Fluenz Spanish Reviewer's Comments

Fluenz Spanish is a relative newcomer to the language software industry, but the combination of effective teaching methods and a simple interface earned Fluenz the “TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.” Fluenz goes about teaching Spanish a little different than most other programs do. The makers of Fluenz focused on creating a one-on-one learning experience by including video of a private tutor to teach each lesson. Then the program works on memory retention by offering a series of increasingly difficult activities, culminating in a full conversation that you can participate in.

One advantage of their redesigned learning system also makes Fluenz more relevant for tourists and business people who will be travelling. The makers of Fluenz shunned some of the more traditional Spanish vocabulary lessons in favor of words that people are more likely to use. Hence, the beginning levels of the program teach you the word for cell phone instead of horse and the word for hotel instead of bird.

Fluenz doesn’t include nearly as many word tools as other programs, merely offering a simple glossary of common Spanish words. But the learning experience is so well-thought-out that it makes dictionaries and translation tools obsolete. So much work has gone into creating the Fluenz curriculum that they were able to streamline the feature offerings. This makes Fluenz extremely easy to navigate.

Fluenz is an exceptional product both in looks and content, easily winning our #2 spot in the review. The only things that held it back from being the top-ranked program is the lack of additional internet resources and a PocketPC/MP3 Player version of the program, though Fluenz is working on creating a mobile version. Despite these small deficiencies, Fluenz Spanish still remains one of the best choices for learning Spanish.

Fluenz Spanish Screenshots. Click for more
       


Features:  

Fluenz offers a series of lessons with video instruction and activities in each one. You are able to begin at whatever level you feel comfortable with and move freely throughout the lessons, making Fluenz great for people who learn at different speeds or have some previous Spanish education. While you are able to easily see your progress by looking at the lessons, Fluenz does not keep a record of right and wrong answers for each activity. Instead, they focus on providing positive feedback and encourage learners to repeat activities until they have mastered them instead of just giving a percentage of correct answers and never returning to the activity.

Fluenz is slightly deficient in this category, though. They do not provide extra material or lessons on the website and there is not currently a mobile version of the program, although Fluenz is developing one.

Fundamentals:  

Fluenz is a master in this category. Vocabulary is introduced in lessons and is then followed by activities that reinforce what has been learned. Some activities require you to listen, others to speak and still others to read and write. These activities are organized to be increasingly difficult so that you learn the lesson thoroughly.

Fluenz’s method for teaching grammar is also very useful for beginning users. Instead of teaching you Spanish grammar, Fluenz simply dives into conversations and uses your knowledge of English grammar to understand intuitively how Spanish works. It sounds too simple, but we found it was easy to follow and quite effective.

Ease of Use:  

We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth saying again: the Fluenz interface is extremely simple and easy to navigate. Every button or tab is clearly labeled and the menus are simple. Ease of use is one of Flunez’s strong points.

Teaching Tools:  

Fluenz uses video more than almost any other program we reviewed. But they were able to seamlessly blend instruction from the tutor with words and phrases displayed on the screen as she teaches. In the activities, you are required to use audio, images and simple quizzes to practice what you have been taught. The system is very straightforward and doesn’t use extra gimmicks or tricks. As a result, there are no games because the activities are engaging enough to keep your attention.

Fluenz doesn’t use the same speech recognition technology that some other programs use. Instead you record your voice and insert your recordings into a conversation. We thought this wouldn’t be as useful as a voice recognition system, but it actually works well because you are naturally able to tell where your pronunciation doesn’t sound right when compared with the native speaker in the program.

Word Tools:  

Fluenz has a simple glossary of some of the most common Spanish words you will learn throughout the course. Most other vocabulary learning occurs directly in the program, negating the need for additional word tools.

Help/Support:  

Fluenz has the best set of support resources of any program we reviewed. The FAQ and user manual are easy to use and quite informative. There are demos to help you understand the inner workings of the program, and Fluenz also has full email and phone support systems. Our favorite support option was the live chat service that Fluenz provides. We found the support technicians on live chat to be friendly and knowledgeable, even offering tips and help with cultural aspects of Spanish.

Summary:  

Fluenz claims to have revamped the system for learning Spanish, and they're right. Fluenz is simple, yet effective. It's an obvious choice when looking for Spanish language software.