| RussianNow! | Chorus « CALL |
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LanguageNow! Plus Edition | |
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LanguageNow! Plus Edition RussianNow!Having spent several months hoping to find a satisfactory multimedia Russian language program for our language lab, I finally examined RussianNow! on the recommendation of a colleague. The exclamation point embedded in the title is not my own, but reflects the slightly undue optimism on the part of the creators of this software. In this case, typical language software marketing (e.g., "takes you from beginner to fluent.") has been shrink-wrapped onto an otherwise carefully constructed, versatile, and realistic product. Despite some quirks and limitations, I think it may boast of significant successes. InstallationTo save yourself some time, I recommend that you ask a systems administrator to install the program, even if you are an experienced computer user. With trepidation, I embarked onto the capricious seas of installation. I can program in four languages, but it took me nearly an hour to get RussianNow! installed correctly on my middle-aged desktop Dell PC running Windows 95. Afterward, I still needed to contact Transparent Language with a question about the software. When I managed to reach a technician by phone, he was very helpful. The documentation was slightly incorrect for my computer, though I had happened on the correct configuration after digging around in the installed folders for a while and moving one set of files to another directory. After installing the Educator Toolkit component, which allows the teacher to make vocabulary lists for students, I spent another half hour trying to establish a password, and even more time trying to make vocabulary lists. Overall, the instructions provided with the program are sufficient for installation, but compared to other installation packs these days, overly complex. I hope that future incarnations of Language Now! will incorporate a smarter installation system. OverviewWhat does the student encounter when she runs the program? After providing a password (which opens the configuration the instructor has set) a splash screen with choices of Open a Title, Games, Conversation Practice, Reference, and Product Catalog appears. Actually, most of the program is oriented around the "titles," which are essentially stories or dialogues, often accompanied by full-motion video. The games, conversation practice, and reference are all available through any title. The idea behind the titles is apparently to provide the student with all the elements of a language experience (audio & visual, reading, listening, speaking, and typing). On the left of the example screen shot of the title "Getting Around Russia," we see the text of the story or dialogue, with the sentence being spoken highlighted in blue. The student can play the video bit by bit or all the way through, following along with the visual events or text at will. She can also pause, click on a word or sentence, and hear it spoken by another speaker. Indeed, it seems that there are three different recordings of every word in a title: one voice for each word, one for each sentence, and the voice of the actor in the video. |
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Publisher: Phone: +1 603.262.6300 Quick Summary: Review Contents:
Version Reviewed: $169. Volume discount for purchase of five or more copies. System Requirements: PC: CD-ROM drive MPC compatible audio board (like Sound Blaster) with a frequency of 22.5kHz or higher 256 color monitor Microphone Headphones or speakers MS-DOS version 3.1 or later Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later Mac: CD-ROM drive, Mac OS 7.+, microphone, headphones Screen Shots:
Last updated June 6, 2000 Copyright © 2000 Christopher Cosner and Jim Duber All rights reserved
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