Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Good program for memorizing and reviewing
Every program has some advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, so I have found this program most useful for associating words with ideas - after all it does contain 8000 pictures. The complete beginner in Chinese may initially make good progress, but then get stuck because the program doesn't contain any grammatical explanations.

I have found Pimsleur Chinese better for developing conversational proficiency. Ultimate Mandarin Chinese book and CDs would provide great addition to new learning because that course fills in the gap which deals with some essential grammar that takes out confusion. A little bit of understanding can greatly accelerate one's progress with Chinese.

Rosetta Stone Chinese has only "pinyin", so if you wish to learn how to read and write Chinese, you'll have to get some other book.

I do think that Rosetta Stone programs could be greatly improved with at least some basic grammatical explanations. For Chinese, it would also be nice, if the Chinese characters were provided. Nevertheless, in spite of all the missing elements that would be very helpful, I have still found this program very helpful for learning Chinese.

Decent intro to spoken language, not useful for reading
This is a useful program for getting a basic sense of the sound of the Chinese language. It's based on the immersion model of foreign language learning, which means lots of repetition, visual cues, and no English translations. (You're supposed to make the association between sounds and pictures intuitively.) This makes sense in principle, as it's a bit like the way children learn a first language.

But if you're interested in learning to read Chinese or understand how the characters work, this won't get you very far, in part because the program doesn't include a Chinese-English dictionary. For this, you might be better off with a good Chinese language textbook and a Chinese text reader / dictionary software package like Clavis Sinica.

If you want a lesson-based program, though, with tutorials, tests, drills, and lots of pictures, this might be worth trying out, at least in the demo version.

Works well for me
I use this program in conjunction with a native Chinese tutor. I've been using it for several months. I started with the online version before committing to buying the standalone version.

In contrast to some other reviewers I find this program to be very good. Some of the points raised by other reviewers are valid, but their importance is blown out of proportion.

The program allows you to practice listening, reading, typing, and speaking. In "tutorial" mode a variety of exercises are used to help train your memory. Things that you get wrong are covered again later in the tutorial as many times as you need to get them right.

The lessons are broken down into units. Each unit covers a small number of concepts. The first few units are a bit tough - but this is only because every single word you hear is new. In later units you already know what most of the sentence means and so learning the new words gets easier.

The software teaches you concepts rather than the word themselves. The meaning of individual words comes from seeing and hearing the words used in different situations. This is an important point to realise as it means you don't have to waste time trying to find every word you come across in a dictionary. An example of this is in the first lesson - you're taught the sentence for "one dog". You don't know at that point that the word "one" is in the sentence, and so you don't actually realise what word is used for "dog" either. The precise meaning of the sentence, and so the learning of the words for "one" and "dog" come once you've progressed a bit further.

This learning approach isn't what everyone is after. If you want to learn lists of words then this program won't suit you.

The pronunciation of words is important in Chinese. Every word is pronounced using one of four tones - the same sound pronounced in a different tone is actually a different word in Chinese. This becomes apparent fairly quickly as there are words taught that show this. For example, the word for "horse" and the word for asking a question are both "ma" but with different pronunciations. Having a picture with no horse in it but associated with the sound "ma" should help you realise what's going on. There are many other examples too. The "speaking" component is also very good for practicing tones - visual feedback is given to show whether words have been pronounced correctly.

In isolation some of the pictures used are initially hard to decipher. However, if you use the "preview" mode before starting a new exercise you'll get to see what the exercise is about and this then makes most of the picture meanings obvious.

Having a Chinese-English dictionary is a good idea - inevitably you will want to check the precise meanings of some things. You can get a free software one from Euro Asian Software.

Poor instruction
I am very disappointed in the Rosetta Stone software for Chinese. The principle is to show you pictures, hear a native speaker say what is trying to be portrayed in the picture, do this multiple times, and eventually you'll learn the language. That is, if I keep showing you a picture of an apple and every time I do I say pinguo, you're eventually going to realize that a pinguo is an apple. Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it?

The problem is that a number of the pictures cannot be easily deciphered. There are a few pictures that I have no clue whatsoever as to what I am supposed to be identifying. For instance, if I show you a picture of an apple sitting on a plate with a candle besides it and say pinguo, what is the pinguo? The apple? Plate? Candle? There are several times I thought an object was called one thing and then, several units later, I realized I had misinterpreted the pictures. How frustrating! And it's not that bad in the beginning but the further you get into the program, and the longer the sentences, the worse it gets.

Also, the grammatical structure of the sentences is not covered. There is NO instruction on the Chinese language and in fact, there is NO English at all, accept in the instructions on how to use the software. I quickly realized I needed to buy a Chinese dictionary, which was a tremendous help. Even still, it's nearly impossible to decipher long Chinese sentences without some instruction on it. I found the majority of my time was spent trying to find what each word in the sentence meant. This program needs to have an English option that tells me what each word means. Then I can shut it off and try to engrain it in my head. I should not have to spend 50% of my time with my head stuck in a Chinese dictionary in order to understand what this program is trying to teach me.

After completing the first disk of the Rosetta Stone, (level one) I have given up on it. I have since then switched to the Pimsleur program. This program is MUCH better than the Rosetta Stone method. It's a CD so there is not visual, which is one thing that was nice with the Rosetta Stone software, but you have an instructor telling you about the grammar and how the word order goes. Additionally, and this is VERY important in speaking Chinese, I spent 5 months going through the first disk of the Rosetta Stone program and did not know HOW important the actual sound of the words meant. Sure, I could hear the different inflections and rising and falling tones in the words, but I just thought that was a Chinese accent. When I switched to the Pimsleur method, the very first lesson spent a great deal of time discussing how important the rising and falling tones made to the meaning of a word. And you are reminded of this fact through out the program. Needless to say, I was a little upset with the Rosetta Stone. Nearly half-a-year of studying under the Rosetta Stone program and I never knew how important the tones were.

The Rosetta Stone needs to make changes to their program. It is flawed in theory. If good grammar and speaking ability came from only looking and hearing at pictures, and not instruction, kids wouldn't have English classes for 12 years of their life. Rosetta Stone does not provide an instructor to tell you why the word order is the way it is, what a 'measure' word is, that the tones are important and not just a Chinese accent, etcetera. I do not recommend this software. I have found the Pimsleur method much more effective and I was able to speak in simple conversations shortly after I began. I'm not saying Pimsleur's the best because I do not know. But I do know it's better than the Rosetta Stone method.

