I’ve been thinking about getting a German language course for my PC and they can be quite expensive, so I thought I would see if anyone has had any experience with them and if they know of any that are better than others, if they are worth getting at all.
Does anyone have any experience in this area?
The ones I saw at the store are at http://www.ibsinfotech.com/
oh… I thought this was going to be a question about learning C++ or something. I’ve had mixed results both as a student and instructor in computer programming, but this is irrelevant.
I can’t speak for German, but so far I haven’t seen any good integration of computers into language learning in my area of specialty, Japanese. You’d think there would be plenty of nice interactive multimedia gadgetry with mp3 audio tracks, but no, nobody’s making anything serious. I guess there’s no money in it.
However there is a bright side. With the internet, you have instant access to a huge library of current German texts, newspapers, online dictionaries, etc. It is a bonanza for self-learners, there has never before been so much instant study material at your fingertips. I like to read daily foreign language newspapers with the assistance of an online dictionary in another browser window. And maybe with luck you can find some online streaming video for more german practice. Daily news reading builds vocabulary over time, and it is the most practical vocabulary because it is the commonplace everyday events in the news that occupies much of our conversation and language.
I can definitely say they work. Well, I am biased because I work at a German software company which produces excellent programs for language learning. We are planning on going on the British market shortly, but unfortunately our main business is done in the German-speaking countries. Still, you can check out our homepage at
http://www.digitalpublishing.de
BTW - our German programs are good…but only if you have a basic knowledge of the language already