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Critical Languages, U of Arizona

8/1/2029

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Review of Critical Language Series CLS.Arizona.edu 
CD/DVD, No pronunciation scores, Cheap, ★
They are no longer active, but created courses which you can still buy and use offline ($40). They show text written in the target language, and you can choose to hear individual words or sentences in the target language or in English. The audio and video are fairly deadpan. The courses include brief notes on grammar and word use.

They offer no slowing down of the audio to learn it, no breakdown into syllables, no explanation of intonation nor how to pronounce individual sounds. Reviewers of the Portuguese course note that speakers drop syllables,
  • "characters make some of the typical reductions used by natives. Regrettably, their inconsistency throughout the 20 lessons confused students." (Calico 2003, 20:371-9)
With DVDs you can record your pronunciation, and hear back your voice next to the actor's voice, but no scoring to help you judge how well you did. 

Their websites show samples of some of the DVD courses. The tables of contents show they cover travel and classrooms. They do not seem to cover business needs, such as telephone contacts. They say they have, "Up to 12,000 pronunciations and translations" without saying how many of each per language.

The courses are too hard for complete beginners. They may help intermediate students, especially since the website helpfully shows all the reviews they know of for their courses, up through June 2011. Most reviewers are skilled speakers of the languages, so they point out issues in pronunciation or word usage which are important for intermediate learners. These reviews are worth reading before an intermediate student buys a course; a corollary of expertise is that reviewers usually do not see how hard the courses are for beginners.

They offer Cantonese, Mandarin, Kazakh, Korean, Kurdish, Portuguese (Brazil), Turkish, and Ukrainian. Their choice of languages results from their funding by the US National Security Education Program, "NSEP was created to develop a much-needed strategic partnership between the national security community and higher education, addressing the national need for experts in critical languages and regions." 
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Passport Books

8/1/2029

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Review of Passport, Just Enough, Listen 'n Learn, Practice & Improve, Let's Learn, Look'n'Learn, Drive-in, Ticket to
Books+CDs, No Pronunciation Scores, Cheap, ★
They publish several series for major languages.
  • Let's Learn has pictures marked with words in the target language (multiple alphabets where applicable).
  • Just Enough is a good phrasebook.
  • Listen 'n Learn is a cassette or CD of dialog with accompanying text.
  • Practice & Improve is a longer audio melodrama to draw intermediate learners into practice with listening.
  • Drive-in has songs and games for children to listen to, sing and play with.
Amazon reviews are generally positive. (Click for Arguelles' review of Listen 'n Learn and Practice & Improve)
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Passport to Languages

8/1/2029

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Review of Passport to Languages, from eLanguage.com
Words+pictures, Pronunciation scored, Cheap, ★★★★

They teach 35 languages in a combined package ($20). All languages let you record and compare yourself to their native speaker. They earn 4 stars for scoring your pronunciation in US English, French, German, Italian, and Latin American Spanish. They earn 3 stars for other languages. Their scoring of your pronunciation can be set from generous to strict.

They lose a star because their software seems to need Windows 95/98, ME, 2000 or XP. They told me they have a version compatible with Windows 7 and Vista, but when I bought it, directly from their website, it did not work on Windows 7. I tested it with an old laptop running XP. It is an excellent 5-star program if you have access to one of the older operating systems.

They explain lessons in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish, though a few buttons and the installation instructions remain in English.

The pronunciation scoring is under "Learn by Subject," not "Pronunciation."  They say each word, and show spelling and a picture, You choose whether they provide a translation into your own language. They say the word as often as you wish, and you can get scoring of your pronunciation as often as you wish. Sound quality varies but is reasonable.

They cover a lot of vocabulary. In health terms, they have detailed words for different bones, blood and breathing systems, major organs, parts of the head, mouth, eyes, arm, hand and foot, as well as a modest range of health office terms. They teach a charming sequence of 14 emotions with pictures of a mime. They have different health words from Pronunciator, and more than Transparent, though Transparent has helpful detailed pronunciation  graphs besides the summary score.

They explain grammar, but offer no drills or practice.

ELanguage also has more detailed packages in English, French, German, and Spanish, reviewed separately.
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L'Harmattan

7/6/2029

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Review of Parlons, published by L'Harmattan (site in English)
Book+PDF+CD+Cassette, No pronunciation scores, Cheap, in French, ★
Many of these books ($20) can be downloaded. Many have a CD or cassette for another $20, with a mix of French and the target language.

They cover 170 languages, briefly. Each book explains grammar, with some exercises and vocabulary, and also devotes substantial space to describing the culture and history of the people who speak the language. (Click for Arguelles' review.)
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Kauderwelsch

7/6/2029

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Review of Kauderwelsch, Reise-Know-How Verlag (or site translated to: English)
Books+CDs, No Pronunciation scores, Cheap, Most are in German, ★★★
Each short book ($10) teaches basic grammar as well as travel phrases. The audio CDs ($10) are mostly travel phrases. (Kauderwelsch can mean "gibberish," but also can mean "words from different languages.")

They cover 120 languages, and many regional variations of Arabic, English, German, and Spanish, so they will be your best course in some languages, and useful extra practice in others.

They have specific books teaching slang in many languages, a topic which is hard to find elsewhere, though important for understanding movies and ordinary conversation. They teach slang for Australia, Britain, Canada, Cuba, France, Germany (East and West), Hindi, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Quebec, Russia, Spain, Spanglish, Turkey, United States.

All are explained in German, except there are courses in English for speakers of other languages. CDs have a sentence or phrase in German, then in the target language, then a pause, but no breakdown of words or repetitions. Pauses are omitted in the CDs devoted to slang and to German dialects. (Click for Arguelles' review.)
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Schaum's Outlines

7/6/2012

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Review of Schaum's Outlines, McGraw Hill
Books, No Pronunciation scores, Cheap, ★
These are supplementary material in 6 languages ($10). There is no audio. They explain grammar clearly and offer learning advice, with useful exercises.
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