Berlitz Spanish Premier
reviewed by Chris Marshall
Nova Development Corporation http://www.novadevelopment.com/products/us/zsx/default.aspx Released: July, 2006 $40 USD, $45.00 CND, £21.00 GBP, 31,00€ Euro Audience: Mac Users who like to be organized (notes, diaries etc). Strengths: Uses Mac & PC, iPod, Palm, Pocket PC and CD players. Easy, intuitive and logical. Good use of immersion technique. Weaknesses: Nothing specific, other than limitations based on the iPod |
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What they say: Now you can learn Spanish the easy way with the straightforward software that’s been helping people learn foreign languages for more than a decade. Berlitz Spanish Premier is fast, easy and effective. Guaranteed! With this unique, time-proven learning system, we’ve provided three powerful ways for you to learn Spanish: (1) on your Windows PC or Macintosh, (2) in your car, and (3) on the go using an iPod or other mobile listening device.
Product Info
- Learn on Your Computer
- Learn in Your Car
- Learn on the Go
- Ideal for All Levels
- System Requirements
- About Berlitz
Special Features
- Explore at Your Own Pace
- Innovative Games
- Advanced Speech Analysis
Resources
- Technical Support FAQs
- PDF Spec Sheet
- Register Your Product
What I say: Living in Spain I have tried for several years to learn the language, with a reasonable level of success, but I still have a long way to go.
Along the way I have tried a number of learning methods, so one area that I am always keen to explore with products like this is “do they work”? Sure, it is good if they are easy to understand, fun and creative, but the only real measure is “do they help you to speak the language at the end of the course”?
The really good news is that this course does that, whilst at the same time providing a variety of interesting ways to learn. Now it is very probable that the variety of ways contributes significantly to the ability to learn and retain, but that is a debate for the academics (with two academics for parents, I have steered well away from that area in my own career!)
I installed both the Mac and PC versions, and subsequently used it both a Palm T3 and an iPod. On both the Mac and the PC, the interface is particularly good, as is the layout and guides, but the bit I liked most was the measurement and analysis of your pronunciation. This went someway to explaining why although my vocabulary is pretty good, I still struggle to be understood!
On the Windows PC, the screen saver with the Flash cards was particularly good. What I liked best about this feature, was that it made you think outside of the allocated time for learning, i.e. at random you would have to switch back into thinking about learning.
The iPod and Palm were adequate – but I see these more as a novelty or “top up” way of learning, only because of the limitations of these types of devices rather than because of any issues with the product.
In summary: I would certainly be happy to recommend this product, not just for its ability to teach you Spanish, but also for the flexibility it brings to the process.
