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Learn Italian Now! 9.0

Learn Italian Now! 9.0

List Price: $39.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Tha sin math
Review: It's not bad at all; the new game, Graffiti, is quite addictive.
It's not intended to begin from the scratch, but is a good method to go further, if you have just the basis; it's a pity there's no division in units.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: terrible software
Review: i cannot stress enough how bad this software is. the user interface is totally unintuitive, difficult to use, and is very poorly designed. the program is a very poor choice for anyone who is trying to learn italian for the first time, like me. program navigation and the user interface controls were very poorly conceived.

i am a computer programmer who is very knowledgeable about computers, so i know whereof i speak. i generally like software programs that at least make an attempt to follow microsoft's guidelines for developing user interfaces, and this software falls so short of that it's laughable.

i wasted $40 on this totally worthless software. buyer beware!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Bad language software
Review: This cdrom was the worst investment i have ever made. it was not organized for a beginner. there were no chapters, or any way to find out where to start. it made you repeat a bunch of phrases and sentences, so you had no idea what you were saying, unless you chose to see the translation, but it did not teach you the basics. it is rubbish!!!!!! do not buy it!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This software is confusing
Review: This software is very confusing to use. The layout and navigation is not user friendly. The program was not helpful for learning how to speak and carry a conversation unless you are already fluent. In which case, why would you need the learning software? I am at an intermediate level Japanese. I didn't like this product. The Power Japanese and Rosette Stone Japanese softwares were much more helpful in furthering my language studies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Clever and fun software
Review: After getting the hang of this product I can highly recommend it. I expected a linear series of lessons, like an animated textbook, and so I was slightly bewildered by this program at first. A little experimentation, however, soon yields great results.

What you get is 4 "titles", multimedia chapters of a few thousand words each consisting of text and some video (two titles are entirely video based). Basically, it's up to you to make your way through this content at your own pace. The software makes this very easy since each word and sentence is playable individually, pronounced in a clear voice (separate from the video soundtrack), and is playable at multiple speeds. The meaning of each word and sentence is displayed at the bottom as you read or play it, along with a grammatical breakdown. This line-by-line reading and viewing is the core of the program. The quality of the video is excellent - interesting and humorous (Andrés visits Spain, Puerto Rico and Colombia clumsily filming advertisements).

Once you've made your way though a title (or a section within a title), you can then move on to the other activities - crosswords and 7 other games and exercises, generated dynamically from the sections you are comfortable with. The dynamic nature of the activities gives them almost infinite reusability and they are almost addictive. After completing a section I look forward to the games as a fun test.

After that, you can use the pronunciation tools. The software analyses your voice in a variety of ways, but I don't put too much stock in it except as an good way to get you to record and listen to yourself.

Finally a few extra tools allow you to keep custom lists of words to learn, make grammatical notes, etc. These lists can be imported into an accompanying flashcard program. My only complain is that you can (no longer?) export the lists as text for use elsewhere - what gives?

Overall I'm pleased with this purchase - and I've tried the competition. My only caveat is this software is probably not suited for the rank beginner, a basic grounding in the grammar and vocabulary would make this program more productive for you. They do not make this clear on the packaging, though.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Try something else
Review: Poor organization makes this product difficult to use. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it's organization. It does have some redeeming features, like the ability to compary your voiceprint to the native speakers voiceprint, but this is of limited utility in actually learning to speak the language. I suspect the people who give this good ratings have lots of time to invest, and therefore can get use to the organization and quirks of the program. For the rest of us, there are easier ways to learn.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Language Now!
Review: The LanguageNOW! series happen to be very good. It greatly improves your listening and reading skills. Russian happens to be one of the hardest languages in the world. Even many Russians have a hard time with their language.

As for as Grammar goes, this software puts you on the right track. The only way to actually learn grammar is to buy a grammar book. I suggest Shaum's Outlines: Russian Grammar - it is probably the best!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This is a low-quality product
Review: I have used CD-ROM language tools before, and this is one of the worst I've encountered. I'm puzzled by the largely favorable reviews posted on Amazon. ...I found the program to be badly organized, and therefore useless. Beyond that, the sound from the video was distorted...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Program
Review: This program deserves the 5-star rating for several reasons.
1) Has a grammar turtorial (something a lot of language software is lacking)
2) Uses technology to its fullest with video, amazing audio(you can listen to over 10,000 words in Russian) , and voice recognition to help correct your pronunciation.
3) Good conversation practices
4) Extra learning material offered online
5)Uses native speakers

Overall, this program is a very impressive learning system unlike any other out there and I highly recomend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good for German Language Learning
Review: I am very surprised at how good German Now really is. This software makes very good use of what a computer has to offer and has a great method by which to learn the German language. I really liked the review games, conversation practices and the voice recognition features. I think that it is incredible that this software will let you hear every word in German and you can even slow it down to help you with your pronunciation. Overall this program is put together well, does what it is meant to do and is just plain good.


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