, then compare their pronunciation to that of the native speaker. An indicating meter displays the course's evaluation of the student's pronunciation after each word or phrase.
Some other features of this program include a talking dictionary and cultural movies. It also offers online lessons from the publisher, but this portion of the program was not tried or evaluated. This package also includes a cassette tape of spoken German to practice listening skills.
Much of this program is substandard in concept and design. A few correct guesses on the self-assessment exam will leave the student too far from the beginning of the course for comfort. The user interface is extremely clumsy and it is difficult at times to determine where a particular link will take you. The course itself is not laid out particularly well either -- the order in which things occur does not always seem to make sense. Even though the course title suggests speaking rather than listening, the lessons mostly require a microphone and sound card to be used -- if you don't have both then the course is pretty much useless.
STRONG POINTS
Speak recognition is fairly accurate and does not excessively slow the machine down.
Recognition results are immediately displayed as the student speaks -- difficult areas can be repeated immediately.
Reliable program operation -- few program errors were encountered during testing.
Easy installation process.
WEAK POINTS
User interface is not easy understood -- the destination of selecting any particular option is not always apparent.
The user MUST have a sound card and microphone to use the bulk of the program -- the program will wait for microphone input even when there is no sound.
COMMENTS
This program is acceptable as a vehicle for those wanting to learn to actually speak German instead of merely listening to it. Installation is easy and the program operates reliably, but the user interface is more cluttered and difficult to understand than other similar products. The course and lessons are unwieldy to operate for even the most experienced computer users. There are better language courses on the market in this price range that accomplish similar objectives.
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