Learn Chinese Now! 9.0

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

Amazon.com Product Description
Learn Chinese Now! 9.0 Deluxe takes you from beginner to confident speaker in no time. Listening and speaking activities, grammar tools, and vocabulary games build a solid foundation, while real-life video content lets you interact with native speakers. Learn Chinese Now! also adds online features that create an interesting and authentic atmosphere, making Chinese Italian fast, fun, and highly effective.

Learn Chinese Now!'s four stimulating titles include: The Most Common Words in Chinese, Survival Phrases for Chinese, the Chinese Way, and Beijing: Yesterday and Today. GrammarPro!, the software's comprehensive grammar tool, adds more than 10,000 words, extensive tutorials, and grammar quizzes to your desktop. Installed, GrammarPro! integrates seamlessly with all four Learn Chinese Now! titles to provide detailed grammar analyses with just a click of your mouse.

Online features, fun interactive games, and conversations and phrases round out this deluxe suite. Practice your pronunciation using the integrated speech features, then record your voice and replay your conversation. Learn at your own pace by deciding when you need translation. The software even includes GlobalWriter98 for Microsoft Windows users and a handy screen saver. GlobalWriter98 is a word-processing tool that helps you write in more than 100 languages.

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.


Good way to learn Chinese   June 8, 2002
24 out of 31 found this review helpful

This is an amazing software.
I can enhance my vocabruary and correct my pronounciation through recording my voice and compare with the native pronounciatin on the PC. This is very helpful to learn new language. And also, my version came with bonus CD which includes multiple languages word processor.
Considering the price, this has very high cost performance and I strongly recommend this software to lean Chinese.


A very good supplement for the serious student of Chinese   September 30, 2004
reader
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

This software is not for the complete beginner. If you are a complete beginner, try Beginner's Chinese by Yong Ho and/or the pricey Ultimate Mandarin Chinese (ISBN 0517708779) instead. The software has 4 'chapters,' two being in the 'beginner' level and the other two being in the 'intermediate' level. The chapters consist of dialogues that are rendered in Pinyin only (NO Chinese characters are used). You can listen to the dialogue and follow along with the Pinyin; you can also click on the Pinyin and the program will display the definition of the word/character. Except for one chapter which contains Chinese survival phrases, all the other chapters are better suited for a college student of Chinese than it is for the person who is doing self-study or one who is a complete beginner. The dialogues are in fact very interesting because they explore various aspects of Chinese culture, but one would have to have one semester of college Chinese before being able to appreciate it; after 2 semesters of college Chinese, one could probably understand 40-50% of the dialogue without looking at the translation; after 4 semesters (that is, two years of college Chinese), one could understand most of the simpler dialogues, but the software is still a very good tool for developing listening skills. Overall, if you are a complete beginner, skip this software; if you are taking college/high school Chinese, and you plan to stick with it either by taking more classes or doing serious self-study, then this software is definitely valuable as a supplement; and I would highly recommend it.

P.S. The grammar section and the Pinyin guide is so basic and lacking in substance that it is basically worthless.


What an amazing Tool   May 30, 2003
Jane Black (Beijing, China)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

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.


Pretty good stuff for the price   March 14, 2003
Tony Martin (So San Fran, CA USA)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

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.