TELL ME MORE German v10 10 levels (PC DVD)

I'm not a complete beginner at German because I did the O level. The fact that it was O level gives you some idea of just how long ago it was! Hence I felt the need to brush up my spoken German to allow me to converse with German colleagues on a more personal basis. I should point out that this is no good for anything other than normal conversation since technical German is not covered by this course. However, if you want to learn German for Holidays or moving to the country this software would be perfectly suitable.

Firstly I have to say what a crushing disappointment the quality of the headset was. Considering the cost of the course I would have expected something better.

I didn't have a problem with the speed of the courses like some of the other reviewers but then I already have some knowledge of pronunciation and grammar. It's amazing how much I remember!

I found the videos quite useful but the ability to put continued learning material onto an MP3 player was the highlight of the package because it allowed me to continue to learn at work and other times I'm away from my home computer. The diary scheduling has helped to keep me working away at my pronunciation and, despite my issues with the headset, the speech recognition works well.

I'm hoping to get some real world practice in the next few months, which will provide a much better measure of the success of this software and I'll update the review then.

There's most definitely a lot of good to be said about this comprehensive course.

- it makes use of different learning tools which makes the process more interesting and varied
- it is all on one CD so compact and clutter free
- all levels are built up very similarly with an introduction to the topic, testing of comprehension, written, grammatical, listening, speaking etc. skills. I've got to say that this is not entirely positive as when you, like I did, decide to start from scratch so as not to miss anything. Already by level 2 (of 10!) there are some tasks that start to feel rather tiresome and it would be nice to have a bit more variety than is on offer.
- the German actually sounds like German (to me anyway) and the sentences are for the most part quite useful
- I can hear (and of course test) the progress in my pronouciation and feel much more confident speaking the language - so it really seems to be pretty successful (for a CD/online course anyway).

There are, however, also a fair few negatives in the experience:

- the testing is not very accurate. I "weighed in" at level 6.9 of 10 at my first test which is certainly very generous and flattering by the system, but nowhere near the truth. I do understand a fair bit of basic German, but when it comes to grammar, sentence construction etc., I am at a complete loss (or rather I was before I got started on the course). As mentioned above, I decided to start at level 1 anyway, so as to "enjoy" the full experience, so therefore I didn't suffer the frustration that I would certainly have experienced had I chosen to start at level 6.9.
- the headset is unfortunately not of high quality. A shame since it is not exactly a cheap course and many of the exercises can only be performed by either listening or speaking, so a comfortable fit and proper sound quality is of the essence.
- many of the conversations/pictures seem rather dated and even stereotypical. This is of course not a major problem, but you'd still expect the makers to update from time to time.
- a major point, however, is that if you take a break during a "sub-lesson" and want to return at a later stage, that is not an option, so you'll have to start the sub-lesson over again and either re-do all the exercises or skip forward at every step. It's boring, but if you decide to skip the step, the lesson will show as not finished on the overview. Overall, I actually found that the levels were divided into too many sub-lessons and that it resultet in me having to use the mouse excessively - as an example for the pronounciation lessons, you have to click a button to get to the lesson, then another one (at the opposite side of the screen) to start the mike and then back to the "forward button" to skip to the next word - after which you repeat the exercise. It is a lot of wasted time by the end of a full level! (and here I even skipped mentioning the mouse clicks that are necessary should you fail to get the pronounciation right the first time).

Despite the above complaints, I really am quite positive about the course and really do think it is useful. It just requires persistence and I think if they sorted out the negative points, it would be pretty much perfect. Until then, you might want to get yourself a good headset and get the tea ready for the long (but hopefully rewarding) hours ahead.

I was initially disappointed on receiving this item. The box is huge but there is not much in it except for your course CD and a headset which is awful. I could not get the headset to sit comfortably so I ended up using my own.

With this course, you get computer based videos etc but I copied the files onto my ipod touch mp3 player so I could easily listen to them while on the move. This is an excellent facility. Hopefully I will just about pick up enough for our holiday next year. Even when I fall asleep while listening in bed, I feel that it's going in subconsciously too.

I've actually used the audio files more than the computer product which is based on both visual and audio learning. The computer side seems very polished but I have less time personally to sit at a PC and so for me it is easier to listen to the files while I'm traveling.