LTS SPANISH V8.1

Learn to Speak Spanish comes with a workbook to assist the student in following the course from beginning to advanced level. It also includes a placement test at the beginning of the program, saving users who already know how to count or recite basic phrases a ton of time.

As we see it, Learn to Speak Spanish has two drawbacks. First, while the program includes speech-recognition technology, the instructions on installing the microphone (which is not included and must be purchased separately) are difficult to find and not at all easy to follow. Learn to Speak Spanish has a smart pronunciation meter that measures your skill from tourist to native, but getting to a place where you can use it is a challenge.

The second drawback is that the overall user experience is rather dry. The narrators and instructors have no life to them, and there is nothing built into the program--such as music or animation--to make it fun. Users can watch the movies for cultural lessons, but the courses for learning vocabulary and grammar are far from attention-grabbing. For this reason, Learn to Speak Spanish seems better suited to an older, more serious user, perhaps someone who has a vested interest in learning Spanish and is excited to learn it for its own sake, rather than excited about a fun computer program.

Overall, Learn to Speak Spanish accomplishes all of the goals one might be looking for in a language-learning program. Users will learn pronunciation, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills. It has useful features such as speech-recognition technology, voice recording and playback, dictionaries, cultural programs, and Internet resources. Learn to Speak Spanish is an affordable and effective--if somewhat uninspired--choice in the world of language-learning software. --Kendra Hayden

Amazon.com Product Description
Build your fluency in Spanish using this feature-rich five-CD collection. Learn to Speak Spanish's 100 lessons and adjustable study plan expand your Spanish vocabulary and perfect your pronunciation. Choose from a variety of instructional features, including cultural video clips and a talking dictionary. Learn to Speak's voice recording, playback tools, and speech recognition technology let you practice your Spanish, develop your ear, and hone your pronunciation. A conversational CD completes the collection, adding a final polish to your newly acquired abilities.

-the dictionary inside really... very inconvenient to search
typing the word and pressing enter does not work! I have to scroll with the mouse...
-one can not cut and paste words in the dictioniary,
also dictionary is not cross-linked to the pronounciation
-there is no 'pronounciation dictionary'
-the prounounciation exerciases are slow - it takes a few seconds
before the program accepts the word, why can't it accept right from the beginning ???? Bad programming.

Pros:

-looks nice
-the lector voices sound nice
... - includes a simple book and 5 CDs...


Fun to learn   January 19, 2002
22 out of 24 found this review helpful

This program is quite entertaining. I am starting spanish from scratch and I have enjoyed learning. There is a pretest so the program can judge your level and start you at the right place. Navigation is a bit confusing, but once you figure it out it isn't that difficult.


Not so exciting   May 11, 2003
22 out of 24 found this review helpful

This version does run on my XP system, just click on product details on this page and you'll see that too. Broderbund will let you return this product to them if you're unsatisfied for any reason regardless of where you bought it from.

The bulk of this program requires a microphone. There is a section called Internet Lessons, whose lessons look interesting like: social interactions, business, etc., but when you click on it the download is unsuccessful. I went to the tech support page and it says that this feature is no longer available even though this product was released in 2002.

The cultural movies are all about Mexico. The first movie basically shows you scenes of some hotel's swimming pool over and over again. The movies and the people talking to you are of poor video quality. The games consist of boring Go Fish and english/spanish crossword.

After using this for 20 minutes, the sound went out, and no it wasn't my computer.