Amazon.com Review

KidSpeak Spanish French German Italian Japanese Hebrew is a double CD-ROM featuring six comprehensive language programs. It is fun and easy to use and will help multilingual children practice a choice of different languages through a range of games, songs, and puzzles.

Each of the different language programs is an immersion program, so all the instructions are in the chosen language. For this reason, younger children who are not so confident with the basics of the language may need adult support. More confident children will quickly pick up what they are expected to do and will be able to work independently through the games. There is also a very useful help option which explains the choices of games in English.

Having chosen the language that they wish to work on, children can then play a range of games and listen to songs to consolidate the vocabulary that has been introduced. Most of the games can be played at three levels of difficulty. The games include activities such as identifying fruit, colouring fruit appropriately, pairs games with pictures and words, identifying animals, ordering pictures, setting given times on clocks, and putting objects into a backpack. A wide range of vocabulary is consolidated, such as numbers, the alphabet, animals, objects, times, colours, fruits and vegetables, the weather, transport and leisure activities. A set of online activities, which can be printed out, will also help to review what children have learned.

KidSpeak Spanish French German Italian Japanese Hebrew would be a very useful buy for children ages 5 to 12 who are multilingual or who are learning a range of languages at school. It is also ideal for a parent who wants to introduce their child to a new language. --Amanda York ... Read more

Reviews (7)

There must be a better bang for your buck.
I bought this software on the recommendation of some software review site, and I must say my 9 year old daughter and I were disappointed. The graphics are sometimes hard to make out on the screen. (The animation altogether isn't very appealing at all, but that's not why I bought it . . . )And my daughter kept repeating, "But I want to learn sentences!" It's just an okay introduction if you want to learn the names of fruits and vegetables.

I could not run the software on window XP
The software is too old to run on the window XP professional. I could not use it.

Awesome For Kids
KidSpeak 6-in-1 is an awesome product for kids to have fun with and learn several languages(Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Hebrew). The animation is very fun and my kids really love this. I love the fact that my child will talk to me in a different language and I'm sure other parents would agree. When it comes down to it, Transparent Language did an awesome job with this software and I couldn't be more satisfied with it.

Language Learning For Kids
KidSpeak 6-in-1 is my child's favorite thing to do on the computer. There are many fun games and activities to do in KidSpeak which teaches a child foreign language. The cartoon animation and the characters are very entertaining for my child who spends hours at a time playing this game. This is a good way to have a child exposed to foreign languages which are easier to learn at a younger age. Before you know it, your child will be talking to you in another language. KidSpeak 6-in-1 has 6 languages included with it (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Hebrew) meaning there is plenty for a child to learn and do in the program. I would recomend this program for all children because it is educational yet fun at the same time.

I have Windows ME
I haven't really been able to run this software, I think it's because I have ME. I have used it before on my sister-in-law's computer and thought it was a great way to grab a young child's interest in another language. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A good value for the money
My daughter enjoyed this program. She learned a lot of different words. The animations are clever and she enjoyed completing the spaceship to get Quixel home.
This is a good program to build a foreign language vocabulary.

Beware!
I thought this would be good for my students until I tried it out myself. First I tried the Italian. When I discovered that they translated "potato chips" as "microchips", I was surprised. In telling time, they expressed the correct feminine plural but displayed the incorrect masculine singular "il due" for 2:00. Now for the French...I learned that "potato chips" were "eclats" as in "paint chips". Wrong chips both times folks - and good luck in a restaurant! I stopped there. It's a shame they never got a native speaker to check it before releasing this as an educational item. They did get native speakers to read aloud the vocab lists however. That's the one-star part. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

This affordable multiple-CD set from Topics Entertainmentstrikes a wonderful balance between education and entertainment,pulling together four already proven titles that cover everything frommath and problem-solving skills to art and reading.

