Product Description

The new Fluenz F2 is the fastest, most powerful version yet. It is the direct result of hundreds of thousands of user hours, built upon their feedback and suggestions to enhance both performance and aesthetics. From small changes to a variety of great new features, F2 delivers a Spanish learning experience far superior to anything else out there.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3300 in Software
• Brand: Fluenz
• Platforms: Mac, Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Dimensions: 5.00" h x 5.00" w x 5.00" l, .81 pounds

Features

• We custom made Fluenz Spanish as language learners who knew there had to be a better way. With 60 sessions of up to two and one-half hours each, this is the most comprehensive software application covering the first and second levels of Spanish anywhere.
• To create a live learning enviroment, similar to what you are used to in a classroom, language tutor Sonia Gil guides you on video every step of the way.
• Adults do not learn in the same way as children; we need to use the rules of languages we know to learn other languages. Fluenz leverages your knowledge of English to accelerate your learning of Mandarin, with an emphasis on those words you are most likely to use.
• A next-generation platform blends beautiful full motion video with engaging, interactive workouts, including voice recording so you can compare your accent to native speech.
• Includes Fluenz Spanish 1 and Fluenz Spanish 2 DVD-ROMs, two audio CDs for additional learning (featuring Hollywood star Edgar Ramirez!), exclusive, downloadable podcasts for further practice, and the handy Fluenz Navigator for on-the-go referencing of important words and phrases.

Customer Reviews

Pretty good, but...
I've made it through lesson 24 of Spanish I so far. I have comments on three areas.

1) The learning method. It's really terrific. The way Fluenz combines listening, speaking, writing and reading really reinforces the learning process. I've done quite a bit of computer based training and this may be the best I've ever used. It's visually pleasing to watch, the format helps you learn quickly, and what you learn is reinforced and expanded on as you go. It's sentence/vocabulary based, similar to Pimsueler, but with Pimsueler you only hear the sentences. Here you listen to them. You see them written. You practice writing them. You practice speaking them and playing back what you speak.

2) Customer Support. Terrific again. In addition to the 800 number, there is an on-line chat system to get get help. Customer Support will answer both language and technical questions. Have a problem with the media. A new one is on the way immediately. Have a question about how the Spanish is used. An answer is available now.

3) The application itself. Not so good here. While the look and feel of the application is pretty stunning, it's not very stable (at least in my case). The application usually crashes once or twice per session. It's not horrible, but it is a pain. It requires restarting the app and manually navigating back to where it died at. I purchased the Mac version. Customer Service attempted to resolve the crashing problem, but couldn't. I asked if I could try the Windows version. Fluenz sent it out immediately, but it wasn't any more stable, so I went back to the mac. It appears to be an issue with the Adobe Director software that Fluenz is built on. This isn't a show stopper for me since I can restart the app, go back to where it crashed and continue, but it is irritating.

Would I purchase it again? Yes. I just wish it was more stable. Even with the instability, I give it 4 stars. If the application was stable, I would have given it 5+ stars.

Excellent prep for a trip to Mexico!
My husband and I just returned from a 10-day trip to Mexico, and we barely even opened our phrasebook thanks to this wonderful software!

In the three months prior to the trip I did 45 lessons total from Fluenz Spanish 1 & 2 (I completed all of DVD 1 and half of DVD 2) on my Macbook laptop, and my husband did about 6 lessons from DVD 1. Once there, we were easily and confidently able to take taxis, order food and drinks at restaurants, make hotel reservations and check into hotels, go shopping, buy bus tickets and take intercity busses, and more--all practical topics which are thoroughly covered in the Fluenz lessons.

What's more, I even had some actual conversations with locals, talking about who I am, what I do for work, a previous trip to Mexico (past tense lessons came in handy, there!) and so forth. Plus I read local newspapers, wrote postcards to Spanish-speaking friends and understood a good portion of the movies that were playing with Spanish dubbing on the intercity bus rides.

Fluenz is a very sneaky piece of software--sometimes the lessons feel slow and basic, and you worry you're not learning fast enough. Then you realize that you have actually internalized the vocabulary and structures so thoroughly that the words and phrases come naturally!

The format is excellent--instead of being stuck just doing writing or reading (as with books) or just with listening with no idea how words are spelled (as in Pimsleur-type programs) or just with uncontextualized vocab (as in Rosetta Stone), you get it all--practice listening, understanding, pronouncing, reading, writing, plus indepth video explanations from the program's language tutor. Plus, it's just plain fun to use (and the nice graphic design and modern look doesn't hurt, either).

Nothing can substitute for a real-life class, but the tutor-driven format of Fluenz is as close to a real-life class as it gets, and it has two big advantages over a class: first, price (since it's a DVD, both my husband and I could share it) and second, pacing/flexibility. On busy weeks I did only one or two lessons, but when I had more spare time (like when I was stuck home with a broken foot) I did a lesson each day. And I didn't have to worry about being at a class at a certain time each week.

I should note that we didn't use the Fluenz DVDs completely alone--I supplemented the lessons by watching favorite DVDs with the Spanish-language tracks turned on, by reading local New York City Spanish-language newspapers and Spanish-language children's books, and by doing some of the written exercises from the excellent book Colloquial Spanish of Latin America: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series (Book Only)). But I think that's a good idea with any language-learning program. And I definitely got my main base of understanding--and especially of pronouncing and speaking!--from the excellent lessons and practice I got with Fluenz.

Fluenz also has really excellent and fast customer service--one of my DVDs didn't work right in my computer and they immediately sent a replacement.

My only suggestions to improvements in the software would be: 1. Changing it so it's not tethered to the DVD itself (I just get nervous because DVDs are so easily scratched and damaged), 2. Adding a way to track progress or record progress and 3. Adding more levels (like level 3).

But those are small things! In sum, I highly recommend this software--and I'm planning on buying the Fluenz French 1+2 Learning Suite Mac, Including DVDs, Audio CDs, Podcasts, and Fluenz Navigator. Next-Generation French Language Learning Software set to prepare for a upcoming trip to France.

How Steve Jobs would teach you Spanish
I really can't believe there exists a Mac-like solution to language learning software. When I think of the language classes I've taken and other educational software options, they are all so dull and archaic. But Fluenz has changed all that. They've got a great approach to how languages should be learned, and implement it with aesthetically beautiful software that is incredibly user-friendly--just like my Mac (which is even better now with Leopard, on which Fluenz runs perfectly!). I had originally bought Spanish 1, and then grabbed Spanish 2 as soon as it was available from the Fluenz website. Awesome awesome awesome!