Title: Language
Adventure I (Spanish)
Overall Rating:
A
Source: (Demo, Downloaded From Internet)
http://www.worldlanguage.com/
1) First click on Free Downloads in the
upper left hand corner. 2) After the screen loads, click on
the 4th link down(Language Adventure I) to download this software.
Playing Time: This adventure unfolds
through a series of animated lessons, which are constructed from over a
thousand
interactive exercises. There are 4 exercises in each lesson.
Each lesson takes approximately 30-40 minutes to complete.
Software Release Date: Instinct
Corporation: 1998
Cost: $49.95 http://www.worldlanguage.com/
1) First, click on free downloads. 2) After the screen
loads, go to the 4th link down(Language Adventure I). 3) Click
to the right of the link that reads [More Details]. It will bring
you to where you can price and or buy the product.
http://store.yahoo.com/langquest/gadget.html
1) You can order and or price this product
at the bottom of the page.
Operating System:
Windows 95/98, Windows NT, CD-ROM
Number of Players: 1 player at a
time
Special Equipment/Facilities Needed:
For Windows 95/98/NT4 PC's (NOT 3.1) with: 1) CPU Pentium
90 MHz or higher, 2) Memory 16 MB, 32 recommended, 3) 60 MB of HD
storage per student, 4) 4X CD-ROM Drive, 5) 16 bit sound card, and 6) Microphone
and Speakers or Headphones.
Subject Area: The product is multilingual
and is designed for ages 6 to 12 and teaches English, French, German, Italian,
Japanese and Spanish all on the same CD. (My focus is on the SPANISH
language)!
Objectives: The product is multilingual
and is designed for ages 6 to 12. This software is a revolutionary
way for students to learn foreign language/skills on the computer.
Students will speak and understand a new language quickly and have a lot
of fun while learning. Students will learn more than just words.
They will learn sentences and how to communicate in a different language.
Conversation is the main focus. Its approach is in accordance with
the communicative based teaching recommended by the American Council on
the Teaching of Foreign Languages. "The goal of Language Adventure
1 is to get a student to speak and understand a foreign language as
quickly and enjoyably as possible." It does this by instantly capturing
the attention and motivation of children as they get engrossed in a thrilling,
animated story.
Brief Description: "Your student
enters a wonderful world of adventure in which Pico, a Cyberdog, and his
life-long companions, Una and Om, travel through an odyssey of time and
space in pursuit of adventure. With animated graphics, CD-quality sound,
animation and music, your student will not only learn a new language, but
also will become part of the story!" There are over a thousand interactive
exercises that are incorporated into animated lessons that will teach words
and phrases to the students. There are four categories in each lesson:
Narration, Quiz, Author and Discover exercises.
"A narration exercise teaches pronunciation and
vocabulary." In this narration exercise the students are required
to repeat and record the words or phrases that they heard. After
recording, students will hear their own voice recording and the model narration
which will allow students to make comparisons. Then the students
can re-record or continue on to the next exercise.
"A quiz exercise teaches comprehension." The
student is asked by a character to click on something in view. The
animation will continue as soon as the correct object is clicked.
Quiz exercises reinforce what has just been taught in the lesson.
"In the Author exercise students try out the new
language for themselves - here students create their own narrated animated
movie!" This movie scene is an important part of the adventure.
The author exercise is where students "put it all together" and get creative..
"The Discover exercise reinforces and expands the
student's command of the language in a fun, sometimes hilarious way." They
consist many clickables throughout the lessons. When clicking on
hundreds of clickables, a relevant word or phrase will pop up and be followed
by a short animation.
Entry Capabilities Required: This
product is designed for ages 6-12, but, "There are 3 levels of difficulty
that can be chosen for each child at sign-in -- Pre-Reader, Beginner, and
Advanced. Additionally, there is an observer mode that can be enjoyed
by younger children, and that does not require input." Therefore,
students must be interested and be willing to try to learn a new language.
Therefore a beginning Spanish student can benefit from this software as
well as a more advanced student.
Rating: (1-5)
Relevance to objectives: (5)
This product definitely does what is says, meaning that it is a great way
for students of many different levels of difficulty to learn to communicate
and converse in a foreign language. It would definitely capture a
student's attention, motivation, and engross them in a fun and interesting
story. This is also a quick and communicative approach to learning
where students can learn and speak new words and phrases in a foreign language
such as Spanish without having to worry about grammar and mistakes all
of the time.