Excellent approach, but needs adaptation for Chinese
I will say up front that I have not used this entire CD. I have only done the first lesson from the program, which I downloaded for free from the RosettaStone.com web site.

The learning style presented in the Rosetta Stone series really is as good as they say it is. I like the direct presentation of the Chinese and the concept, without English text explaining the grammar, usage, and so on. I also like the amount of repetition that is built into the exercises. Somehow that approach seems to place the language deeper into your brain, if that makes sense. The "game" like style is also fun.

While I was working with it, my one year old son was learning English, and it was quite clear to me that the Rosetta Stone style really is just like a child's first language acquisition. In fact, I felt that working with the program helped me to understand and help my child with his English learning process.

Although I like this learning style, I think it would be an improvement if there were an accompanying guide showing the meanings in English, Chinese characters, and pinyin. A guide would also come in handy if you wanted to work separately with a tutor. Then you could show the tutor a list of phrases and sentances you know so they could practice them with you. For what you pay for this software, it would be nice.

I do have one major complaint about the program - it is not adapted to Chinese. From looking at the free downloads of each language of Rosetta Stone, it is clear that exactly the same concepts are taught in the same order in each language. For example, The first four phrases you learn are "a girl", "a boy", "a cat", and "a dog", whether you are learning English or Swahili. The program is not adapted to the languages individually.

The concept behind the program is that only one new word or phrase is introduced at a time, and the accompanying illustration makes the meaning clear, so your mind can make the association. The problem is that in Chinese the sentance structure can be very different than the Romance languages, causing confusion. For example, in part six of lesson one, you see a picture of a man on a horse accompanied by the sentance "yi ge qi zai ma shang de nan ren". Up till that point you have learned the phrases "A Man," and "A Horse". In the English Rosetta Stone program, the phrase accompanying this picture is "A man on a horse." So clearly, the intention is that you learn the new word "on". But, in the Chinese program the sentance is, literally translated, "A riding located horse top man." So the student is presented with three new words, "riding", "located", and "top," with no clues to figure them out.

I get the impression that they developed the template of this program to work well for the romance languages, and then just decided to make extra money by having translators translate the sentancesinto umpteen languages, regardless of whether the template works in those other languages.

I think it would be a mistake for a beginner to try to learn Chinese using only this program - it would be very slow and frustrating. But the program would be very helpful used in conjunction with a class or tutor. I have not seen any similar programs out there that are better designed for Chinese, so it could be that Rosetta Stone is still your best bet if you like the interactive, total-immersion learning style. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Four stars BUT....
A high quality, effective interactive learning system. Two complaints:

1) No obvious explanation of grammar. It took me forever to figure out what various particples and other "connectors" meant. If figured this out in an hour at a Japanese class and I am much the better for it.

2) Romaji (spelling Japanese words phonetically with roman/english letters) is a waste. There are differing opinions on this. But my suggestion is to go through the comphrehension and speaking exercises, skip the word recognition and spelling exercises, and supplement the writing with a good book on Kanji and the Kana. Think about it, would a Chinese try to learn German by first trying to spell out all the German words with Kanji? Well, duh...

Fairfield Technologies will send out OS X disks
I had initially reviewed this software more negatively because of the software being shipped with disks for the old Mac system. However, now Fairfield Technologies will replace the disks with new OS X disks, for free, even internationally.

Good product, and amazing service.

Great product (as long as you like the immersion approach)
This software is designed around the immersion approach to learning languages. A drill will show you a picture of an apple, and you'll see the word spelled out while a narrator gives the pronunciation. At various points in the drills, you will have the chance to read the Japanese word for apple, use your logic and language skills to pick the picture for apple after hearing the word in Japanese, and more. Its target audience is the self-motivated learner who's serious about learning and mastering basic Japanese over a 1-2 year period. Anyone looking for a quick and useful phrases for a short visit to Japan should use the Rosetta Stone Explorer or Traveller programs instead of this set. That said, using the Rosetta Stone is a lot cheaper than a plane ticket to Japan, or the tuition fees at intense summer Japanese courses at various universities around the US. If you master all the drills and vocabulary in the program, you will be well equipped to go to Japan, and to continue learning the language in an immersion environment.

The student who has headphones and microphone attached to his or her PC will be able to take advantage of all the listening, reading, speaking and writing drills in the program. Users can switch back and forth between the romanized, hiragana and kanji scripts.

Your Japanese teacher may not have the time (or patience) to give you individualized, repetitive drills. That's not a problem with this program - you can practice all you like and the program will never get tired of you! As such, the program is a good supplement for people formally enrolled in a class.

For the student who dislikes the immersion approach and prefers to learn Japanese scripts and grammar before tackling any listening or reading, I recommend the Power Japanese and Kanji Moments programs from Bayware software.

Once you have completed the Rosetta Stone programs, you will still need some formal study of grammar, but this program covers basic principles like the subject-object-verb order characteristic of Japanese, and basic verb forms.

I used the online version of RS Japanese, and was extremely happy with it, but only because I have very high-speed internet access. Once my use license expired, I could no longer access the programs. If I had the CDs, I'd always be able to refer to the program later. Take your pick based on your own personal convenience.

I liked my RS Japanese experience so much, that I took the plunge and bought the Level 1 Korean edition on CD. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

More valuable than meets the eye!!!
Does it "teach? Yes and no. If your native language is English, the Rosetta Stone method is an acquired taste, since it uses no English, or any other language for that matter, to teach. And you'll find it more difficult than the traditional word memorization method.

HOWEVER, the pronunciation and the listening value of Rosetta Stone Chinese is superb! I cannot emphasize enough how important good voice actors can be for language learning software. China is a very large country with many different dialects. Having a proper northern accent is like the difference of having a Hollywood accent and a Texas redneck accent. The voice actors are the best I've ever heard, and a zillion times better than Wenlin's voice actors.

5 out of 5 stars! Not just because they have good voice actors, but because they have IMPECCABLE voice actors. I've been learning Chinese Mandarin for over 6 years, and my native language is English. This is the only software that will get rid of your accent, if you don't have time to travel to China.

