Ease of Use:  

This German language program is easy to use because the controls are intuitively designed and well organized. Finding your way around in German Before You Know It is simple.

Feature Set:  

German Before You Know It is a good tool to help you acquire and practice vocabulary and some writing skills.

When first begin German Before You Know It, you'll be asked to choose from a list of German words you'd like to master, then you can view the list or use it to play one of four flash card games. Those games include: Recognize It, Know It, Produce It, and Own It, each progressively more difficult. The program begins with simple words then uses the words in phrases. The simplest game allows you to choose the correct word from a multiple-choice list; the most challenging game requires you to listen to the word and type in the correct translation.

As you complete each word list, the software tracks your progress and ranks your skill so that you will be motivated to top your score by broadening your vocabulary.

Transparent includes a speech recognition tool to measure how close you are to pronouncing like a native German. We found this wasn't completely accurate, but the tool can give you a general idea of your pronunciation accuracy.

Ease of Installation:  

We had no problems installing German Before You Know It.

Help/Support:  

The help and documentation for German Before You Know It are excellent. The normal wait time for an email response is two business days. Transparent offers technical support Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST and has FAQs and updates available from their homepage. You can also submit a technical support request form.

Fundamentals:  

The focus of this program is on building German vocabulary, but German Before You Know It also teaches you how to read and write and helps you practice your listening skills. But German Before You Know It lacks grammar instruction and conversational conversation practice. The program is an excellent tool for improving vocabulary and for learning the correct German pronunciation, however.

Effectiveness:  

If acquiring fluency in the German language is your goal, this product alone is not the best choice. German Before You Know It covers mainly vocabulary building and pronunciation, and this is a good start.

German Before You Know It is a fine flash card program designed to increase vocabulary and pronunciation. It is available for Palm device or Pocket PC, allowing for constant, convenient German language exposure.