Rating: 
Summary: Am I missing something?
Review: The first CD starts out with some basic words and phrases, not bad for a beginner. The problem occurs with the second CD, it is entirely in German-- none of which is taught in the first CD. They definitely need to bridge the gap in order for this to be useful. I was disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Electronic Savior
Review: The last star was held back because of the gap between the first and second disks. While the first desk is perfect for beginners, you'll need to get another helper (I used German for Dummies) to bridge the gap.
Of note, however, the first disk by itself is six-stars! I successfully used that disk to get around (barely) just fine in Germany - keep in mind most Germans do speak English, and in fact the younger generations (<30) in big cities may get offended if you presume otherwise.
None the less, the first disk is perfect. And with something to span to the second, the rest of the course is great - and this is coming from someone engaged to be married to a German Woman - talk about insteresting conversation with the in-laws!!!
Rating:
Summary: Electronic Savior
Review: The last star was held back because of the gap between the first and second disks. While the first desk is perfect for beginners, you'll need to get another helper (I used German for Dummies) to bridge the gap.
Of note, however, the first disk by itself is six-stars! I successfully used that disk to get around (barely) just fine in Germany - keep in mind most Germans do speak English, and in fact the younger generations (<30) in big cities may get offended if you presume otherwise.
None the less, the first disk is perfect. And with something to span to the second, the rest of the course is great - and this is coming from someone engaged to be married to a German Woman - talk about insteresting conversation with the in-laws!!!
Rating:
Summary: There better be something better than this!
Review: The other reviews seem right on in that they note a big jump between the super-basic nature of the first CD, and the complex sentences thrown at you in the second. What stood out to me is the total lack of grammer and structure. A basic concept in German is that nouns are: a) capitolized and b) always male, female, or neutral in gender. Neither is touched on. This software will not help you put a sentence together at all! It's good for helping you pronounce simple nouns, but that is all.Also, the "speaking dictionary" only speaks in English, and so is no help in pronouncing words in German.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad for the price, but better software is out there
Review: This software is OK--it's affordable, to be sure. But it's notthat great from a teaching perspective--it's just a flashcard system.A much better foreign-language software program is Smart Start German (which Amazon.com also sells). I think that's a better way to learn German, actually--although this software is fine if all you want to do is learn vocabulary.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Educational
Review: This will not replace classwork, nor is it a teach-yourself course, but it is extremely good practice to suppliment school. It is also good to keep your memory fresh over breaks or refresh your memory.
Rating:
Summary: Good Home Practice to Supplement Schoolwork
Review: This will not replace classwork, nor is it a teach-yourself course, but it is extremely good practice to suppliment school. It is also good to keep your memory fresh over breaks or refresh your memory.
Rating: 
Summary: Not meant to stand alone: more help required
Review: To learn another language requires a strong desire to do so and a total commitment to succeed. We all learned our first language by listening to others talk, and then copied what they said to get our ideas across. And we failed many times, but we learned how to
master the language.
This course works in a simmilar manner. But, you must really want to learn German and work at it. There are no easy fixes.
The first CD, Talk Now! German is great. These speakers speak as native speakers. And we learned many useful words.
The second CD, World Talk German world be easier to follow if the speakers were native speakers of German from Germany. And if the planners of this CD displayed real German people instead of cartoons with sun glasses. However, one can get some help from this CD by working hard at it. Just remember to change your speech later.
The third CD is good. The translations are correct and your mouse will define German words into English, even after the CD is removed. This is a big help when reading German text on Web pages or when translating E-mail.
The forth CD is a fun and interesting "game". One must think and if you pay close attention, you can really get totally immered in the thought and language learning process.
But, still other tutorials will be required for many students in order to learn German well.
My first choice of an excellent CD-Rom based course would be Learn German Now! by Transparent Language. This one goes to the head of the class, because it teaches reading, writting, listening, speaking, and understanding German. And it is available from Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: A Complete Waste Of Money
Review: You will be hard-pressed, as a beginner, to learn much from this program. The first CD, "Talk now," is pretty fun, albeit extremely basic. In it you learn things like numbers, colors, body parts, a few simple phrases, etc. Once I felt I had mastered it, I was looking forward to learning more on the second disk, "World Talk."
The second disk really leaves you hanging as it's completely in German, with no translation whatsoever. This program is supposedly based on the "Immersion Method", whereby the user is "...surrounded by native speakers and a new culture." But I don't know how one could learn much of anything with someone talking at them, having little idea as to the context of the conversation.
For example, one of the lessons shows a series of vague pictures (i.e. a desert scene, rain clouds, a beach, etc.), and then proceeds to rattle off complicated conversations entirely in German, with nothing more to go by. You're then required to select the scene they were referring to. I found myself completely guessing throughout the majority of the exercises, learning very little, and getting frustrated at times.
The Webster's 5 Language "Talking" Dictionary is next to useless. It doesn't translate phrases (single words only) and won't pronounce anything but English words. If I wanted to hear words spoken in English, I would have bought a different course.
It comes with the game "Who is Oscar Lake?," a "Myst" type mystery game, which looks interesting, but with little foundation from the previous CDs, it is just as bewildering, and definitely seems better suited to a more advanced student.
Overall, I found this to be a very misleading product. It claimed to start at a basic level and steadily progress. Instead, I found it to be a mismatched hodgepodge of half baked programs, and not of much use to a beginner.
Rating:
Summary: Not of Much Use to a Beginner
Review: You will be hard-pressed, as a beginner, to learn much from this program. The first CD, "Talk now," is pretty fun, albeit extremely basic. In it you learn things like numbers, colors, body parts, a few simple phrases, etc. Once I felt I had mastered it, I was looking forward to learning more on the second disk, "World Talk."
The second disk really leaves you hanging as it's completely in German, with no translation whatsoever. This program is supposedly based on the "Immersion Method", whereby the user is "...surrounded by native speakers and a new culture." But I don't know how one could learn much of anything with someone talking at them, having little idea as to the context of the conversation.
For example, one of the lessons shows a series of vague pictures (i.e. a desert scene, rain clouds, a beach, etc.), and then proceeds to rattle off complicated conversations entirely in German, with nothing more to go by. You're then required to select the scene they were referring to. I found myself completely guessing throughout the majority of the exercises, learning very little, and getting frustrated at times.
The Webster's 5 Language "Talking" Dictionary is next to useless. It doesn't translate phrases (single words only) and won't pronounce anything but English words. If I wanted to hear words spoken in English, I would have bought a different course.
It comes with the game "Who is Oscar Lake?," a "Myst" type mystery game, which looks interesting, but with little foundation from the previous CDs, it is just as bewildering, and definitely seems better suited to a more advanced student.
Overall, I found this to be a very misleading product. It claimed to start at a basic level and steadily progress. Instead, I found it to be a mismatched hodgepodge of half baked programs, and not of much use to a beginner.
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