Sad difference between this and the sample.
I bought the Rosetta Stone Powerpack. It has a bunch of different languages to choose from. I got to the end of the Manderin lessons. Each of the Samples has 2 levels with 10 lessons. So I bought THIS package, which has 8 levels, so I could continue.
I already took some classes in Bei Jing, so my Chinese is not too bad, but this tought me some more things. The powerpack is great. It is very simple to learn from. It shows a girl, and says "female person", a boy, and says "male person". Short and simple. AND they talk slow, so you can understand every word. And as you progress, they add new things to it.
This Personal Edition is not ADDED levels. It is all new lessons. The speakers are different. The words are different. They seem to use to Bei Jing Way of speaking, not the Proper Way of speaking. They have all these RRRR sounds to things. Boy child is "Non Hie", but in Bei Jing they say "Non Har". ONLY in Bei Jing they use this. Poor Choice for such a big sofware package.
And the first lesson, first page, is no longer "Boy Child", "Girl child", "Boy Adult", "Girl adult". That is simple and easy to understand. Instead, they say "That is a Boy Child" "That is a Girl Child". How is anyone supposed to pick that many words up so quickly? And Chinese use measure words (kind of like La, Los, Le in other Europe Languages, but in Chinese there are about a hundred of them) so how are we suposed to figure this stuff out in the first lesson on the first page?
Also... They talk as fast as someone on the street. Blazing through each sentence, so you can not make out the tone, or even the pronunciation.
Even if you have some Chinese background, this is a hard package. It gives an advanced speaker new ways of saying things, but the beginer is better off getting the Power Pack, and the Instant Immersion Chinese 2 CD set. Also look ... for CyberChinese ... This is a computer version of one of my text books at school: Practical Chinese Reader.
Also get Basic Chinese : A Grammar and Workbook by Yip Po-Ching. I can not say enough good things about this book. It is the best reference book around, and super handy when taking a class, or learing with a computer.
Good luck, and Zai Jin!

The stupidest system ever sold
The computer based speech recognition is fantastic and makes duplicating the nuances of the chinese language easier. But the fact that the computer system and accompaning texts give you no, absolutely no, english translation is the stupidest mistake ever made by a teaching system. Rosetta says it interferes with the "full emersion" system of learning. They forget that full emersion is when you go live in the community and can constantly receive feedback on sentence structure, meaning and tense.

For instance, the standard Rosetta first lesson show a picture of a girl and a spoken phrase in chinese to match the picture. You can also see the picture and a chinese character phrase or pinyin english phrase. But nowhere is there an english translation of the phrase you are learning. So you do not know from just seeing a picture of a girl whether you are saying, "this is a girl", "a girl", "girl", "I am a girl", or "you are a girl".

My chinese speaking friends had to explain to me the phrase meant girl in the singular form and that the singular form was typical for all "feminine" objects.

I have called Rosetta and there is no english translation available when it would only cost them cents to reproduce. Do not buy this system unless you have a chinese tutor available to you.

The easy way to learn chinese
I have been a litlle sceptic when I purchased this product but after having been using it for a year I am amazed by the progress I made. With the Rosetta Stone can I not only learn the vocabulary it also forces you to think in the language and to repeat phrases. The different features enable you to chose speaking reading or wrting excersices, in order for you to work on all of these skills seperately until you are satisfied. Why no five stars? Well unfortunately there's no way of learning Chinese Kalligraphy on the computer so the only writing excersices are in pinyin which uses the latin alphabeth. But on the whole I can recommend this product to everyone who wants to learn Chinese! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Learn Thai the Correct Way
This learning series really helped me learn how to listen to the different annotations and accents of the Thai langauge. The speakers are native Thais including men and women. The CD-Rom is very interactive using different learning methods for each lesson. The lessons include listening, reading, and speaking. The exercises are composed of 4 pictures which the narrator describes and you choose the appropriate activity. None of the lessons include an English translation which can be a bit confusing.
Overall this is a great buy for learning how to speak Thai correctly. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Minh noi tieng viet!
The Rosetta Stone products are great. I have bought Vietnamese level 1 and Japanese level 1 and 2. I consider vietnamese to be a much more difficult language to learn since it is a tonal language.
This software helped me a lot and now I am even able to chat on the internet with vietnamese people. However, don't think that this software is all you need to learn the language. Since there are no translations(it is only based on pictures, sounds and text in vietnamese) I had to use several dictionaries to help me through the lessons. In this page is a nice and free dictionary for ...And I also recommend a dictionary such as The Rough Guide Vietnamese dictionary where at the beginning is a reference to the basics of the language. This is where you might want to start before studying the lessons in the RS Vietnamese I.

Great product
This is a great way of learning a language and I highly recommend it. It works for me and I have fun doing so.
Remember that this is a software program and you have to sit at your computer. The small booklet that comes with it only contains the text of the course in its original language, there is no translation of the text. I suggest you also buy a dictionary (I bought Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary which I like).
If you are sure you want Level 1 then do NOT buy the Explorer. The Explorer contains a subset of Level 1. Unfortunately I was mislead because most people who bought Level 1 also bought the Explorer. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Product is awful
Two main flaws which caused me to return the product:

1) Interface is shoddy at best. I was never able to start a drill lesson in the middle by skipping pages. If I returned to a prior lesson, I had to click on answers in order to advance, instead of being able to move forward as the interface supposedly should work.

2) Much more importantly, there were grammar mistakes in the product. My wife is native Korean. During the first lesson, the product tries to teach you the words/concept of "above" and "underneath". My wife and 4 of her friends who are also native Koreans all listened to the drill and they all said that the phraseology would never ever be spoken by a Korean. They said that the phrasehology was actually incorrect.

Other than that, while I echo the other comments about the navigation being unclear, I did think that the drills would help one learn vocabulary words.

Marginal Interface and Hard copy Materials
This program completely lacks a structured approach to learning the Hangul alphabet and completely lacks the ability to teach ANY Hangul using the keyboard. Some of their other programs have this ability, but not the Korean one.

Also, the teaching approach is completely by example using photos with no explanation of sentence structure, culture, etc. If you wanted to use it and repeat the lessons over and over and over you could probably learn the material, but the overall interface on the thing is lacking.

