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. The company was taken over by Rosetta Stone in early 2014, but products can still be bought from retailers.
Amazon reviewers say the content and speakers start too fast for beginners and expect you to know words which have not been taught. When it had its own website, you could see this in the web demo of Spanish (Spain), which expected 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 was 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.