Edmark's Mighty Math Zoo Zillions lets kids practice countingand number grouping in a colorful animated zoo, while Eurotalk'sSpanish Vocabulary Builder offers simple illustrated games thatreinforce basic Español. Simon & Schuster's CuriousGeorge Paint & Print Studio is a freeform art program that letskids decorate monkey-related scenes with thousands of stamps anddrawing tools. Finally, School Zone's Beginning Reading 1-2offers two interactive books, plus an audio dictionary and aCreate-a-Story program.

All four use intuitive visual interfaces that kids shouldn't have anytrouble tackling, and all provide at least some open-endedinteractivity. Beginning Reading lets you explore all thedifferent items on each storybook page, for example, and ZooZillions lets you fiddle with math problems as you go. Some of thisis a little complicated--Zoo Zillions lets you flip-flop quicklybetween structured questions and unstructured play--but adults willlikely find themselves more confused than kids. Also, most of theprograms feature vocal help in the form of purring tigers orhead-nodding Curious Georges.

A nice bonus: all of the programs except Beginning Reading runright off the CD, so no installation is required. And even if you'renot interested in all four titles, the price is hard to beat. --PaulHughes ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Buyer Beware - Very Poor Quality Software
The software included in this set is of very poor quality. They will change your screen colors since they need to be run in 256 color mode. The games themselves are flawed with bugs. The answers to some of the questions were incorrect. I have an advanced degree in medicine, but even that did not help to address these shortcomings. I have also purchased the middle and High school math and Middle school math excelerator software and all of them are from the same company - TOPICS ENTERTAINMENT. I would recommend not to purchase ANY of the Excelerator titles, for not only are they a waste of your time and money, but they include two programs that are the same in both the Middle School and Middle School Math, which are the Pre-Algebra and Algebra programs. You would be better off buying another title from a different company....Buyer Beware!!!

speed up my 1st to a 2nd grader
This software was pretty good the zoo zollions I think was the best my daugther enjoyed the changellen, the print shop curious george was good also, the spanish was very good and to my surprise it was easy to change to a different language. But when it came to the reading part of it. it was borning and not that much changellen only in the creating your own story the dictonary was good. Only 3 stars because I wanted something more out of it for my 7 year old going into the 2nd grade. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

KidSpeak is a language-learning program that makes learning French easyfor kids of all ages. It features an engaging combination of animation,activities, games, puzzles, and songs. The program is hosted by a cartoon"friend" and his or her playful pet who use only the language being taught.It is designed to teach children correct pronunciation, alphabet and wordrecognition, simple sentence structure, plural and singular forms, numbers,simple addition and subtraction, how to tell time, and more. Help inEnglish is always one click away. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent product
This program is great for totally "immersing" kids in the language. Lots of games are included. The graphics are a bit odd, but the kids enjoy it!

Kidspeak French
This program is colorful and the graphics and songs are amusing. Be aware, though, that it is a total "immersion" product which means there is not always an explanation of what the animated "teacher" is saying. The teacher, a little girl named "Claudine," just begins speaking and a child (or adult!) with no background in French may be intimidated after the first pause. You can click on a guide which gives a written English explanation of the various icons and games, but this is of no help to a young child who does not yet read well. I felt the program was useful in naming specific items you could click on, but it left me wanting more in the way of breaking down and explaining the specific words and phrases "Claudine" was using. A basic understanding of French prior to using this educational game would greatly increase the value of the game to a child. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

How can we tell that KidSpeak: 10-in-1 Language Learning is a superb language-learning package for kids? Because it's a bit too hard for Mom and Dad. The cognitive sponge that makes setting the VCR easy for your 7-year-old is the same cognitive sponge that makes foreign languages so easy--and exactly why having your kids use software like this is a terribly good idea, the younger the better.

This multi-CD package offers equally well implemented modules for Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese, and Portuguese. Whew! We think it's a great idea to offer 10 languages at once, because there's no telling what language your child will decide to take later on--so the more exposure earlier, the better. Plus, this number of languages won't put off kids the way it will adults--instead it will probably inspire your kid's curiosity.