I'm having a blast...
I bought this software because my nephew is adopted from South Korea. He doesn't know Korean, but I know someday he'll grow up to probably have some interest in his heritage, and I thought it would be a cool thing if I knew a little Korean by that time.

I worried about blowing such a wad of cash on this software, but I took a risk, and I've been very happy with what I got. I'm still in the first "unit," so I have a long long way to go before I can actually speak or understand any real Korean, but I have found the exercises entertaining, and I have discovered that the knowledge does stick. Learning anything is hard; learning a foreign language so very different from English is super-hard, and learning it as an adult is downright daunting, but I'm finding that I'm not worried about that, and I'm just enjoying being exposed to something totally new.

I think this software could definitely benefit from some better directions; since everything is in Korean, you have to learn even the basics of navigating the lessons just by doing, and I found that a little frustrating at first, since I was already feeling pretty overwhelmed by the weird language. And there are lessons where they're going over the difference between boy and girl, man and woman, and sometimes the photos aren't clear enough to tell what gender the subject is. I have also found some sort of bug in the written exercises, where you can click in one frame and it'll react as if you clicked in another, but that doesn't go wrong very often.

I've had the software about two weeks. If you're in a rush to be able to ask the way to the bathroom on your upcoming vacation to Korea, this isn't the right approach for you. But if you're looking for a fun way to stimulate your mind and to learn something interesting and new while you do it, this is ideal.

Worse Product EVER!
This was the MOST useless product I have ever used in my life. I've been studying the Korean language for almost 4 years now but had absolutely no clue what was going on with this software! I can't imagine anyone being able to gain or further language skills with this ... I can't believe that any company would claim such a shoddy product or have the gumption to charge [amount] for it. Run away from this software as fast as you can. ... ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Instant Immersion Japanese delivers an authentic Japanese language-learning environment to your desktop. Based on the Euromethod--an approach that immerses students in a country's language and culture--this four CD-ROM suite includes Talk Now!, World Talk, Human Japanese, and JquickTrans. It's filled with cultural videos, entertaining games, easy-to-follow lessons, quizzes that test your progress, and interactive dialogues with native speakers, so you'll be speaking Japanese in no time. Rounding out your immersion experience, the JquickTrans CD-ROM is a remarkable Japanese dictionary, study guide, translator, and kanji reference source providing Japanese-language online chat and surfing support. With Instant Immersion, you learn by hearing, seeing, and doing. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Winner
If you're starting to learn Japanese, a feat to be applauded in itself, this is an amazing package. It's fun, interactive, and educational. Don't even think about trying to get a foot in the door without this. Books are great but to be able to see people pronounce the words with enthusiasm in correlation to the picture of the word is SO helpful and helps it stick amazingly well too. Another commenter posted that the games were worthless but they're only useless if your not focused on learning. This makes it so simple AND enjoyable, something I've never found with any other software out there. I was at first hesitant by the low price wondering how it could possibly deliver. BUY this as it's a steal and for the dedicated learner, a great way to start.

Terrible.
Your money would be better spent on a book that teaches you grammar AND vocabulary. This set comes with no directions, just a bunch of CDs in a box. Using the software isnt explained, the games are useless as you can win just by clicking all over, you dont have to learn anything.

Learning phrases isnt helpful for any language if you dont know how to take vocabulary and form your own phrases.

Honestly this is a waste of cash. Get a book. If you need pronunciation help buy a book with an audio disc included.

Some hits; some misses
This product consists of 4 CDs. This product is far from perfect but overall it is a good value and an excellent supplement if you have other learning tools at your disposal.

#1: Talk Now (rating: 5 stars): This is a fun CD for building a simple vocabulary of words and phrases. It makes learning easy by associating the words and phrases with the actual object or action instead of over-emphasizing the English translation. This helps you to start thinking in Japanese instead of thinking of an object in English then attempting to translate that word into Japanese. The games and quizzes are entertaining and keep your interest.

#2: World Talk (rating: 0 stars): This CD is practically impossible for a beginning student to understand. It is not a logical progression from the first CD. The help button gives you some clues as to what the lesson is attempting to teach, but it is very inadequate and confusing. There is also a section for transcription. There is a control to adjust the rate at which the sentences are read, however, it actually only adjusts the amount of time BETWEEN sentences, not adjusting the speed at which the words are spoken. Most people have a difficult time transcribing their own spoken language at normal spoken rate, so to transcribe a foreign language is incredibly difficult.

#3: Human Japanese (rating: 4 stars): This is an online textbook that covers grammar, vocabulary, writing hiragana and katakana, and even a little culture, too. It is written in a very readable, easy-to-understand manner that's not sterile like a typical textbook. New vocabulary is introduced in an accessible manner. The instruction for learning hiragana and katakana is excellent.

#4: JQuickTrans (rating: 3.25 stars): This is a nice translator. The interface is a little bit confusing, even for people who are very comfortable using computer applications. You should definitely read the Quick Start Guide to get a better feel for how to use this program.

A very helpful and [inexpensive] product
...this is one of the best Japanese software programs I've ever seen. It's better than some I've pated [much more] for, and it's well woth it to anyone who wants to learn to speak Japanese.

Human Japanese (Disc 3)
I have read several other reviews of this software. Apparently, I have a different version or something. I have read comments from "XP bugs" to "doesn't teach anything." I have had no problems with XP, and if you actually buy the four disc set, disc three has a very useful piece of software ("Human Japanese") that is a wonderful teacher. Not only is it thorough, the author used excellent teaching techniques to help you understand the content. The only thing it really doesn't hit on is Kanji. If you want to start learning Japanese, I cannot urge you enough to try this software.

The other CDs are useful as well, but are only programs to test how much you know; not teach you (there is also a good translator program on disc 4, JQuickTrans). ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

YOURE PAYING FOR A LOT OF CONFUSION.
This is a well meaning program that will leave you with nothing but doubt and unanswered questions.

