Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Here at EuroTalk, we believe there is no such thing as
someone who is bad at languages--only someone who hasn't yet discovered the
right way to learn. Everybody should learn another language!
Talk Now! is designed for people who want to learn a language quickly. If you
don't have time to become fluent, but need the basics in a hurry, Talk Now! is
for you. Talk Now! uses games and quizzes as a basis for making the learning
process fun and relaxing.
Features:
- Talk Now! is ideal for beginners.
- Comprehensive. Topics include: phrases, first words, food, shopping,
countries, colors, telling time, numbers, and human body parts.
- Interactive. Immediate response to every choice you make. Addictive, fun,
and easy!
- Compare your pronunciation. Compare yourself with native speakers using
the record facility. Microphone required.
- Test your knowledge. Easy and hard quizzes, plus a challenging memory
game.
- Monitor your progress. Keep a check on your total score and print your own
awards.
- On-screen help. Help available at all times in over 75 languages.
- Print a picture dictionary. Print your own dictionary for a handy
reference.
Learn to speak using your own native language!
Most language software sold in the U.S. requires you to first be proficient in
English before you can learn another language. Not with EuroTalk software! All
on-screen help and menus, words and phrases, quizzes and tests--even the
printable dictionary can be changed to the language of your choice!
Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English,
Finnish, French, German, Greek Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian,
Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Mandarin, Malay, Manx, Norwegian,
Papiamento, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish,
Tagalog, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh, Zulu, or any of over 80
different languages!
Spotlight Reviews
5 of 5 people found the
following review helpful:
A worthwhile supplement to Hindi study, but seriously flawed, May 31,
2004
Talk Now Hindi suffers from the flaw which affects most language software.
The manufacturer uses an identical engine for all of their languages, so there
is nothing in the program which would be unique to the Hindi language, and
nothing culturally Indian. This also creates the amusing situation of having
animated Europeans testing your Hindi (the blonde woman may be cute, but not the
type of person you are likely to meet in an Indian bazaar!)
There are several good features of the program:
-Words and phrases are spoken by a male and a femal voice.
-You can choose from dozens of languages for the help language.
-Some of the games are actually quite fun (such as creating the Frankenstein
monster while learning the parts of the body).
But the problems with the program are many:
-Sound is a bit muddy
-You can complete everything in about three hours of work.
-Symbols, pictures, hosts, etc. are all European.
-Because the software engine is generic, you learn a lot of words you would
never use in India, or words for which Hindi speakers use the English word. For
example, you learn that the Hindi word for "tie" is "tie" and "jacket" is
"jacket". Even worse, "Mug" is "mug" and "bread" is "bread" even though there
are commonly used Hindi equivalents for these: "pyala" and "roti" respectively.
-Some of the words are wrong or very rare usages. For example, the word given
for grey is "bhura", which actually means brown. My guess is that whoever they
got to give the Hindi words for things either speaks an odd dialect, or is not a
native speaker at all.
-Many words are spelled wrong in the Hindi script. For example, Israel is
pronounced "Israel" by the speaker, but spelled "Istrael" for some reason.
This program might be useful for you if you are a beginner at Hindi, and want
something amusing to supplement your textbook study. But don't expect to learn
all that much.
All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
9 of 9 people found the
following review helpful:
Do Not Buy this Product!, March 3, 2004
I bought this CD ROM because my boyfriend speaks hindi, and I wanted to learn
to converse with him in his native language. I studied and practiced only to
have him look at me and say "What?". The words are not accurate, they only
provide the hindi spelling, not the english spelling, so learning the words and
their pronunciation is VERY difficult. He laughed out loud when he checked it
out. Don't waste your time and money!
3 of 4 people found the
following review helpful:
Talk Now! Hindi is my favorite, January 5, 2004
I absolutely love this program. They have a female and male speaker, just
click on one or the other. It's very uncomplicated interface, easy to use. I
think it's clear to understand the speakers. And most of all the games are fun
to play. I've got Rosetta Stone which I like a lot, but think is harder and
isn't as much fun; Transparent Languages of the World - I don't like the
pronounciation but I like the conversational style; Vidyarambham Hey, you wanna
learn Hindi which is also very fun excellent for kids, plus really good for
writing practice also. Pimsleur is one I haven't tried - too expensive for me,
but supposed to be a very good way to learn. Books and audio tapes are boring
for me. Talk Now! Hindi is definitely my favorite - good for all ages. I can't
wait to finish this and try their advanced World Talk Hindi!
4 of 4 people found the
following review helpful:
good, but i wish they spoke more clearly, July 19, 2003
I think that it is a good tool, but I wouldn't solely rely on it. The
speakers are not completely understandable...i need my boyfriend to correct me
when i hear it wrong...i sometimes use a book i purchased on amazon.com 'say it
in hindi' to look up the pronunciations...I wish they would have a translation
of what the person is saying in englsh so i could read it as i say it, but they
just have the hindi writing (which i don't understand at all)...it is fun to use
and i've learned a bit while just using it for a few days...in the sections of
'phrases' the speakers talk too fast and i have to play it many times to say the
sentence once...:-/ so i'm just sticking to the one word sections :-P...i'm just
happy to have any software to practice hindi with...
0 of 1 people found the
following review helpful:
good, but i wish they spoke more clearly, July 19, 2003
I think that it is a good tool, but I wouldn't solely rely on it. The
speakers are not completely understandable...i need my boyfriend to correct me
when i hear it wrong...I wish they would have a translation of what the person
is saying in englsh so i could read it as i say it, but they just have the hindi
writing (which i don't understand at all)...it is fun to use and i've learned a
bit while just using it for a few days...in the sections of 'phrases' the
speakers talk too fast and i have to play it many times to say the sentence
once...:-/ so i'm just sticking to the one word sections :-P...i'm just happy to
have any software to practice hindi with...:-P...n i'm even learning some stuff
my b/f doesn't know...hehe
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