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 differently 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 is that it 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. It’s amazing that it took this long for somebody to recognize that some of the most important words in the language weren’t being taught until too late in the lessons. Who first decided that “cat” and “dog” were such important words anyway? But Fluenz was put together from a traveler’s perspective, so the smart word choices are just the beginning of how Fluenz teaches differently.
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. Don’t think that by centering the curriculum on a traveler’s point of view and including a relatively small vocabulary that Fluenz isn’t intended to teach mastery of the language. Fluenz can teach you quickly, but it can also teach you well. Between the two modules, you’ll learn everything you need to master communication in Spanish and keep learning as you practice.
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 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 your correct and incorrect answers for each activity. Instead, they focus on providing positive feedback and encouraging learners to repeat activities until they have mastered them, instead of just giving a percentage of correct answers and never returning to the activity. This approach helps make the Fluenz lessons easy to repeat and therefore master, because you can have another go at the quizzes if you need to refresh your memory.
Fluenz falls slightly short in that they do not provide extra material or lessons on the website, which many other programs include in order to expand the content and give you more to practice with. This doesn’t make Fluenz deficient, but it does limit the scope of the program.
Another glaring problem is the lack of content for mobile devices. There is not currently a mobile version of the program, although Fluenz is developing one. Many other companies include applications or lessons that will run on portable devices, like PDAs or MP3 players, so you can continue your lessons or practice your vocabulary anywhere you go. This frees you from the computer and allows you to continue learning Spanish any time you have a free moment. Fluenz representatives have assured us that a mobile version is on the way for Fluenz Spanish, but as of right now, there is none.
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 you learn the lessons 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.
This is where Fluenz really shines above the competition. The Fluenz interface is extremely simple and easy to navigate. Each lesson is organized in a linear fashion, meaning you can just sit back and let the program guide you. On the other hand, you have access to various activities and quizzes if you want to create your own curriculum.
What’s nice about the Fluenz interface is that it is so simple. There are far fewer buttons and menus than the other programs in this review, and we were actually surprised that they were able to fit all the functionality into such a simple screen interface. Every button or tab is clearly labeled and the menus are simple. Ease of use is one of Flunez’s strongest points.
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