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This arose from me frantically trying to buy a friend of the family a present for her birthday, which was only two days around. Obviously there's the conventional chocolate, clothes etc approach but I thought I'd veer towards something a little more worthwhile, it being her 30th.
She's currently in the process of trying to learn Italian. This basically just involves a one hour a week course at the local comp, aiming to develop a profiency in actually using the language, rather than to prepare for an exam.
However, as seems to be the case in most school-taught languages, there's too heavy a focus on the grammar element of the language. This wouldn't be a problem in itself but if, like me, you find it hard to actually get to grips with an understand this sort of thing from a foreign tongue you can quickly go out of your depth.
The idea to check the internet for a suitable programme came out of watching the RosettaStone language instruction programme on tv. However, after visiting the site and seeing the hefty £150 pricetag I realised I definitely wouldn't have any luck there any time soon.
So, this is where searching on the 'net to find something suitable came in. I checked out Amazon, which had a decent enough range of things - such as a couple of books and a book/CD combo but it looked like more of the same old, same old.
Instead I came upon link word languages which looked like it offered something geuinely innovative and helpful.
If you go on the site yourself you can run through the demos and read up on the basic premise of the system.
I'll give you my own little synopsis of it here: you're presented with the English word then the corresponding word in the language you're attempting to learn, which is written in its correct form and in the form of phonetics. A female voice reads out the word, which can be repeated as many times as you like.
Where linkword differs from most, and probably all, language learning software is in its use of a slightly strange example to help plant the word in your subconscious;
"The Italian for BIRD is UCCELLO
Imagine the conductor in an animal orchestra saying to a BIRD.
"YOU CELLO, me conductor.""
You're also given a range of sentences to translate into Italian and from Italian to English. What's particularly good about these is they introduce grammar periodically and in a straightforward way, while providing examples that don't actually make sense - forcing you to learn the vocabulary. If you're unsure what I mean, check the site out
The site boats the ability to teach a language up to 3x faster than normal learning methods, which I think is a valid claim.
It's not the cheapest option, but compared to other competitors (such as RosettaStone) it's a bargain. I opted for the £40 software version that gives you Levels 1 - 4, from complete beginner to the ability to read and understand the average newspaper. With 10 Sections in each level, thats only a quid a section - nothing too pricey. The other option is to get Level 1 as a standalone for £30 or opt for the £54 CD course, or £40 MP3 Audio. These prices are sourced from the Italian option, but seem to be pretty standard
Software's definitely the most price effective and you get it instantly. It can be downloaded to a USB Drive and then whacked onto any computer of your choosing.
There's also a linkwordlanguages eBay profile and you can read the 'Google success story'
Ciao x
She's currently in the process of trying to learn Italian. This basically just involves a one hour a week course at the local comp, aiming to develop a profiency in actually using the language, rather than to prepare for an exam.
However, as seems to be the case in most school-taught languages, there's too heavy a focus on the grammar element of the language. This wouldn't be a problem in itself but if, like me, you find it hard to actually get to grips with an understand this sort of thing from a foreign tongue you can quickly go out of your depth.
The idea to check the internet for a suitable programme came out of watching the RosettaStone language instruction programme on tv. However, after visiting the site and seeing the hefty £150 pricetag I realised I definitely wouldn't have any luck there any time soon.
So, this is where searching on the 'net to find something suitable came in. I checked out Amazon, which had a decent enough range of things - such as a couple of books and a book/CD combo but it looked like more of the same old, same old.
Instead I came upon link word languages which looked like it offered something geuinely innovative and helpful.
If you go on the site yourself you can run through the demos and read up on the basic premise of the system.
I'll give you my own little synopsis of it here: you're presented with the English word then the corresponding word in the language you're attempting to learn, which is written in its correct form and in the form of phonetics. A female voice reads out the word, which can be repeated as many times as you like.
Where linkword differs from most, and probably all, language learning software is in its use of a slightly strange example to help plant the word in your subconscious;
"The Italian for BIRD is UCCELLO
Imagine the conductor in an animal orchestra saying to a BIRD.
"YOU CELLO, me conductor.""
You're also given a range of sentences to translate into Italian and from Italian to English. What's particularly good about these is they introduce grammar periodically and in a straightforward way, while providing examples that don't actually make sense - forcing you to learn the vocabulary. If you're unsure what I mean, check the site out
The site boats the ability to teach a language up to 3x faster than normal learning methods, which I think is a valid claim.
It's not the cheapest option, but compared to other competitors (such as RosettaStone) it's a bargain. I opted for the £40 software version that gives you Levels 1 - 4, from complete beginner to the ability to read and understand the average newspaper. With 10 Sections in each level, thats only a quid a section - nothing too pricey. The other option is to get Level 1 as a standalone for £30 or opt for the £54 CD course, or £40 MP3 Audio. These prices are sourced from the Italian option, but seem to be pretty standard
Software's definitely the most price effective and you get it instantly. It can be downloaded to a USB Drive and then whacked onto any computer of your choosing.