Fairfield uses a "picture to words to sound" method for teaching different languages. This is an excellent way to teach a language. It lets the user hear proper pronunciation while seeing the proper spelling (romanized or japanese) for the word. They also slap a picture of the subject so you can achieve a visual connection with the word or words mentioned. That's it, and thats where lies the problem. There is no confirmation in English to what you just learned. This leads to doubt because you don't know if the picture matches the word 100%. You cant make the vital connection between the Japanese word and the English one. To make matters worse not all the picture are crystal clear as to what is being refered to. Anyone who has studied Japanese knows what a difficult language it is to grasp and Fairfield thinks that you can just jump into it with this poorly thought out program. I don't know how well this method works in other languages but it fails in Japanese without that English reasurance. So in closing :

1. Dont be fooled by the "impressive" list of users of this program.
2. The poor structure of this program will leave you confused and reaching for your dictionary more than you'll be able to stand.
3. The price of this software package is ridiculous for what you get. It doesn't make $en$e.

Will not give you proper education
You learn the language through immersion. The software immediately presents you with a set of pictures, along with their japanese text and pronounciation, and you have to match the text with the pictures. The text are available in romanji, kana, and kanji. There are no english explanations at all.

First, if you're serious about learning japanese, you have to learn how to read and write kana, and this product gives you nothing in terms of learning kana/kanji. If you leave the text set at kana or kanji, you will be hopelessly lost. If you set the text at romanji, you will be looking at the romanized version of the japanese text, which is useless because you won't see romanji anywhere in Tokyo.

Second, you can pretty much guess at the right answer by process of elimination. The software isn't "smart" enough to deduce that you've actually understood the images presented to you. Also, some of the images are ambiguous. It's possible that you misinterpret the picture and end up with the wrong definition.

Third, this software is horribly slow. You will learn very little after hours of use, and in the end, you will have little or no grammatical knowledge at all.

Given the price of this product, I do not recommend it at all. I suggest you spend your money on the Pimsleur series. They are also expensive, but they will give you a solid foundation to speaking japanese properly. I suggest buying the Japanese for Busy people Kana workbook for learning Kana.

Great Software but takes Patience
You know that a child doesn't learn a language overnight. However they do learn their first language with out anyone really explaing to them what this word or that word means.

This program uses the same concept of learning. You learn by looking at pictures and actions, and you try to understand what is going on and attribute that to the sound that you hear.

Overall this is great!! It works, and is very comprehensive however it takes alot of patience and work.

If you want to learn a language fast and don't need to know so many words then this program is not for you. However if you don't mind waiting and going through many lessons, and getting a comprehensive understand of the language then this program is for you.

In the end it really depends on your needs.

Best language software I have seen so far
The way this software works is simple. It shows you four pictures and gives you a word or phrase describing each. Then it will ask you to match up pictures and phrases. Later sets of pictures build on vocabulary learned in earlier lessons to build up more complex phrases.

The user interface is one of the easiest to use I've seen, and the sound and picture quality are better than I've seen from other language software. The reason I really like this software though is that it is the easiest and most effective learning method I've found. Rather than trying to memorize words, you hear them used in a bunch of different contexts until their use becomes natural. Also, this method is much better for developing listening comprehension than other methods, which are often mostly visual.

This software doesn't explain any grammar rules. It merely tries to provide enough examples that they can be inferred from use. I find that having a grammar reference that I can refer to in addition to this software really helps with the trickier bits of the Japanese language, although for many things it is unnecessary.

Overall, this software is expensive, but if you are serious about learning Japanese, I would say it is definitely worth the price. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Software!
This is a great software to learn Chinese.
Indeed, I would have never though I will be able to learn Chinese as it seems complicated but this software had the answer for me.
First, you are able to hear the language, and then it is your turn to talk and improve your pronunciation. This immersion method was very helpful.
You could learn and pronounce hundreds of words, sentences.
Very interactive package that I will highly recommend. The activities proposed in the software are also very good with fill-in-the blanks, crossword puzzles,..., a good and fun way to learn a difficult language!

Japanese or Chinese?
The editorial review for this CHINESE software above states "Start your study by mastering Hiragana, Katakana, and basic Kanji..." Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji? Chinese does not use Hiragana or Katakana and the "Kanji" are known as "Hanzi", so goodness knows what you are getting with this software! Steer well clear!

Definitely not for beginners !!!!
Unfortunately this is not a good software.
1. There is no system in presenting information (lessons not really lessons)
2. They could combine all 5 interactive CDs into just one! Each of them has no more than 140MB and "Black Belt" CD has just 25MB! So, all that "8 CD set" is nothing but an advertising trick!
3. There is a Chinese(pinyin)-English dictionary but there is no English- Chinese one!
4. Could not find any info about how to write Chinese characters
Overall, may be good for those who already know at least 300 characters and currently studying Chinese (like in college or with a native) but for independent study - below average. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This unconventional language-learning series offers games and quizzesthat make the learning process fun, relaxing, and, as such, more successful.Ideal for beginners, Talk Now! Tagalog (Filipino) includes such topics asvocabulary, phrases, culture, and more. A handy print and picture dictionaryproduces entries with both text and pictorial references. This interactivesoftware title also features a recording tool, so you can compare yourpronunciation to that of native speakers (microphone required). Quizzes and achallenging memory game let you test your newly acquired skills. You can alsotrack your scores and print awards to celebrate. Best of all, you can changeTalk Now! Tagalog's onscreen help and menus to the language of your choice. Withmore than 70 languages from which to choose, this software makes learningTagalog accessible to everyone. ... Read more

Features

• Tagalog language learning software
• Study vocabulary, phrases, culture, and more
• Recording tool lets you practice with native speakers
• Games and challenging quizzes make learning fun
• On-screen help available in more than 70 languages

Reviews (3)

You won't be able to talk back and forth with this.
If you are looking to buy this software in order to speak to someone back and forth, this is not the product for you. It will teach you phrases and questions, but you won't be able to understand any answers that a native speaker might give you because it doesn't teach you that. You will be able to identify objects in a house or building, but you won't know how to use them in a sentence or even in a fragmented sentence. This is also true for colors. If this is what you rely on to travel somewhere you might find yourself in the middle of a croud just saying azul(blue)......pula(red).... malalim na azul(dark blue)....Nasaan ang maipaparada ng kotse(where can I park the car?) and then even when you ask where can I park the car you won't know where to park it because you won't understand anything that people will tell you because it doesn't teach you that(people might think you're retarded haha). It only teaches you numbers up to 20, so you're out of luck if you ask magkano ito? (how much is this?) and the answer is 150 pisos. You'll just have to hand a merchant a wad of cash and hope he is honest and gives you your change. However, with all the bad things out of the way, this might make a good start for you to learn how to say the words correctly, even though the guy that talk doesn't pronounce the words correctly on there, just click on the girl(she says the correct pronunciations). After completing the CD, Which only took a bout a week and a day and scoring a perfect score on everything on the CD,I would say that this software is incomplete. The manufacturer could have done a better job. I give it a 1 out of 5.

