Software or web, Pronunciation scored, Expensive, ★
Each language costs $200-$500 depending on levels and version. They say it can be exported to MP3 files or audio CDs to practice on the road.
Amazon reviewers say the content and speakers start too fast for beginners and expect you to know words which have not been taught. You can see this in the web demo of Spanish (Spain), which expects you to know señor, mujer, chica, niño, as well as the order of words in Spanish and remote geography. However it can be good for intermediate learners. Reviewers also say the software runs slowly. The demo's sample lesson on grammar is cryptic: "The verb 'ser' is used when the description put forward is not susceptible to change whatever the circumstances."
It scores pronunciation generously. I got undeservedly high scores in Spanish. A graph shows volume and an extra line for pitch to help you learn intonation. This would be good for Mandarin, which is one of the languages they teach. Reviewers say that in sentences, you must speak each word separately to get a good score.


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