Spanish courseware comes in many varieties and flavors, making it difficult to compare products. Often one software package will have some unique feature which other products don't have, creating a situation where you're comparing apples and oranges. We've done our best to review Spanish courseware titles, and we even offer a software comparison chart for your quick reference, but if you would like to do your own comparisons we've put together this list of tips.
What Levels Does The Software Provide? What Levels Do You Need?
Spanish lessons come with varying degrees of difficulty ranging from beginner to intermediate and advanced. Almost all Spanish lesson software provides lessons at the beginner level, but not all have intermediate or advanced levels. Moreover, some products, such as Rosetta Stone Spanish, break the levels into packages you must buy separately. It is not always clear how many difficulty levels are covered, so it's a good idea to seek out reviews and feedback.
Does The Software Have Speech Recognition?
If you want to learn to speak the language you need to know if you're correctly pronouncing the words. This is where speech recognition comes in. Not all packages have it, and some may not work correctly, and still others may not be easy to use. This is one area where you want to rely on user feedback and product reviews. Currently, Auralog's Spanish Premium has the most advanced speech recognition component and easiest-to-use interface, but don't take our word for it, you'll find others saying the same.
Have You Had Previous Language Instruction? Was It Successful?
If you've had negative past experiences with language lessons, or just can't seem to learn a language, Spanish courseware may offer you some relief. Some products, such as Rosetta Stone Spanish and Visual Link Spanish have very different and non-traditional approaches to teaching the language. Rosetta Stone creates strong and repeated associations between images and words, sentences and phrases, while Visual Link teaches you how to converse in Spanish before you even learn grammar and syntax.
Are You Trying To Learn Spanish Quickly?
Most courseware packages provide a way to structure your lessons according to your time. You can work through the lessons on your own time and usually at your own pace. This is good enough for most, but some may want to learn the language quicker. Some products accommodate this need, others do not.
One product of note in this regard is BYKI (Before You Know It), sold by Transparent Languages as part of its Spanish Learning Suite. This is flash card software designed to teach you a large (1000 words, 250 phrases) Spanish vocabulary in a very short time. It does this very effectively because it recognizes when you're having trouble with certain words, adjusting accordingly by repeating those words more often.
Did You Want To Learn More Than The Language?
Perhaps you wanted to learn a bit of Spanish culture too, or experience Spanish living. Some software packages attempt to provide exactly that. Transparent Languages Learn Spanish Now provides video interaction where you can immerse yourself in different settings with Spanish-speaking groups and individuals. Rosetta Stone Spanish does something similar through a process they call Dynamic Immersion. Both offer somewhat interactive experiences. Auralog's Performance Spanish provides real life news broadcasts about current events, followed by language exercises involving that broadcast.
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