Musical Spanish Reviewer's Comments

Musical Spanish is a music-based program that teaches 10 Spanish songs using Acrobat Reader. After playing the 10 songs, the program acts as a workbook. The text is divided into chapters and contains basic Spanish language concepts.

Features:  

Each of the songs can be listened to on a "jukebox" on the main screen. It offers four song-listening options: words alone, music alone, words and music combined or words and music combined with animation.

Fundamentals:  

The 10 chapters in the workbook correspond to the 10 songs. Instead of teaching basic Spanish words, the instruction only includes words from the song. Musical Spanish does a great job illustrating the grammar behind each word. Each chapter also includes a matching game which relates to each new song. The games match pictures into a puzzle. Musical Spanish will not show you how to speak or understand Spanish, but it will help you understand some basic grammar rules and practices.

Ease of Use:  

This product was easy to use. The software uses a flash file to display the song and an Acrobat Reader file to allow you to see the workbook. You simply scroll to the desired segment and listen.

Teaching Tools:  

The workbook is the main teaching tool here, aside from the music itself.

Word Tools:  

Musical Spanish has little in the way of word tools aside from the explanations provided in the workbook.

Help/Support:  

Musical Spanish has an email support form, a small FAQ section and a technical support telephone number: (866) 297 2128. There is not much in the FAQ section but this is a simple program.

Summary:  

Musical Spanish teaches some basic grammar rules in a musical environment. It lacks the sophistication of other software products yet still promotes Spanish fluency.