Unlike adults, who freak out when they don't see new words written out, children usually handle linguistic unknowns with an instinctive curiosity. Hinting at the solid pedagogical underpinnings of its design, KidSpeak takes advantage of this instinct at every turn: in the Chinese module, for instance, Chinese characters are used right off the bat--no Romanization here. This is actually exactly what you want--unlike adults, children won't be afraid, and they'll learn the characters faster this way. Each module offers effective alphabet games, number games, animal games, a few songs with animations--all with navigation instinctive to children. None of the modules is a course in conversation--they're much more concerned with recognition of everyday words, which is a good way to introduce your kids to new languages and cultures in a fun, painless way.

Each language has its own animated host and culture-specific stylization, but the games and learning activities in each are similar and well designed. Each CD has both Macintosh and Windows versions on board, and (brilliantly) there is no installation involved--you can run each language module immediately off the CD. Especially cool: the CD includes a resourceful parents' guide and an impressive children's workbook for each language, all in PDF format you can print out at your leisure. (Ages 6 to 10) --Erik Macki ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Kidspeak 10-in-1 Langauge Learning
I have a great deal of experience with teaching foreign languages to children. By the time my daughter was 18 months old, she spoke and understood 10 foreign languages. I just received 10-in-1, two days ago.This product is outstanding. My five-year-old daughter who has been exposed to these languages before, loves the games, such as dominoes,tic-tac-toe, memory, vocabulary puzzle-building and more. I am thrilled with the product and would recommend it to anyone, child or adult to work on vocabulary, comprehension and pronunciation. It is truly an immersion program, which is best, but it has a help button if you suddenly have trouble understanig something. if you want to encourage foreign languages for you kids, buy this product.

My child loves it
I got it for only a couple of languages but my daughter (at 4 & 5 & 6 years old)loves to play with many of them. She will spend aquite a bit of time with it. Hard to tell if she's learning but exposure is good for young ears - and it is not "Mom, I don't want to". Of course I have never tried to put her on a regular schedule with it either.

Too many languages
This is a 3 CD pack. CD #l contained Spanish, French, and German. The basics of basics. My first problem is my having a Windows 98. These CD's are ment for Macintosh and Windows 95. Although it ran instantly I found it locked up after I would exit a lesson to try another language. Was this because I don't have a Win95? It was none the less annoying having to take out the CD and put it back in so I could pick another language on the CD. Another bad point was that each language has praise and instruction of the activities in the selected language which served no purpose.You had to go to the help button to see what the buttons ment in English.That slowed me down having to switch rather than having an instant translation after the foreign language was spoken. Less bouncing around if that was included. The exiting of your language lesson also was spoken/written in your selected language which was foolish. If you're learning German for instance, and you don't read German, you don't know if you're asked if you want to leave or not, and which is the yes and no. Pick the wrong one and you're still in that language when you wanted out. The Spanish in CD #l was a pain in the behind because it was Castillian Spanish, spoken in Spain and Argentina. Their "c's" are pronounced like "th" which can be very annoying if you're expecting crisp pronunciation like you'd speak in Mexico or other Latin American countries. CD #2 contained Japanese, Chinese(Mandarin),Korean, Indonesian. The Japanese was useless as there weren't that many activities and maneuvering the program was difficult because when you selected something, it didn't work. The Chinese was excellent, although I only understood "hello". Again, the CD locked up so I had to take it out and put it back in to run the Korean. Hated it. Didn't bother with Indonesian. For some reason, in the Asian languages, the tone of voice rarely changes so you don't know if the voice is happy or not. CD #3 contained Italian, Portugese, Hebrew. I enjoyed the Italian much better than the other two languages. The memory names of objects/animals/days/numbers games were fun, though I stayed away from Dominos in the math games. How many Americans have ever played Dominos! There were no directions for it either! The 3 levels of difficulty for vocabulary I was impressed with.I liked the songs too for the animals and alphabet though I could only pick out a word or two.I found I partly wasted my money because I have to ignore the Spanish, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian. I seem more suited to French, German, and Chinese. Maybe it's because I'm an adult and not a child who can learn l0 languages at once like I thought. Beware, you or your child learn no conversation. Had the CD's not locked up and had languages that turned out to be turnoffs, I would've rated this higher. I won't return this because of a few uninteresting languages. I'll have enough on my plate mastering the French, German and especially the hardest one, Chinese.

