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Transparent Languages is another big name in the language business and
their unique approach with Learn Spanish Now! is to achieve Spanish
immersion through a multimedia experience. The premise is that only through immersion
will you be able to grasp the fundamentals of a language. The name of
the company reflects this, as the aim is to make you so comfortable
with speaking the language that you'll do so transparently.
What's Included?
The course offers a 15,000 word vocabulary. As with any language course there are exercises and activities involving vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and pronunciation. Unlike most software courses, but like other top competitors, this one comes with a speech recognition component to help you with pronunciation.
At SpanishCourseware we're of the view that speech recognition is an integral part of learning language through software, so it's always a welcome sight when we encounter it. Learn Spanish Now! does the speech thing a little differently, however. Rather than recording your pronunciation and automatically comparing it to that of a native Spanish speaker, or telling you when you're pronouncing things wrong, this application displays screen prompts and visual cues for you to follow, meanwhile recording your speech so you can play it back later. The idea is you can then listen and compare your own speaking patterns to those who speak the language natively, going back and forth between the two. In this way you'll condition yourself to speak the language.
Other Goodies
However, Learn Spanish Now! does come with companion software, called BYKI (Before You Know It) which you an install separately and launch from within the core application. Designed to produce total recall of long lists of words and phrases, it allows you to automatically compare your own speech to native speech and does let you know visually when you're mispronouncing words or phrases.
Another feature which sets this product apart from others is what they call "Big Screen Video", a series of videos intended to immerse you in the sights and sounds of all things Spanish, including individuals and groups speaking the language. It's not just a video, however, as tools are provided within easy reach where, when you find you aren't following a conversation, you can easily pause things and perform some research. As part of the multimedia experience these include interactive games and conversations.
Our Rating
Overall, with the addition of BYKI, we consider this to be two products in one, thus increasing its value considerably. In essence, you're getting two software packages which complement each other. The approach to learning the language is the traditional method of grammar practice, pronunciation practice and role-playing, but with a multimedia twist. If you loved your high school language classes you'll probably find this aspect endearing. We give the Learn Spanish Now! software a rating of 75%. The BYKI software we would rate much higher but it's not the subject of this review.
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