Posts Tagged language learning

I’ve been studying Spanish seriously enough for long enough to know that there’s no silver bullet for learning a foreign language. Well, having a local girlfriend/boyfriend is probably the best shortcut—especially if you live together—but I’m more than a decade past the point where that was an option.

I’ve also learned that different people take to different methods and stimuli better, so this TellMeMore computer-based program isn’t going to be ideal for those who like to sit in a classroom or interact with a private teacher. For me though, it’s ideal. If I can just make time to study on a regular basis, I get the most out of that time through usage, understanding, and drilling.

My big beef with most classroom learning situations is the lack of drilling, actually, and that’s not a problem with these software programs. You’re not allowed to sit back and be a slacker. The obvious comparison for Tell Me More is going to be Rosetta Stone, the learning system that revolutionized how fast and how well someone could pick up a language. I’ve used that one and found it really good, but when you stack it up next to this program feature by feature, you get a lot more instruction for your money. You can see a full breakdown here, but the key points are that you get a lot more levels and total hours of learning: 10 levels, 41 kinds of activities, and 2,000 hours of learning. At my rate of making time to study, that should keep me occupied for oh, five or six years maybe?

I’ve been using the Spanish version of Tell Me More for a few months now, trying out the different activities and trying to improve my comprehension. I’ve been especially impressed with the speech recognition abilities. You can use the included headset or just use your computer’s mic and speakers to answer questions, say the word matching the picture you see, and saying the right verb form when quizzed. One activity even gauges your pronunciation, showing you the audio graph and making you repeat it until you get it right—or at least close enough to be understood.

When you get tired of that though you can play a version of hangman (with a dragon who grows bigger and a knight who gets more scared) or some kind of word matching game to give the voice a rest. Or watch a video and answer questions based on what you heard and saw. (The narration is listed as text too so you can follow along reading.)

You’ll learn a lot with a program like this because it comes at you from all angles. You listen, watch, and read, plus you talk, type, and answer questions. No matter how you absorb information best, this program has you covered. Since it’s on a CD-rom instead of online, it responds quickly too, without needing a fast internet connection. You can save parts of the audio to your MP3 player also to learn on the go, Pimsleur style.

There are lots of bonus features I haven’t even gotten to, like a weekly news program in the language you are studying and online assessments that gauge your progress. There’s a 24/7 help desk if you get stuck and a 30-day money back guarantee.

From the beginning it’s quite challenging though, which is why it comes with a separate introductory level disc. You’ll definitely need to master that first if you’re not at an intermediate level already. In essence the full program here combines what you would get in three or four Rosetta Stone levels. It’s a chunk of change though: $399 for the whole shebang, $209 to $299 for less comprehensive versions that come closer to the competitor’s hours of material. Obviously to spend this much money you need to be dedicated and have a sincere desire to become reasonably fluent. If you just want to dabble enough to be able to figure out a restaurant menu and understand prices in the market, there are cheaper basic solutions out there. As a real investment in learning, however, the cost of this is reasonable. Compare it to what you would spend on the same number of hours of classroom courses in your home town or immersion classes abroad to properly judge the cost.

Tell Me More comes in the main European languages plus Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. One thing to be careful of with the Spanish one though: although my introductory disc was Latin American Spanish, the actual main disc was Spanish as spoken in Spain—not the kind you want to understand and speak in Mexico, Central America, or much of Spanish-speaking South America. This is a common problem with books and classes too. Not a deal-breaker maybe, but easier for an advanced learner to deal with than a newbie.

TELL ME MORE – Free Shippping