Disguised as just another game for kids of all ages
I got Kidspeak when I was much younger and still have it to this day. It's a step to beginner and very easy to understand. I find myself taking it out and studying for a french exam with it. Kidspeak introduces you to 10 languages and 10 fun characters. It includs popular Spanish to the rare Hebrew. If all your for is to know how to say hello in Italian than Kidspeak is defientely for you. I love the characters that interact with the gamer throughout the learning experience. They pronounce and sound the words and pharses wonderfully. I've gone through every language on these cds and can say proudly that I know how to count to ten in all 10 languages. To get an idea what exactly you will receive in Kidspeak here you go: Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese, and Portuguese on 3 cds.
I'm very glad that my mother got me this game for my sister and I. I learn so much just by clicking on a mouse. Parents, please don't deny your kid's the chance to explore so much and learn new things outside their mother tongue. The games are so rich and fun even for me, a college student.
Don't turn down this chance, seriously. I have been in love with languages for as long as I can remeber and Kidspeak brought that out in me.

Kidspeak needs to review their product
Spanish alphabet incorrect, which diminished my confidence in remaining languages. I returned the product. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

It really works! Fun cartoons, full immersion.
Gives kids an easy and FUN introduction to English as a foreign language. Torough immersion: pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, plural & sungular, word recognition, numbers, basic math, telling time and more. Includes helpful parent's (or teacher's) guide. For ages 6 +. can't beat this for computer based ESL at home or at school.

Fun with English
I use this product with my ESL students. They respond to it well and like to choose among the many different activities to learn many essential English words and pharses. They can use this software to learn numbers, the alphabet, body parts and much more, as they play interesting games that hold the attention of high school students as well as elementary students. I highly reccomand this software to anyone who wants to have fun while learning English. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

would prefer 0 stars
My kids won't touch it since the first time they tried it. It is very difficult and my son is 7 and knows quite a bit of spanish from school, as does my 4 1/2 years old. Saving it for the next garage sale.

Frustrating and confusing!
I have to agree with WaveDave's review! I just bought this directly from TL's website at $29.99 and hate it! No English translations anywhere left my 9 y.o. very frustrated! What is the point of memorizing 6 songs in Spanish if you don't even know what you are singing? Keep shopping! I'm sending it back!

Poor CD
This CD is poor to say the least, cute yeah, but if your child is trying to learn spanish you might as well forget it. The problem lies in the fact that there is no english reinforcement and to make matters worse, the icons are not clear. My son can't even figure out what the pictures are suppose to represent. They'll show you a picture of something and give you the spanish word and you find yourself saying "Is that a hoof, 2 feet, horse feet, claws, what is that picture?". And since there is no english equivalent presented you end up confused. "Pure language" works in real life but not in the world of computers and monitors. This company needs to go back to the drawing board.

An excellent aide in bringing up my daughter tri-lingual!
My daughter is 3 and she is learning a 3 languages so I need all the help I can get to make sure she learns Spanish. This program has adorable characters and excellent sound and songs and my daughter enjoys it. I love Pepa, the little cute and cool girl that's in the program. One fault is that it does not cover as much as Jump Start Spanish does. The conversation section of this program is better than Jump Start but still not satisfactory. Being that there is so little language software for kids, I appreciate it immensely. It's a nice addition to my daughter's educational software collection that brings with it variety, fun, & learning. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not Very Fun
Although this CD doesn't have any real problems, it also doesn't have any real points in its favor either. It has games that teach numbers, animals, etc., but my 7 year old daughter doesn't find them fun enough to play on her own. Maybe she's spoiled by some of the really excellent children's software available, but this CD did not elicit much enthusiasm. ... Read more