Product Description

EazySpeak titles take you to Doki city, a cartoon world where you play games to learn how to speak a language. Doki City has shops, hotels and a population of Dokis waiting to talk to you. Go to the restaurant and order dinner or visit the supermarket and you will be learning to speak a new language, just as you would in a foreign country. Linguists call this approach "immersive" and say it is the best way to learn. Eazyspeak Spanish contains both beginner and intermediate levels and is designed to help teenagers and adults develop spanish skills, through a fun story and educational games.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2951 in Software
• Brand: Kutoka US Software
• Model: 51104
• Released on: 2004-12-06
• Platforms: Windows 98, Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me
• Format: CD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .40 pounds

Features

• Game-like learning system teaches over 800 words of vocabulary
• Quickly extends conversational skills; no lengthy explanations and exercises
• Portrayed in a comic cartoon style; modern, interactive, and full of humor
• Includes both beginner and intermediate levels
• For ages 12 and up

From the Manufacturer
EazySpeak's unique approach to learning takes you to Doki City where you interact in your new language with the humorous Doki characters in scenarios that you would encounter when traveling, such as making introductions, dining in a restaurant, going to the supermarket, and checking into a hotel. With no grammar or rules to learn, users decide on their own path to follow through the software, making learning more enjoyable. The Doki characters familiarize the user with a new language and provide them with the basics for everyday conversations.

Designed like a game, EazySpeak titles are entertaining and compelling. The longer you stay and play, the more you learn. What most of us want when we approach a foreign language is quick results without having to work too hard. These products take the sweat out of learning by increasing both the fun and the intuitive factors. After playing EazySpeak, the basics of communication will be instilled and the learner will have noticed that--even as an adult--language learning can come easily.

Features:

• Great for the home or the classroom
• Two levels included in one product (beginner + intermediate)
• Quickly extends conversational skills
• No lengthy explanations and exercises
• Teaches over 800 words of vocabulary
• Game-like learning system
• Portrayed in a comic cartoon style
• Modern, immersive, interactive, and full of humor
• For ages 12 and up

Customer Reviews

Not appropriate for younger children . .
My husband bought this program for our 6 year old daughter who is taking a Spanish class at school. It was advertised as a children's program and the labeling was ambiguous as to what age was appropriate. Once installed, it was clearly innappropriate for younger users--full of sexually suggestive content and disturbing images (e.g. dismemebered and decapitated 'characters' in the tutorial section, cartoon-style violence, female characters with exaggerated physical characteristics, characters smooching excessively, etc.). While most older kids wouldn't be fazed by this, and might find the cartoonish violence amusing, it's not a game for a youngster. I advise parents of younger kids to look elsewhere and of older ones to preview the content and decide if it's the kind of game you want your child playing with. On the plus side, for adults and teens, the immersion-style structure of the activities seemed to be easy to use and quite instructive.

For Mature Audiences!
I've been using EazySpeak Spanish for about a week now and find it HIGHLY enjoyable and amusing. I do, however, have to agree with other reviews in that it is not for children. I was a little surprised at the semi-nudity of the characters and how, in one exercise, one bikini-clad female had semi-circles in her chest region to suggest nipples. Also, elsewhere in the program, one is introduced to the Spanish words for beer, rum, brandy, cigarettes, and various types of wine. All of these topics should be off-limits to a 12 year-old, which, the box claims, EazySpeak is suitable for.

Overall, the program is fun. However, a parent should know beforehand that there are exercises such as "Help the Thief," which is a numbers game in which you assist a burglar in breaking into a safe. Also, there is an entire exercise dealing with drinks which takes place at a bar. Finally, there are the occasional moments spiced with "adult humor"... one such moment being a man kissing his wife goodnight while in bed, but fantasizing about a cute female at his job. Again, not child-appropriate, but all of this should be left to the discretion of the buyer.

For ALL ages! BEST WAY TO LEARN SPANISH IMHO
When I tried this program out, I at first had some trouble running it. [...] They give you a link for the version of Flash 8 you need to run. After this everything worked well.

While some may have been offended by bathing suits and bodacious characters (all characters are clothed), I did not find it offensive in the least nor did my young kids. Yes there is some kissing (cute but not obscene), but get real, if your kids are not allowed to see people kiss, then yes, this may not be the program you want for them. IMHO there is absolutely nothing obscene here folks.

This program is the best thing going for learning Spanish quickly! I would recommend it for both children and adults. It immerses you into actual environments, such as restaurants, hotels, taxi, bank, etc. It is fun and exciting to actually start conversing right away with Spanish speaking people. There are many games and puzzles that you work out with real life scenarios. Very artistic and fun. You can go to the bank, the hospital, and several different places, learn a new set of words and situations that you can really use in a foreign country. My hats off to the designers and creators of this program. Well done!! Bravo! Muy Bien.