"Let's Talk Spanish" was selected for review in the hope that it would
prevent my getting into so much trouble on future visits to Mexico.
Possibly using this program could stop the "mucho gracias" (thank you) in my mind from coming out as "much grass" on my lips. An obvious indicator that I am linguistically challenged but sometimes mistaken for someone in a dubious occupation when exiting Mexico. For a person who is almost monolingual to volunteer to review software dealing with a language, other than English, was either a challenge or insanity. Read the article and you be the judge. Dragon Systems licenses the Syracuse Language System's "Let's Talk Spanish" interactive software program designed as a vocabulary skill builder for the beginner and intermediate student of the Spanish Language. Games and other activities address user vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking, and speech recognition exercises for improving one's Spanish. Through record/playback links and a pronunciation meter you are led toward improved pronunciation and vocabulary building. "Let's Talk Spanish" comes on a single CD-ROM with a 59 page User's Manual. The CD-ROM includes the program and EarthLink Network(tm), as well as Netscape Navigator(tm) 2.0. The quoted price was $29.95 and $4.95 for shipping and handling. Calls to my usual software sources and the retailers mentioned by the representative indicated that the program is not available in the San Antonio area. The minimum requirements for running "Let's Talk Spanish" include a 486SX-25 or faster IBM compatible computer with 8 MB RAM and 13 MB of free hard drive space operating in either the Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 environment. In addition, an MPC-compliant CD-ROM drive, Microsoft (MS) compatible mouse, and 16-bit sound card (with speakers or headphones). The monitor must be a SVGA set to 640 x 480 resolution with 256 colors. The only optional device listed was a microphone which enables the user to take advantage of the Pronunciation Meter feature. To access the World Wide Web site for language learners, Language Connect(tm), you need an internet connection and browser. The equipment used to test this program consisted of a Dell 486DX66 MZ with 40 MB RAM operating in the Windows 95 environment with MS-DOS 6.22 hidden in the background (reviewer's inability to cut his reliance on DOS availability). and a standard mouse, SVGA monitor. Other items included a 4X CD-ROM, MS compatible mouse, Sound Blaster 16, Dell SVGA monitor, and Labtec microphone met the program's minimum requirements and review needs. The review started by scanning the User's Guide indexes. Then on to reading diverse subjects such as installation instructions, basic terms, automatic speech recognition, world selection menus, audio checks, and troubleshooting. From this it was one giant step into the world most-monolingual English speaking person dare enter - The Spanish Language World. There are individual instructions for the Windows 3.x and Windows 95 users. The installation instructions were step-by-step even though they were almost identical to those instructions paralleled those found on most other programs. However, the instructions for using the program appeared to take quantum steps from area to another. This will be addressed in the Limitations section. The complete installation process took less than 5 minutes. The installation instructions do warn that the program will look for specific video for Windows and database drivers on your hard disk drive and install them if they are not present. For my system, the installation process updated my OLE2.REG driver file and placed my old file in the C:\OLDDRIVR directory. Because of the change it was necessary to select the "restart Windows" choice at the end of the installation. A quick use of other programs did not reveal any problems. Overall the installation was pain-free and in keeping with industry wide installation processes. The one exception related to my system set up. During initial attempts of recording my responses on the microphone the playback sound was very low. However, this must be a typical problem for the User's Manual led me through a system for entering the Windows 95 program to adjust the volume. Their solution worked. A few minutes after putting the guide aside it was time to double click on the "Let's Talk Spanish" icon and prepare to dive into the world of Spanish. Up popped the first menu for selecting Games, Glossary, Audio Check, and Exit. The child in me took over and Games was selected. A new menu came up and asked if I wanted to connect to an Internet browser. The child prevailed and went directly to Games without utilizing the Internet browser. The topics and subtopics offered consisted of
The best game was "Erase" where four pictures were flashed on the screen and you would have to select the right picture for the spoken word. That word was then dropped from the exercise if you selected the correct picture. To me, this provided practice for words you knew then repeated practice for those words you did not recall. Positives: "Let's Talk Spanish" met its designed use for this computer novice. However, some novices might want the phone number of a more experienced computer user or "Let's Talk Spanish" handy just in case some problems arise. Yet, a newbie can immediately dive into this program and get limited use for the effort. As with most educational programs, "Let's Talk Spanish" was fun but required some work to reach the program goal of increasing or learning new Spanish words. For other linguistically challenged people and myself it would take a lot of work to build a Spanish vocabulary. However, in a short period of time there were some common words heard here in San Antonio that became easily recognized. Based on the programs Speech Recognition Meter (SRM), which lights up when words are pronounced well enough to be recognized, my pronunciation of many words improved after a few exercises. I attributed this to the feedback of the SRM. Lastly, "Let's Talk Spanish" has its own uninstall program which, to me, is an asset for any program. Limitations: Let's Talk Spanish" is not a basic language course nor a complete course for learning Spanish. Those programs are the learning objectives of Syracuse Language Systems "TriplePlay Plus" and "Your Way" courses, respectively. This program did not put the vocabulary words into sentences nor were there any clues as to the correct usage in varying conversations. The User's Manual did not have an appendices in the back and only a limited glossary. Possibly the greatest limitation would come from a user's expectation of quickly mastering the Spanish language through this program. Basically "Let's Talk Spanish" serves as an interactive skill builder for learning over 2,200 Spanish words associated with colorful photographs which can be used by novice or more experienced computer users. However, it would best benefit individual's who are somewhat proficient in Spanish and want to increase their vocabulary or pronunciation through an easy to use and fun program.
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