Talk To Me German

Published by e-man | Filed under Linguistic Tools

Talk to Me German is a well-composed CD-ROM programme with some quite flashy graphics, good video learning aids and an online resource centre. The language learner is provided with a map on which they can chart their progress from beginner to advanced in a variety of subject areas, including the supermarket, the post office and the aftermath of an accident.
Like Transparent Language, Linguaphone, and other programmes in the field, Talk to Me German comes with voice-recognition software that will monitor your pronunciation. At the lower level, you participate in an interactive dialogue and select your response from three options. As things progress, you move to rearranging words in sentence order when they are thrown at you all jumbled up. The vocabulary becomes progressively more complex, but simply pointing the cursor at a German word provides the English translation.
This is a highly competent software package. One of the best things about it is its sense of humour. In one dialogue you have the option of replying in German “I’m a machine, I have no name.” This sort of wit is quite unusual in language packages and it really sets Talk to Me apart from its competitors