TEACHING:
Professional Interactive Chinese is a text-based software which includes two "Books" that introduce the basic sounds, tones, and grammar of modern Chinese. For each lesson there is a dialogue, a phonics instructional activity, two language labs, animation diagrams of difficult sounds, and a Chinese character writing exercise. In my opinion, TEACHING is the most useful section of the program.
MAIN TEXT:
For each lesson, this section offers a conversation between two or more individuals speaking Mandarin Chinese to expose users to Chinese grammar and vocabulary. These conversations taken from real-life situations present language familiar to formal and informal greetings, questions a traveler might ask, and survival-skill level vocabulary. The user can view each dialogue in pinyin romanization, zhuyin phonic symbols (Taiwanese symbols), or Chinese characters in traditional or simplified style, and can choose to hear a male or female voice reading the dialogue. Clicking the left mouse button will allow the user to look at a special grammar point for each sentence. Users can learn some cultural points associated with the dialogue by choosing the "Explanation" option in each lesson. For example, in Lesson Three, it is explained that food plays an important part in the life of Chinese people. So it is no wonder that Chinese people would ask something like "Have you had your lunch?! " or, "Are you hungry" as a typical greeting. As the rate of speech is quite normal, however, beginners may find the dialogues somewhat difficult to follow. Unfortunately, there is not enough time left after each sentence to allow learners to repeat each phrase.
PHONICS DRILL:
The Phonics lesson is meant to introduce the sounds and tones of Mandarin Chinese by using the romanized (pinyin) spelling. Romanization refers to transcribing the sounds of Chinese into the Roman letters used in English and the Romance Languages. Romanization solves a problem for learners who would like to learn the spoken language without having to learn thousands of complex Chinese characters. Users can practice the pronunciation of sounds learned in the main text of each lesson. Unfortunately the drill patterns are not consistent. Some drills display four different sounds followed by four example words in columns. Some drills display five different sounds followed by four different tones of that sound in rows.
VOICE ANIMATION:
The Voice Animation activity allows users to see and hear how to pronounce the basic Chinese sounds. A short audio description of the proper tongue and lip position for coherent articulation accompanies each animation.
LANGUAGE LAB FOR CHARACTERS and LANGUAGE LAB FOR SENTENCES:
These two Language Labs use the recording capacity of the computer to refine users' pronunciation of characters, individual and multiple phonetic sounds and entire sentences. Users can practice their own pronunciation by recording individual words, full sentences and phonetic patterns. However, the technical aspects involved in the recording process may be somewhat intimidating for a non-technical learner. The recording feature is not compatible with all brands of sound cards. In addition, the function of the Recognition Monitor in this part is not clearly illustrated.
(A Sample Pronunciation Screen)
PRONUNCIATION:
The pronunciation screen presents all of the basic sounds in the Chinese language organized by initials and finals (see above). Once a sound is selected, the relevant tones for that sound will be listed at the top left of the screen. In fact this is the most useful and fundamental part for learning Chinese. A better alternative would be to put this part in the beginning of the program, even before the main text, since this would seem to lay the foundation for being able to produce and recognize individual sounds and characters. It is a summary of all the Chinese sounds, rather than sounds relating to any particular lesson.
DISTINGUISH:
The Distinguish exercises test the users' listening abilities by presenting them with and quizzing them on a variety of basic Mandarin Chinese sounds and tones.
(Character Writing Screen)
CHARACTER WRITING:
This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the software. Users can observe the proper way to write the Chinese characters for that lesson by watching the computer demonstrate how the character is written (see screenshot above). The Trace Stroke Drill will allow users to "draw" and trace Chinese characters themselves, but it may also cause some frustration since the "paint " function of the computer can not draw the Chinese characters exactly the same way as human hands. Users may find it more helpful to watch the stroke order as the computer demonstrates, and then practice writing offline using pen or pencil on a piece of paper.
GAMES:
Interactivity is fully realized in this section with a variety of hands-on activities which allow users to practice and test what they've learned. Students can learn and memorize language items while having fun playing in a game-like situation. Each individual game is well designed, but there are too many games focusing on individual characters (5 out of 9) rather than a more holistic approach. And in each game, there is no guide or instruction as to how to play or what the purpose of the game might be. If at the beginning a narrator read out a short description and gave a short example of how to play each game, users would find it easier. Instead, they frequently must consult the Help section and read detailed instructions there.
FIND GAMES:
Users are expected to identify the character when hearing it pronounced. This is a good game to practice listening to different sounds.
MATCH GAME, PYRAMID GAME, CONNECT THE CHARACTERS GAME and FALLING CHARACTER GAME:
Users are expected to find, identify, and connect characters in these games. These are good exercises for vocabulary.
DICTATION:
In this game, the playing area consists of a row of characters with blocks beneath a row of spaces which can hold the blocks. A narrator pronounces a Chinese sentence or phrase. Users are expected to correctly place the correct block of characters in the bottom row into the open spaces to form the sentence which the computer pronounced. This is a good game to make simple sentences and phrases.
(Phonics Drill Screen)
PHONICS FLASH CARDS:
The phonics drill allows users to test their abilities to associate Chinese phonics with pictures (see above). This is a good exercise to help users learn new words as well as to train the ear to the slight differences in sound and tone that distinguish Chinese words.
INTERACTIVE VOCABULARY BUILDER:
The Interactive Vocabulary Builder aims to teach users important vocabulary by using word-picture association. It provides an innovative way to learn valuable supplementary vocabulary which will be of use in the study of Mandarin Chinese. By clicking on an object, users can hear and see the character for that object. Again, problems appear here due to technical aspects. Although the program is functional, the actual display of the objects on the monitor will not always be correct if the controller resolution is set higher than 1024 by 760 pixels, due to a PCI VGA card from Western Digital. Users must try a lower resolution or contact their video card manufacturer for information on updated or alternative drivers. (Granted, this is a higher than standard monitor resolution. At standard 640 by 480 pixel resolution, there should be no such problems.)
(Sample Cultural Note Screen)
ADMINISTRATION:
The Administration section allows one to add users, switch between different users, view progress statistics, and change to a different lesson. One interesting part in this section is CULTURAL NOTES. Each lesson includes a photograph and short cultural points that pop up when clicking on particular areas in each picture (see above). The cultural points are not meant as a substitute for serious study of Chinese culture or travel in China, but do offer users a cursory view of important aspects of contemporary China.
As language learning software, this product emphasizes imitation and memorization of words, sounds and sentences. While imitation and memorization may be important for foreign language learners who want to acquire native-like proficiency, this CD is probably best suited to English speakers who want to pick up some survival-skill level Chinese. Users may find it worthwhile to read the HELP files beforehand and explore the menus a little bit in order to use the CD most effectively. By utilizing traditional Chinese instruction in conjunction with innovative learning tools, this software will enable learners to develop a basic proficiency in Chinese within weeks.
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