| | The following comments are from Neal Walters, "Language Lover" and creator of this web site. I been using Auralog - Tell Me More - Italian on and off for the last year. Auralog is a fascinating program. It's strong suit is that it can tailor itself to what you need to learn, for example, perhaps your goal is to understand spoken Italian. In that case, you don't need to learn to spell, so the program can skip over the spelling exercises to help you accomplish your goal faster. If you like to learn at your computer, then Auralog "Tell Me More" is a great program. Personally, I like to learn in my car, and I find it difficult to set aside much time to learn at the computer. When I do get a chance to learn on the computer, it is a very rich experience, because it is truly "multi-media", i.e. you see pictures or movies, hear the words, see the words, and the computer is a very patient tutor. I see Auralog as another great tool to go with Pimsleur. Learn Pimsleur in your car, then learn your reading and writing on your computer.
| Pimsleur | Auralog - Tell Me More |
|---|
| Can be learned entirely without book. | Must sit in front of the computer to learn. | | Each lesson introduces maybe approximately 20 vocabulary words, and intensely drills you on them using the Graduated Interval Recall method. | I do find it sometimes frustrating the way they throw new words at you. There is a dictionary function, but it takes a few clicks to get there. So if you don't understand a word, just use the dictionary, then click on the word, and you see its meaning. I still haven't got a grasp on how many vocabulary words you learn per lesson, and it's even hard to tell where one lessons ends and another one begins. However, they do have some very interesting progress charts. | | Each Level includes thirty 30-minute lessons. | I'll have to confirm how many levels there are. Most languages have a beginner, intermediate, and advanced CD. Auralog say they have 750 hours of learning, divided into 6 workshops and over 3600 exercises. I see Auralog as another great tool to go with Pimsleur. Learn Pimsleur in your car, then learn your reading and writing on your computer. | | Uses the Graduated Interval Recall method. | Just like math, each lesson builds on the prior lessons. | | Conversational dialogs, about 30-45 seconds long, are introduced at the beginning of each lesson. Then the rest of the tape teaches you how to speak and understand that dialog with near fluency. | I'll try to come back and add more on this topic soon. | | Does it work? | Does it work? |
|---|
| Pimsleur works great for me, because I like to learn in the car without a book. | After completing Pimsleur German Level III, I still wanted to know more German. However, I chose to learn Italian from Auralog because it was a language I didn't know much about. I actually didn't feel like I was learning as much as I wish I would have using Auralog. I later tried Michelle Thomas' course on Italian - and I'll write about that soon. The downside is that you have to be at your computer to use Auralog. | | Media | Media |
|---|
- 30 Lessons on 15 CDs or Audio Casssettes
- One reading CD or tape
- One small reading booklet
(does not transcribe the materials on the lessons).
| - One installation CD, and 3 CDs of lessons (beginner, intermediate, and advanced - for most western languages).
- No book
|
|