Good software to learn the basics
This CD is "fast, fun & user friendly" just like the good people at Talk Now say. It plays on both Windows and Mac computers. I recommend it for what it is. A beginner's learning tool for the essential words and phases. A useful feature is you can learn using YOUR native language as you have choice of over 70 languages. I tried Chinese as I know it reasonably well and it worked just OK - I feel they designed it primarily for those with English as their 1st language. So if you American, Brit, Aussie, or Canadian this is a good beginner's guide for you.

It's best feature is it's pronounces the words in both male and female voices as many Tagalog courses do not pronounce the words for you :-( You will enjoy the games and tests to measure your progress and it allows you to print your own dictionary for handy reference. I just wish it covered even more of our Tagalog words. Just incase I forget them.hehehe

Talk Now! Tagalog by Eurotalk
Nice interactive cd for beginning Tagalog. Learn basics such as numbers, colors, directions as well as some simple dialogs. The sound is quite clear and allows you to hear the words pronounced alternately by a male and a female voice. There are also multiple choice quizes that test what you have learned. There is a text that can be printed as well to assist in the learning of Tagalog. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Now you can learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency. It's the natural way to learn.

The Rosetta Stone Explorer contains 22 lessons for beginning learners with nearly 900 real-life images and phrases spoken by native speakers. It develops all key language skills--listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing--while its systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. Includes previews, exercises, and tests for every lesson, with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A good method for learning a new language
I found this method made this language very accessible to a native English speaker. It shows pictures, shows the word, and plays the sound of the word so that they can all become connected together in the mind - a method that brings the learner much closer to fluency. I was glad that the method didn't rely upon connecting the Korean word with the English one - a method that requires the learner to first recall the "English" word in order to access the memory for the Korean one.

Unlike one of the other reviewers, I was also glad that the interactive version allowed the listener to listen to the properly pronounced word instead of showing a "phonetic" spelling. The Korean language has many consonants for which there is no English equivalent, like a letter between k and g, a letter between l and r, and a letter between p and b, and those can be extremely difficult and even more confusing to describe than simply listening to the properly pronounced word and trying to mimic it. The native Engligh speaker who tries to substitute an English "equivalent" for one of the actual sounds will be learning to pronounce the word incorrectly! And a language learned improperly in the first place is much more difficult to correct than simply learning it correctly the first time.

My biggest gripe about this method is that it doesn't take advantage of the inherent logic in the Korean alphabet - which is phonetic itself! If there was only a single chapter on the characters and their pronunciations, then this program would be complete. As it stands, I would recommend that the student of Korean first study the alphabet before beginnning this program. The lack of focus on the Korean characters and their pronunciations is the reason that I give this program only 3 stars.

Not for complete beginners or intermediates
I was not very impressed with this program at all. I am a Korean linguist and I was hoping this would help to expand my knowledge, however, it is way too simple for someone with any prior formal language training. On the other hand, I noticed that it does not even teach the alphabet, a vital key to learning any language. The only reason it got two stars was because if someone could obtain training on the Korena alphabet, then this could be an excellent tool for beginners.

A good START!
I made a mistake when buying this product thinking it was going to teach me korean. Instead it's just an introduction to the world of "rosetta stone" with just two units in Korean and a single lesson (11 lessons seem to make a unit) in each of a ton of different languages that I don't care about. The learning mechanism seems very good. In different activity modes you either see pictures and have to pick out the correct text or vise versa. Some activities only include sound forcing you to improve listening skills, some only include text focusing on reading skills. With repetition you learn very fast and can record your progress.

The best thing (which is not included in the explorer) would be to have the complete lesson set of the language you want to learn and the language you already know. That way you could learn both by visual inspection and by translation. But with the explorer you can only learn from translation on the very first (and only) lesson which is included in english.

A Great Way to Learn the Language
I highly recomend this one. The program teaches you to read and write in a format that is both educational and even entertaining if you treat it like a game. My only complaint is that some of the spoken words sound very similar and it would be nice to have the phonetic spelling of the words there to look at just to help you recognize exactly what is going on. It's a minor gripe, but mine. If I could I'd only take a half point off for that. If your going to Korea and need to learn the language this is a must.

Basics are missing
The format of this program is that the learner selects right answer from four photos depicting the written sentences or what they hear. It places heavy focus on reading. Therefore it is not appropriate for beginners who don't have prior training in Korean. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Waste of money
I would never recommend this software to anyone who was actually interested in learning a language. They taught you the days of the week out of order... numbers out of order... it was a HUGE pain. I'm just going to check out books and tapes from the library and learn the old fashion way. :(

Terrible Software
Probably one of the worst pieces of boxed software I've seen. I've been learning Japanese on my own for 6 months and would really like some software to help me drill and provide some structure. This is not it. No manual, the microphone works on one computer but not on another, you need to have the CD in the drive (no way to install completely to disk), voice recognition is terrible, etc. Spend money on something else.

Crushes Hopes of Learning Japanese
I made the mistake of asking someone to buy this software as a gift, since I really wanted to start learning Japanese. Nothing but problems. First, it seems more advanced, but that's not it. It may seem advanced but it's really only poorly designed and does not function properly.

As someone has already mentioned, the lessons don't work when you click on them. Also, there is no sense involved with the usability. Zero stars for ease of use.

Instant Immersion Japanese Deluxe probably crushed my hopes of trying to learn Japanese. Stay away from this product at all costs, it is enirely misleading. I suggest you check around Amazon for books/software that really do help you, as I'll be doing the same.

Worst Software I have ever bought
The only thing good about this software is that it can be held up as an example of how not to design user interfaces and how not to teach a language.

The user interfaces is slow, frustrating to use, non-intuitive, and looks like something you'd expect to see on an Apple II.

The software itself consists mainly of drills with no teaching.... which is essentially useless if you have no prior experience with the language. Forget learning grammar or anything with the crap.