There's also a linkwordlanguages eBay profile and you can read the 'Google success story'
Ciao x
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This arose from me frantically trying to buy a friend of the family a present for her birthday, which was only two days around. Obviously there's the conventional chocolate, clothes etc approach but I thought I'd veer towards something a little more worthwhile, it being her 30th.
She's currently in the process of trying to learn Italian. This basically just involves a one hour a week course at the local comp, aiming to develop a profiency in actually using the language, rather than to prepare for an exam.
However, as seems to be the case in most school-taught languages, there's too heavy a focus on the grammar element of the language. This wouldn't be a problem in itself but if, like me, you find it hard to actually get to grips with an understand this sort of thing from a foreign tongue you can quickly go out of your depth.
The idea to check the internet for a suitable programme came out of watching the RosettaStone language instruction programme on tv. However, after visiting the site and seeing the hefty £150 pricetag I realised I definitely wouldn't have any luck there any time soon.
So, this is where searching on the 'net to find something suitable came in. I checked out Amazon, which had a decent enough range of things - such as a couple of books and a book/CD combo but it looked like more of the same old, same old.
Instead I came upon link word languages which looked like it offered something geuinely innovative and helpful.
If you go on the site yourself you can run through the demos and read up on the basic premise of the system.
I'll give you my own little synopsis of it here: you're presented with the English word then the corresponding word in the language you're attempting to learn, which is written in its correct form and in the form of phonetics. A female voice reads out the word, which can be repeated as many times as you like.
Where linkword differs from most, and probably all, language learning software is in its use of a slightly strange example to help plant the word in your subconscious;
"The Italian for BIRD is UCCELLO
Imagine the conductor in an animal orchestra saying to a BIRD.
"YOU CELLO, me conductor.""
You're also given a range of sentences to translate into Italian and from Italian to English. What's particularly good about these is they introduce grammar periodically and in a straightforward way, while providing examples that don't actually make sense - forcing you to learn the vocabulary. If you're unsure what I mean, check the site out
The site boats the ability to teach a language up to 3x faster than normal learning methods, which I think is a valid claim.
It's not the cheapest option, but compared to other competitors (such as RosettaStone) it's a bargain. I opted for the £40 software version that gives you Levels 1 - 4, from complete beginner to the ability to read and understand the average newspaper. With 10 Sections in each level, thats only a quid a section - nothing too pricey. The other option is to get Level 1 as a standalone for £30 or opt for the £54 CD course, or £40 MP3 Audio. These prices are sourced from the Italian option, but seem to be pretty standard
Software's definitely the most price effective and you get it instantly. It can be downloaded to a USB Drive and then whacked onto any computer of your choosing.
There's also a linkwordlanguages eBay profile and you can read the 'Google success story'
Ciao x
She's currently in the process of trying to learn Italian. This basically just involves a one hour a week course at the local comp, aiming to develop a profiency in actually using the language, rather than to prepare for an exam.
However, as seems to be the case in most school-taught languages, there's too heavy a focus on the grammar element of the language. This wouldn't be a problem in itself but if, like me, you find it hard to actually get to grips with an understand this sort of thing from a foreign tongue you can quickly go out of your depth.
The idea to check the internet for a suitable programme came out of watching the RosettaStone language instruction programme on tv. However, after visiting the site and seeing the hefty £150 pricetag I realised I definitely wouldn't have any luck there any time soon.
So, this is where searching on the 'net to find something suitable came in. I checked out Amazon, which had a decent enough range of things - such as a couple of books and a book/CD combo but it looked like more of the same old, same old.
Instead I came upon link word languages which looked like it offered something geuinely innovative and helpful.
If you go on the site yourself you can run through the demos and read up on the basic premise of the system.
I'll give you my own little synopsis of it here: you're presented with the English word then the corresponding word in the language you're attempting to learn, which is written in its correct form and in the form of phonetics. A female voice reads out the word, which can be repeated as many times as you like.
Where linkword differs from most, and probably all, language learning software is in its use of a slightly strange example to help plant the word in your subconscious;
"The Italian for BIRD is UCCELLO
Imagine the conductor in an animal orchestra saying to a BIRD.
"YOU CELLO, me conductor.""
You're also given a range of sentences to translate into Italian and from Italian to English. What's particularly good about these is they introduce grammar periodically and in a straightforward way, while providing examples that don't actually make sense - forcing you to learn the vocabulary. If you're unsure what I mean, check the site out
The site boats the ability to teach a language up to 3x faster than normal learning methods, which I think is a valid claim.
It's not the cheapest option, but compared to other competitors (such as RosettaStone) it's a bargain. I opted for the £40 software version that gives you Levels 1 - 4, from complete beginner to the ability to read and understand the average newspaper. With 10 Sections in each level, thats only a quid a section - nothing too pricey. The other option is to get Level 1 as a standalone for £30 or opt for the £54 CD course, or £40 MP3 Audio. These prices are sourced from the Italian option, but seem to be pretty standard
Software's definitely the most price effective and you get it instantly. It can be downloaded to a USB Drive and then whacked onto any computer of your choosing.
There's also a linkwordlanguages eBay profile and you can read the 'Google success story'
Ciao x