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i got this for my son who's only 7, but wants to learn chinese. i wouldn't recommend it for kids, since it's not so visually stimulating, but so far, it's taught us some words. the key is to keep practicing. i wish they'd make something similar that would be more geared for kids.
While it may be naive to presume that one could learn all of the skills needed to speak Mandarin Chinese exclusively through this software, it is certainly a helpful supplement for both beginners and long-time students.My Chinese Coach takes a comprehensive approach to learning Mandarin, as you simultaneously develop written, verbal, and listening skills. This is overlookable though, because the character recognition is generally excellent, and instances where the software is incorrect are discernable by the perceptive student.If you are a Mandarin Chinese student, it will do you well to make this an indispensible part of your outings. This is the review that you want to read. My favorite thing about My Chinese Coach though is the "games" area where you can really sharpen your skills with games that are both fun and addictive.My Chinese Coach also includes a searchable reference area featuring a Mandarin-English dictionary and phrase book, with audio pronunciation of all the words.Through my extensive use of the program, I have found a few overlookable flaws in the software. Buy it immediately. However, the software is flexible enough that you could choose to focus on just one of these areas if you want to. Also many times when you write characters incorrectly, they are counted as correct.
When you have a spare moment, you can sharpen your skills at any time. I am a student of Mandarin Chinese, and have been using this software daily for the past 6 months. I always carry mine along with me, wherever I go. For instance, right now I am focusing of just tone recognition, and I find myself making noticable progression with this software.My Chinese Coach takes the student through a graduating series of lessons which are taught in a casual style with a Chinese teacher that roots for the student as they progress. For instance, in the "fading characters" game, the game's stroke count is not always correct. It is a wonderul program and resource for Chinese learners of every level. :)))
The software will also show a voice print so you can visually see how closely your sound matches the computer's. My Chinese Coach does a pretty good job at covering the basics. This is difficult to do with just books or CDs alone. The writing practice ("Disappearing Words") could've been better done. I'd much prefer to have all the lessons available for the user to choose up front.
My Chinese Coach does sort of the same thing. Syllables like "se" and "chi" are phoneticized as "suh" and "chir". Where it makes excellent use of the DS hardware is with the microphone function. This lays a poor foundation for later.Another problem is the font used for rendering Chinese characters. You can then listen to each separately, or play both tracks at once to compare yourself. The writing recognition is sometimes off. This was probably changed for the benefit of English speakers, but it's just plain wrong. For class, in addition to classroom instruction, we were required to spend at least 30 mins in the language lab a day listening to the tapes and practicing our pronunciations by recording ourselves using the lab's specialized tape console.
I took 2 years of Chinese in college and offer a few comments about how this software stacks up against formal language instruction methods and learning techniques. Why teach something that is wrong just to make it easier. Chinese is a notoriously difficult language to learn, and if you are looking for an informal place to start, this software can be quite a useful tool. The errors are also found in the glossary.
You can play the instructor's voice, then record your own. Without headphones, I found some tones difficult to distinguish and failed some of the listening quizzes.There are some noticeable issues however. The first major problem I noticed is the inconsistent and wrong use of romanization. No book or software can ever replace formal instruction from a qualified teacher or interactions with native speakers, but not everyone has the time, money, or access to that. It is too small and some of the lines blend together, making them hard to see. The developers should've upped the font size.Lastly, I don't like how later lessons are locked until you pass the mini-games and earn enough points to unlock new chapters. The games get repetitive and some are of dubious teaching value, like the Whack-a-Mole game where moles pop up and you're supposed to whack the ones holding the designated word. You have to play them multiple times to fill the progress meter.
It doesn't always recognize when I've finished writing the word, forcing me to add a random stroke somewhere to get the computer to notice.My Chinese Coach is good for what it is, edutainment. It makes an admirable effort at mixing reading, writing, speaking, and listening practice, all of which are vital skills to develop in order to become functional in a foreign language. You can carry it around with you and practice at your own leisure. The instructor's diction is clear and distinct, but the game advises you to use headphones for optimal results. Pinyin, the official standard, is used for most of the software, but I encountered bizarre ones as I was taking the placement test right after you load the game: "duo" and "buo" are phoneticized as "dwuh" and "bwuh". The words are written too fast by the computer and there's no way to slow it down to see the stroke order and direction more clearly. If you're serious about learning Chinese, however, don't let this be your only source of instruction.
I bought this gamesoft to act as a supplement to my JAPANESE studies. Enjoy. While these gamesofts are packed with vocabulary and useful phrases (questions, etc).
If your serious about learning Japanese or Chinese and are looking to the Ubi Soft gamesofts, pick up the corresponding reference materials. The two are completely different languages AND while the temptation to learn Kanji of both languages is strong, you can screw yourself up by not knowing the difference between the Joyo Kanji (the set number of Japanese Kanji characters) and Chinese Kanji (which seems almost unending when working toward fluency). "My Chinese Coach" is similar to "My Japanese Coach" in its approach EXCEPT that there are no syllabraries to guide one in pronunciation -because of this, I highly recommend a Pin Yin pronuciation Guide and a Kanji dictionary such as that published by Tuttle.
-serious students will need a foundation in grammar.Final Note: As I mentioned, I bought this to SUPPLEMENT my studies in Japanese for the reasons stated. "My Japanese Coach" was (and is) a good way to carry a'textbook/reference' in a compact form. "My Chinese Coach" REQUIRES supplemental reference due to the nature of the language itself.
For the cost, the user will have a good idea of the discipline required to learn Chinese (as well as Japanese using "MJC").
I figured that if I only used the program for two weeks, at least it would be a good for reference.Enter: My Chinese Coach (MCC). While I imagine there may be errors with some of the data, the quality is more than high enough to allow one to communicate with native speakers.As a 31 year old project manager for an international corporation, it at first seemed awkward to my coworkers for me to be on my DS at lunch. I got this program (I won't call it a game because it is not) in October 09 for $15. With MCC, I have successfully learned approximately 600 characters in 4 months. Note that you must be prepared to stay with it every day for at least the first three months for it to be effective - knowing this before purchase will temper expectations. For at least 10 minutes EVERY DAY since I bought the cartridge, I have used this program and feel like I have moved worlds with my progress. Since I got it, MCC has been the only cartridge in my DS.
Sure, an effort like learning a language needs to be supplemented with multiple forms of media, but for a language such as Chinese, with unfamiliar characters, one should build a cache of fundamentals on his/her own before enrolling in classes. I attempted to learn Mandarin briefly in 2005, but it didn't last long because learning from Schaum's outlines was only slightly more interesting than watching milk curdle. However, after seeing my progress and being impressed by my ability to commumicate via characters with my Chinese co-workers, a few of them have bought a DS just for MCC. My previous attempt only included pinyin, and a small attempt at speaking. Granted, some of the improvement may be due to my stronger desire to learn the language than before, but I can guarantee that I would have gotten bored two months into it and would be playing the new Zelda by now if it weren't for MCC. MCC is the perfect way to do this.I whole-heartedly endorse My Chinese Coach as a fun and effective way to learn Mandarin. If you have any desire to learn this amazing language, you must start with MCC.
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