Teach Me Spanish

Software Review

The Teach Me! Spanish software focuses primarily on developing vocabulary and grammar structures. The product would be a lot more effective if it included more communicative learning opportunities to go hand in hand with the grammar instruction. Because of the lack of conversation practice available the program limits the proficiency that users can develop with this program.

On the up side, there are plenty of features that are included in the program to help Spanish learner develop a foundation with the language with only a minimal financial investment. The stand out features of the program are the reading comprehension stories that are included throughout and the vocabulary learning opportunities.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

(features / teaching tools / support etc)

Features included with the Teach Me! Spanish software package are progress tracking that gives you an indication of how you are advancing with the language; personalized learning paths where you can choose the subject matter that you want to focus on and additional Internet resources from the website. There are plenty of audio files, but video files are lacking from the software.

Learning is divided into four different areas – vocabulary focus, grammar focus, reading comprehension stories and pronunciation. The vocabulary lessons test your skills by differentiating between passive vocabulary retention (words that you understand) and productive vocabulary (words that you can use), which is a novel approach. At the beginning of each lesson there is a clearly explained grammar focus and following on from that are opportunities to practice the target language. While this is clear and easy to use, there could be more of an emphasis on communicative Spanish in order to help develop fluency more thoroughly throughout the software.

There is no FAQ or tutorials included with the Teach Me! Spanish software, but there is a help section, which can answer most of your questions and if you need further help you can contact the company by phone or through email.

LEARNING POTENTIAL

The main thrust of this program is developing vocabulary and grammar and there are added resources available on the website for further learning. The program is suitable for beginners to get a solid grasp of basic vocabulary and grammar, but it is not challenging enough for higher level learners or people that are searching for a software package to provide long term learning or proficiency in Spanish.

There are audio files that deliver adequate listening practice; speech recognition software gives you the opportunity to practice your pronunciation, although it is not as good as some more expensive programs and additional resources on the Internet to supplant what you are learning. Stories included with the program provide a good solid grounding in reading comprehension. Writing skills are not developed extensively, although this is probably the least used of the four key language areas in real life anyway.

VALUE FOR MONEY

At under $50 the Teach Me! Spanish program offers very good value for money for beginner learners or for those that want the basics before traveling. Its focus is mainly on vocabulary and grammar so you do not come out of the course speaking Spanish fluently, but you will develop a good foundation in the language to perhaps move on to more challenging programs.

      AT A GLANCE

Teach Me! Spanish software has some good features that make it good value for money at under $50. It is easy to use and you can see your progress through the progress tracking system. The program focuses on developing vocabulary and grammar through a variety of word recognition activities.

While it does cover reading, writing, speaking and listening, there could be more of a focus on conversation skills. The content included with this website is sufficient to give you a good grounding in the fundamentals of Spanish but it is only aimed at beginner level: it is not enough to produce proficiency on its own.

	PROS
	Easy to Use
	Progress tracking
	Voice recognition software
	Excellent reading comprehension activities
	Good vocabulary tools
	CONS
	No online chat/limited conversation practice
	Only beginner level
	No MP3/I-pod capability
	Lacks cultural lessons

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