Foreign Language Tech

5 Pages 1190 Words

As we all know by now, multimedia surrounds our daily life with its combination of unlimited audio and visual effects. Many of the activities we participate in each day are affected by it. Education is no exception. I found that the Learn to Speak Spanish Deluxe CD-ROM set was a perfect place to explore first hand how multimedia benefits my life. Containing a proactive level of interactivity, the educational CD-ROM was targeted at an age group of young adult and beyond. I found it very easy to navigate around the program. The home page of the program was set up in a simple manner with course menu to take you through the lessons and a toolbar across the top to assist further in an effective experience learning Spanish.
First off, I will provide an overview of the course options and useful tools provided in the program. The home page of the CD-ROM is broken into two major sections. The Course Menu consists of five categories; Language Essentials, Basic Course, Comprehensive Courses, Extended Practice and Cultural Movies. The toolbar consists of nine option buttons; Home, Back, Change Course, Progress, Customization, Dictionary, Grammar, Visit Us Online and Software Support.
The Language Essentials section begins with pronunciation. This allows beginner students to learn and practice pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet and combinations of those letters. It then moves on to Basic Words. Basic Words introduces the student to numbers, time, the calendar and colors. All course sections in the program, these two included, come equipped with an amazing rating and recording feature. The program gives the user an audio of the letter or word being learned and then records the user’s pronunciation of that letter or word, providing a rating from “Tourist” to “Native”. All sections also come equipped with an option to have the translated text present or hidden.
The Basic Course section first allows you to partic...