I've gone with the Pimseleur Level 1 & 2 courses...much more expensive but worth it.

waste of money
I bought this title just last night in the hopes of finding good software to help me learn japanese. Within about 5 minutes of installing it, I was ready to return it. It comes with no book, so I had to guess what all the CDs were first of all. After I figured that out, the program itself was confusing to navigate. What I discovered were a lot of weak looking drills that were basically for testing what I already knew about the japanese language. Unfortunately, what I know is NOTHING--that's why I bought the software in the first place!! I'm assuming that the "lesson" portion of the program was to teach me, but seeing how nothing happened when I clicked it, that didn't really help... (XP issue?). Hopefully BestBuy will let me return it even though I opened it... I really want my money back. If you want to learn japanese, you're probably better off getting a book instead. It may be harder, but at least you'll learn more from that than this software. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

With the modern PC having a variety of possibilities of which traditional language-learning methods could only dream--voice recognition, video dialogues, and so on--the past few years have seen an extraordinary boom in language-learning software packages. However, as picking through this surfeit can be tricky, it is important to find a reliable brand, and the Learn Now! series is definitely among the best software packages.

The program comes equipped with 2 CDs, one of which has various key sections--useful "survival phrases", fun activities, conversations, and practicing speech against the voice of a native speaker--while the other has a thorough grammar tutorial. This combination is certainly a valuable one for people who are serious about learning a language, and the product is clear and easy to use: in role-plays, phrases are highlighted in a box and their English translations placed underneath, while the voice recognition software allows you to measure your own voice against that of a native speaker, and the games hone the things that have been learnt. Sections are tailored to various activities, such as getting around, going out, and business situations, while at any point you can call up a grammar tutorial which explains a particular point on which you are unsure.

In addition to these sections, the part on survival phrases will be of much use to those who have already reached a basic level. There are several practice dialogues based around commonplace situations--in the hotel, the bar, the airport, etc. Although some of the advice borders on the infantile ("When you decide to travel outside the USA, you will probably need a passport"), much of it is useful, and rounds out what is a well composed package for someone starting out on the road to using the language overseas. --Toby Green, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent
Chinese Now is an excellent program for language learning. I am more than satisfied by its effetiveness and what it has to offer as a product. I found that it has very few flaws and is for all ability level speakers. Chinese is a hard language to learn and so far this program is the best method I have found for myself. Its a 5-star program and a good buy!

What an amazing Tool
Hi I'm an English teacher who teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to students in China. Before starting this job I took a Madarin Chinese class and found it very hard. I got this program and using it helped me immensly. I was able to put into practice what I learned in class through this program. This provided excellent practice in pronunciation and contains a very large vocabulary section. The games and media were very good tools to practice and learn with, especially Vocabulous, my favorite game. After the class, when I was in China, I still used this program to help keep my language skills sharp and to expand my knowledge of it. Chinese Now is a very good learning program and it works.

Advance Level
Wow, this package is really hard. If you are a beginner, stay away. This package is a lot harder than Ultimate Mandarin. I consider myself intermediate, but this package blew me away. Anyway, other package like Rosetta stone chinese is pretty .... VocabuLearn is also a lot .... This package has tons of vocabulary which is much better than VocabuLearn Chinese. This package is much better than in a chinese classroom because you can listen one word by one word for pronunciation. Anyway, ChineseNow is very similar to a classroom experience, except that their vocabularies and sentences are very very difficult. If transparentlanguage company uses easy vocabularies with the same effort, I think they will be much more successful. Why? Because in ChineseNow, they worked very hard and put a lot of effort in producing this CD, but I just think that they are targetting the wrong audience. For me, after one year of Conversation Mandarin, I am starting on Ultimate Mandarin which this will cost me another year. Then, I will attack this ChineseNow CD again. This ChineseNow is one serious material, just too hard...

Pretty good stuff for the price
I picked up version 8 of this at a store. The box said it works with Mac OS 8 and up, but did not specify OS X. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a native application (carbonised) for OS X, so I did not have to run it inside of the Classic environment, like I do with a couple other chinese apps I have. So that is one big plus for it.

I find that it is a very good supplement to my college text book and other chinese apps. No one app (or book) can be the best at everything, but this comes pretty close. Not great at learning characters, the strength was in learning PinYin and vocabulary. This is version 8.1 I'm talking about, not version 9.

Best for the Price
I have struggled through several introductory chinese language products, and to date this has been the most useful for conversational development. It is not a full integrated course, in that it is conversation and pinyin, but even my Chinese friends consider that a good beginning. It has an amazing collection of learning methods in an inexpensive package.

Chinese is extremely difficult to start. It has taken me many hours to get get down the most basic phrases. I found this, along with the Pimsleur programs to be the most helpful. ... Read more

Features

• Comprehensive Mandarin Chinese language learning software
• 3,000 words; 800 characters; 400 exercises
• Listening, reading, writing, interactive dialogue; comprehension; and more
• Advanced speech-recognition; speech-analysis technology (S.E.T.S.)
• Beginner and intermediate CD-ROMs; Chinese audio CDs

Features

• Comprehensive interactive language learning; ideal for beginners
• Easy and hard quizzes, plus a challenging memory game
• Compare yourself with native speakers; monitor progress
• Topics include phrases, food, shopping, telling time, and more
• On-screen help available in over 75 languages; printable dictionary

Reviews (1)

Great first words vocabulary builder
This is a nice program that shows you pictures and pronounces the words. And has quiz games where you match one of a choice of pictures to the word sounds. The games are very helpful in developing recognition of spoken Khmer words.

Since Khmer is so different from English, you can not learn Khmer from a book alone. You need something that will pronounce the words so that you can hear the sounds. I had some of my Cambodina friends listen to it and they said the pronouncenations were good.

I recommend this for the absolute beginner of Khmer. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

It is a credit to Fairfield Language Technologies that its JapaneseExplorer is one of the best examples of language-learning software--period. Ifyou are used to the old-fashioned but lamentably persistent grammar-translationmethod of learning languages, Japanese Explorer may surprise you because itinvolves no overt instruction in grammar or lists of vocabulary with Englishtranslations. Instead, it relies on very clever contextualization of Japanesewords and structures with photographs so that you never realize you're learninggrammar. We literally found ourselves speaking and understanding quite a bit ofbasic Japanese in about an hour.

