TeachMe! German Reviewer's Comments

TeachMe! German from LinguaShop is a fine program to learn the basic grammar of the German language. Before each lesson, the program clearly explains the grammar involved in that lesson. Additionally, it includes a book and audio CD to assist learning. TeachMe! German also does an excellent job improving your German vocabulary.

Ease of Use:  

TeachMe! German was easy to use. The navigation was simple and straightforward. The help program was self-explanatory and answered of our questions.

Feature Set:  

One feature we liked in TeachMe! German is the German skills progress tracker. The personal progress tool displays your results on a line scale; when you succeed, the line goes up, and when you are struggling, the line angles down. Before you can advance to the next German language level, you need to receive a specific rating. This approach gives you a sense of accomplishment once you complete a section.

Another tool we enjoyed was the story application. You are offered a wide range of German stories to choose from, each story is missing words throughout. Your job is to choose the correct word to fill the blank spot. This is a fun way to build German reading comprehension and use vocabulary in context.

TeachMe! German also lets you choose which learn German mode you would like to run—simple to challenging. There are three to choose from-one helps you by finishing the word if you get the first few letters correct. In contrast, the most difficult mode requires you to spell each German word correctly without help or hints.

Ease of Installation:  

We had no problems installing TeachMe! German.

Help/Support:  

The help offered by LinguaShop is quite good. They offer phone support and answer emails promptly. There is not a FAQ page, but the help files at the beginning of the program answered all of our questions about the software.

Fundamentals:  

TeachMe! German covers several German language fundamentals quite well. As you read the story exercises in German, you not only improve your reading skills but also gain insight on German culture.

The TeachMe! German speech recognition software does not clam to judge your pronunciation with great accuracy, but we felt the program did an adequate job rating if pronunciation was poor, acceptable, or good.

But this learn German software doesn't offer live or simulated German conversations. This crucial exercise would help you build confidence and spontaneity skills so that you can communicate with someone in German comfortably.

Effectiveness:  

With TeachMe! German you will gain a greater understanding of German grammar. And the program will not only help you retain German vocabulary, it will also show you how much you have retained; the program determines your active vocabulary and passive vocabulary retention. TeachMe! German is an excellent start for acquiring German fluency, but the program can't give you complete fluency without supplemental support in vital skills such as conversation practice.

Summary:  

TeachMe! German is a simple program to use, and the software will help you build and retain your German vocabulary. One liability of TeachMe! German is the limited conversation practice. For German fluency, there are better software programs available.