Spanish to Go!
Spanish 101: High Tech Fun
A Review of Spanish to Go!
Karina Worlton
Good news and bad news–there’s no such thing as going dutch at arestaurant in Spain. If someone asks you to lunch, he or she ispaying. That’s the good news. The bad news? If you invite someone tolunch, YOU get to pay! This is just one example of the information youwill glean from “Spanish to Go!” In addition to cultural lessons, youwill learn basic Spanish, equivalent to a 12-week curriculum.
The six lessons are taught by your personal tutor and nativeSpanish-speaking instructor, Patricia Manzanares-Gonzales, who hasfifteen years of education experience and is a native speaker. Youwatch a video, in which your teacher explains and teaches severalphrases on a topic. You will then be able to practice the phrases. Ifyou forget how to pronounce a phrase or what it means, just click on itto hear it repeated and see the definition.
You’ll find plenty of interactive games and practice exercises to testyour Spanish knowledge. If you have a microphone, you can record yourown attempts at speaking. Comparing your playback with that of thenative speaker can be very enlightening(!) Scattered throughout thelesson are videos that show the vocabulary and grammar in use.
At the end of each lesson, you get . . . yes, you guessed it, acomputer-scored test. The tests are simple, but will give you anindicator of how well you learned your Spanish phrases. As a bonus, youalso get a trip to La Feria (The Fair, if you haven’t studied Spanishyet). There are six fun activities to help you practice what you havelearned in a creative way. One of those activities is a “CarruselCultural” which provides cultural facts about Spanish-speakingcountries.
I ran the program on a 486 and did not experience any problems. Thevideos ran smoothly, probably due to the fact that they are not fullscreen. The record and playback capabilities were simple to use–nosetup required. Just plug in a microphone, click on the record button,speak, and then click on the play button. You can even wait to plug inthe microphone when you get to the recording portion of the program.
This product is a great tool for beginners who want to learn enoughSpanish to get them started, or for those who have learned a littleSpanish and want a review. I even got my almost-3-year-old to trysaying some of the phrases into the microphone. He now knows how tocount to five in Spanish! The games are fun, the graphics areinteresting, the Spanish accent is authentic, and the product is easy touse.
School House Scorecard
| Product: | Spanish to Go! |
| Company: | Creative Multimedia |
| Cost: | $49.95 |
System Requirements:
486SX/33 or above running Windows 3.1 or later; 4MB of RAM required (8MB recommended for best performance), 8 MB requiredfor Windows 95; 5 MB hard drive space available; double-speed CD-ROMdrive; 256 color display; SoundBlaster or compatible sound card withWindows drivers; microphone required for record and playback.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 5
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4
Sound 4
Overall Score:
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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