Provides practice of relevant skills:
(5) This product takes students on a language adventure to learning
many new words, phrases, and sentences in another language, such as Spanish.
Comprehension and oral expression are the most relevant skills that are
incorporated into this product which are two of the main skills needed
to learn a foreign language.
Likely to arouse/maintain interest:
(5) This product is a great motivator to get students to pay attention
and have fun learning a new language. The animation is very colorful,
captivating, and attracts one's attention from the start. The high
point of this product is, "when a lesson is completed and watched in its
entirety with only the student's narration. The thrill is indescribable
as children hear themselves speaking a foreign language in an action packed
adventure of their own making."
Likely to be comprehended clearly:
(4) It takes a few tries for students to figure out exactly how to
work the microphone and when to record. After a few tries it is easy
to catch on and understand completely because what needs to be clicked
on next is highlighted. There are no tricks and the layout or sequence
of each exercise is the same.
Technical quality (durable, attractive):
(5) This CD is very attractive, colorful, and quickly catches one's
attention. The cover of the CD contains different flags of 6 different
countries which makes one wonder how all 6 languages can be on one CD.
It makes one interested in finding out more about this product!
Game: Winning dependent on player actions (rather
than chance): (5) It's not about
winning a game. "The stories/lessons are sequential, each building
upon the previous lesson." Students aren't competing, but are having
fun while learning a foreign language. When they complete a lesson they
can watch it over with their very own narration, and then go onto the next
exercise.
Simulation: Validity of game model (realistic,
accurate depiction): (5) This
product is fun to play in a mythical world of adventure where students
actually get to hear themselves speaking a foreign language in an adventure
that they made themselves. This games allows students to "really"
learn words and phrases in a new language.
Evidence of effectiveness (e.g. field-test results):
(4) "The phrases learned are valuable ones, and kids seemed to absorb
many important phrases. The animations helped to reinforce the words, phrases,
and sentences learned, and kids particularly appreciated hearing their
own voices played back as the animations were replayed. This program
does a good job of teaching and strengthening foreign language skills.
Lessons are sequential and are customizable. The good range of difficulty
levels makes it appropriate for children of differing age groups and skill
levels. Those looking for a nice addition to their foreign language
software library will likely find this program quite valuable."
Overall: Recommended:
The Bottom Line: "This program does a good job of introducing and
reinforcing foreign language vocabulary to children aged 6-12, and possibly
younger than that (when set to a pre-reader level or observer mode).
(Score: 7.9 out of 10)"
This evidence came is from,
The
Review Corner, "a site dedicated to providing parents with detailed
children's software reviews and ratings, interesting articles about kids
and computers, software news, educational product reviews, PlayStation
video game reviews and more!"
The site is: http://web.paticafe.by.net/Heartland/Oaks/1079/reviews.html
1) First, click on "Title" in the left
hand column. 2) Second, scroll down and click on Language Adventure
I.
Clear directions for play:
(4) It takes a few minutes or so into the game to completely understand
how everything works, especially the microphone. Fortunately, the
next object that must be clicked on will be highlighted to move the student
along. A small user manual comes with the CD which will answer one's
questions.
Effectiveness of debriefing:
(5) Language Adventure 1 generates reports regarding the student's
progress, effort and study time. "These reports continuously update and
can be printed out." The reports contain a list of lessons, the number
of exercises in each lesson, the percentage of lessons completed, the amount
of time taken for each lesson, the date the student began the lesson, the
number of exercises completed so far, the average grade of the lesson(if
graded by the teacher), etc...
Strong Points:
The strongest points of this product is that it is a quick and effective
way to learn a new language. The animations and story line will capture
the student's attention and interest. This program allows students
to learn a foreign language and incorporates oral expression and
comprehension into this learning process. One of the strongest aspects
of this program is that students get to hear their own voices(in the foreign
language), played back, when the animations are replayed. The great 3 level
range of difficulty levels makes this product appropriate for students
of many different skill levels and of different grades.
Weak Points:
It does take a few minutes to completely figure out how to play this game.
It may look a bit complicated at first, but as soon as students become
familiar with the directions it is much easier. It does take
a few tries for one to figure out exactly how to work the microphone and
when to record.
Reviewer: Pamela Bice
Position: Student in Education 410
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2000
Computer System Reviewed on: IBM Compaq
Presario, 5020, G7 300, 64mb ram.