Each graduated lesson works like this: First, you learn a new word by seeing apicture of, say, a man. You then read the Japanese word for "man" (at differentpoints, both in Roman letters and in Japanese script) and hear it spoken. Afterlearning a whole set of words this way, you move into self-quizzing mode, whereyou see just a picture of a man and you have to choose the right word, eitherfrom spoken or written cues. This emphasis on listening comprehension isfantastic and is one of the components that sets the software apart, but thereare also reading and writing exercises.

So how do they cover grammar? Japanese has a complicated system ofcounters attached to numbers. Eventually, for instance, you'll seehitotsu under a picture of one man and futatsu under a picture oftwo men. Later you'll see hippiki under one fish and nihiki undertwo fish. If you are a grammar guru, you might be able to figure out that humansare counted with hitotsu-futatsu, and small animals are counted withhippiki-nihiki. However, the beauty is you don't have to be a grammarguru at all because the software doesn't expect you to state rules like that; itexpects you only to associate a picture of two fish with nihiki insteadof futatsu. Eventually, you get into longer phrases that cover verbs,adjectives, and prepositional phrases. It's amazingly effortless, especially sofor children as young as 6.

Caveats: The CD-ROM includes both Mac OS and Windows versions. Your installationwill include the first-level lessons of a couple dozen other languages for free,too, so you have to know that the Japanese word for "Japanese" is Nihongoin order to select it from the list. Also, remember that software is noreplacement for Japanese-speaking people, so take what you learn and use it inthe world! --Erik Macki ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Visual Vocabulary
I picked up this product after hearing great things about Rosetta Stone's software. Apparently they meant Rosetta Stone Japanese Personal Edition. (...)
What to expect with this software is pictures, no explanations. This is fine and dandy if you have someone to clarify with. For example understanding that a dog is pronounce inu is one thing, but formulating the sentence of "Who's dog is that?" is another. That entire sentence is an idea, which is very difficult to get into a picture.
The lesson plans are not made like any class I have ever had. They seem to be a random collection of words with now focus on anything specific. Some related words are together, like car and plane, but that's as close as you get. One section seemed to revolve around "families" but it's hard to say with the cluster organization.
The only good thing about this software is that it supports Romania, kana and Kanji. The Romania support is there for people who don't really want to learn Japanese; they just want to speak it. The kana and kanji support is intended to fully saturate you in the language. This way you can learn pronunciation spelling though katakana/hiragana. Then once you know the pronunciation you can identify that sound with the Kanji for that object/thing/idea.
All in all this software is for vocabulary only, and I think the developers are fully aware of it.

Great Starter!
I found this to be a great first step in the learning process. This Program encourages you to think.....
Think for yourself with Rosettat stone...but this is for beginners!

...err... that's not quite right
This may be a very good product, and (as a professional language teacher) I like what the editorial review has to say about their methodology... HOWEVER, as a speaker of Japanese (I read these reviews while looking for some more advanced stuff), I was a little bothered by the fact that the first example in the editorial review was... well... bad...
Japanese DOES use a system of counters... but you do not generally say "hitotsu... futatsu" for "one person... two people", you say "hitori... futari..." ("ippiki... nihiki..." for small animals is correct, and you can use it for children for a laugh)
It's not a major gaff... and for a beginner, it's great just to make youself understood, but it would be kind of like a non-native English speaker pointing at some one and saying "It is my English teacher".
The software may be great, but I'd be a little bit wary of buying this, since what the editorial reviewer seems most confident and happy with is... err... wrong...
But that may be an error on the part of the reviewer too... It's very easy to overgenalize applications of rules and whatnot... I've otherwise heard good things about the Rosetta Stone stuff.

An excellent approach--unlike typical college class
I found this software extremely effective. Granted, it is a very different approach unlike the typical college foreign-language class. If like me you learned foreign languages previously by memorizing charts of verb declensions and things, this software will surprise you--and if you in fact do enjoy the details of grammar, this may not be a product for you. However, if you give this software a chance, it's very effective. You kind of have to suspend belief that it will work, but if you conscienciously use the software through the first 10 lessons, you'll be surprised at what all you can impress your Japanese colleagues or friends with. I was! I very much recommend it. It's not at all conventional, but it totally worked for me.

dissapointed after reading other reviews
After reading the other reviews, I was excited about using this program. However, I am quite dissapointed. Perhaps it may be a good program for kids. However, for this adult learner, I found it quite frustrating. It is both too difficult and too easy at the same time, oddly enough. There isn't enough "meat" to hook one into learning. . .nothing is explained; it's all based on a concept of "natural" learning which may be fine if one wants to know how to say simple words in a new language. If you already know Japanese and need help recognizing speech, it may be handy. ... Read more

Features

• Comprehensive interactive language learning; ideal for beginners
• Easy and hard quizzes, plus a challenging memory game
• Compare yourself with native speakers; monitor progress
• Topics include phrases, food, shopping, telling time, and more
• On-screen help available in over 75 languages; printable dictionary

Features

• Comprehensive interactive language learning; ideal for beginners
• Easy and hard quizzes, plus a challenging memory game
• Compare yourself with native speakers; monitor progress
• Topics include phrases, food, shopping, telling time, and more
• On-screen help available in over 75 languages; printable dictionary

Reviews (2)

Save Your Money!
If you're interested in actually LEARNING Farsi (Persian), this software program is NOT the resource to turn to. While Eurotalk deserves five stars for their incredibly user-friendly lesson interface, this program consists of nothing more than quick snippet lines for business travellers who need enough to survive 2-3 days on an overseas trip (i.e. "Where is the hotel?" "Can you direct me to a phone?" etc. etc). The only redeeming feature of this program is that a user can actually hear Farsi being spoken (and thus get an idea as to lingual sounds). See ya...

Talk Now! Farsi
The program is great and very helpful. It has a printable dictionary for each section as well as a portion of each section where you use a microphone to speak the words being taught to help you say everything properly! I love the program itself, the only downfall is that you'll really like it and when you want to move to intermediate and advanced you find that the publisher doesn't have Farsi for either of those!! I think it's pretty sad that they start you off and then don't have Farsi in intermediate or advanced but at thelst the beginner's program is great! ... Read more