Spanish Learning Suite Reviewer's Comments

Spanish Learning Suite by Transparent Language is a good option for a beginning Spanish learner. Transparent has grouped all of their related Spanish language tools into one Complete Spanish Learning Suite. The core of the program, Learn Spanish Now uses video, audio and images to teach the core of Spanish education. The other two programs, Spanish Before You Know It and Panoramic, are designed to help with vocabulary by using flashcards and image association. All three of these programs are available to be purchased separately from Transparent Language. The Complete Spanish Learning Suite also includes the Everywhere Spanish audio course and the Lexicon Spanish Dictionary, both also available separately from Transparent Languages.

Between all of these programs, the Complete Spanish Learning Suite has a plethora of features and activities. However, this is a case of a product not adding up to the sum of its parts. Each individual program has its own set of features and activities designed for a specific purpose, but it is not included in one comprehensive program. This means that you must switch back and forth between each one to take advantage of all the different features, and some of the features get quite redundant.

Overall, the Learn Spanish Now part of the suite is the best equivalent of the other programs we have reviewed. It is adequate and offers great instruction about grammar and vocabulary, but it also lacks some of the important features we came to expect from these programs.

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Features:  

While the Complete Spanish Learning Suite offers some great ways to personalize your learning regimen, mainly through offering so many different programs, the Suite doesn't have a very good system of tracking progress. Some of the individual programs have progress tracking features, but nothing for the whole Suite.

The Transparent Language website has some good extras to help you augment your Spanish education. And some of the programs can also be used on a mobile device such as an MP3 player, making it good for learning on the go.

Fundamentals:  

The Complete Spanish Learning Suite has lessons and activities that apply to all the fundamentals of learning a language, but the majority of the programs included focus mostly on vocabulary. The only program that really covers all the basics is Learn Spanish Now, which helps with pronunciation, conversations, listening comprehension and grammar.

Ease of Use:  

The Complete Spanish Learning Suite is not very easy to use because you must switch between five different programs just to take advantage of all the features. The individual programs themselves are also a little difficult to use, even though many of them have thorough explanations of what to do. Spanish Before You Know It is a perfect example. Even though the concept is simple, flashcards for various topics, it was often hard to tell what was happening with the progress meter and some of the buttons.

Also, because written Spanish requires accents to appear above certain letters this ought to be a simple function in any Spanish language program. Achieving accented letters in Spanish Learning Suite writing program requires a few extra keystrokes; writing Spanish was not as convenient as it should have been.

 

Teaching Tools:  

The Complete Spanish Learning Suite curriculum is designed to take a beginner to an intermediate level of understanding Spanish, and this software does the job with style. This multi-faceted software package is rich in features, including some excellent skill-building games. You can do crossword puzzles to improve your vocabulary and practice your spelling skills. The flash card program is by far the best flash card application available.

Another great feature is slow sound. Slow sound lets you slow each Spanish word down so that you can hear how a syllable is pronounced in great detail.

Spanish reading is well covered. Thousands of Spanish words are presented in context, and the software offers exercises that teach sentence construction, vocabulary, and grammar. Spanish Learning Suite also offers online testing and feedback so that you can measure your new language skills.

The suite does come with speech recognition software, but it seems to be a little less accurate than some of the other programs. It does have more extensive analysis of the parts of your voice, though.

Word Tools:  

Because the Complete Spanish Learning Suite focuses so heavily on vocabulary, it offers some extensive word tools. In fact, one of the five programs included is simply dictionary software. The Spanish Before You Know It program is a flashcard program for mastering vocab, and it also has some great word tool resources.

Help/Support:  

Transparent Language has user manuals and tutorials available for the programs bundled into the Complete Spanish Learning Suite, which are useful for understanding how they each work. For technical problems and deeper questions, you can also contact Transparent Language through email and phone support systems.

Summary:  

The Complete Spanish Learning Suite is a good resource if you want to practice vocabulary and grammar rules, but if you want something that offers an intuitive teaching environment, you might want to try our #2 and #3 products.