Tell Me More Spanish Reviewer's Comments
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Our number 1 ranked product and "TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award" winner is Tell Me More Spanish Premium edition from Auralog. This software is an outstanding solution for your Spanish learning needs. The program is well designed, easy to use and offers the most extensive set of features of any Spanish software product available, including powerful speech recognition technology. Speech recognition technology software allows the computer to recognize what you say, assess your pronunciation and correct your mistakes.
Tell Me More is specifically designed to grow with you as you learn Spanish. They not only have a great beginner Spanish program, but their intermediate and advanced programs are unbeatable. No matter what your current level of Spanish-speaking ability, Tell Me More is an adaptable, fun solution.
Tell Me More Spanish Screenshots. Click to Enlarge
Features:
The best way to begin learning Spanish is in Guided Mode. You can select lesson paths then view your progress. This mode includes a diary where you can set realistic goals concerning study time and habits-helpful, because setting and tracking realistic goals will help you remain committed to learning. Each time you log on, you can track how closely your progress matches your goals. No other language program offers this type of goal-setting ability.
Next you have Free-to-Roam Mode. In this mode you can choose from a list of different work shops, including: lessons, oral or written practice, vocabulary, grammar and cultural studies. Within each of these workshops you can customize your learning experience and progress at your own pace.
Dynamic Mode, the final type, offers a truly intelligent way of managing your learning. The software analyses your progress as you work then adjusts the next activities in your course according to your results in each exercise. Dynamic mode also allows you to build a personal profile that includes your own learning preferences and your progress in those areas.
One of the main concerns a potential buyer may have when considering this product is price. This software is more than double the cost of many other programs. But if you are a serious student of Spanish, Tell Me More is a superior package worth the extra cost because the software offers more learning and tracking options and Tell Me More Spanish includes three learning packages in one box: beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. Many other products in this review offer you the beginning package; if you want advanced levels you must buy them separately.
Fundamentals:
This software covers all of the core curriculum areas for learning the Spanish language thoroughly. Learning words, grammar, pronunciation and conversation skills is handled through individual exercises that focus on specific tasks. The pronunciation is handled through a speech recognition system that shows voice forms and 3D animations to help you create the right sounds. Tell Me More also has sound files for every word, phrase and phoneme to help with listening comprehension and retention.
Ease of Use:
Tell Me More rose to the top because of its large selection of features and functions. However, this plethora of options hurt its performance in the Ease of Use category. It's difficult to even find all the amazing features because they are buried in different menus that aren't clearly labeled. Some of the buttons fade out unless you mouse over them, making them hard to find. Sometimes we didn't even know an option was available because we didn't know the button was there.
Despite these problems, the main interface for lessons is fairly simple and easy to use, so you may not have problems if you never venture out of the guided lesson screens.
Teaching Tools:
Tell Me More has an excellent speech recognition system to help you improve your accent and speaking ability in Spanish. In fact, Tell Me More had one of the best speech recognition packages of any of the products we reviewed. Tell Me More software evaluated our tester's pronunciation and automatically detected and corrected any errors. The program even includes 3D animation to illustrate the movements of the lips and mouth to help you pronounce each word.
Tell Me More also has quite a few different word recognition activities though they aren't all useful. Crossword puzzles and Word Find activities seemed a little confusing and frustrating at the beginner level, though they might be helpful for people learning at intermediate and advanced levels. Tell Me More also has a hangman-like game where you guess the letters in a word. This could also be frustrating at a beginning level when you have no idea how to spell Spanish words anyway.
Tell Me More Spanish offers students an unsurpassed cultural learning experience, including geography. Fun activities in their map section help you learn the names and locations of rivers, cities, and capitals.
One of the best teaching tools that Tell Me More offers is actually accessible through an online membership that comes with the program. Tell Me More allows you to chat with native Spanish speakers over the Internet. The online account also gives you access to testing and evaluation services that help you gauge just how well you are doing.
Word Tools:
Tell Me More has great word tools that can help you translate or look up words in English or Spanish. This may not be useful at the beginning because you aren't yet familiar with any words, but it can be useful later on. Some of these tools can be hard to find though.
Help/Support:
There are several different methods of getting support from Tell Me More. The user manual that comes with the software is fairly useful and the tutorial on the Tell Me More website is also very helpful. Auralog provides email and phone support options as well, but when we used the email support we found the support technicians gave replies that were neither prompt nor helpful. The manual also says there is a FAQ available on the website, but we were unable to find it. The best form of support actually comes through the live chat option that you can also use to have conversations with native Spanish speakers.
Summary:
Overall, Tell Me More Premium is the best option available for learning and retaining the Spanish language. The wide range of features and adjustable learning paths make it useful for any learning style and any learning level, beginner to advanced.
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