Italian
Software Reviewed
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| Software
Title: Junior Talking Dictionary |
| Publisher : |
Focus Essential |
| Age Group : |
7
- 12 yrs |
| Curriculum Area : |
French, German, Italian |
A multimedia dictionary to help children improve their vocabulary and verb tenses.
Vocabulary of over 1000 words. The program allows users to hear the word and to record
their own voices.
| Overview of
Teaching with this Title |
It provides support for teaching Italian but not suitable for special
needs children. The program lends itself to use by individuals, pairs and small groups of
no more than four children. It's main strength is in allowing independent research of
items of vocabulary and in its audion facility. In our classroom, children worked in
groups of three, taking turns to research words and record their own voices.
The content is accurate, reliable and up-to-date. It's not biased
either by culture, gender or race. The vocabulary is appropriate for the target age group
but we found the verbs too difficult. It does not have multiple levels of difficulty and
the user does not have control over the rate of delivery. Each item of vocabulary is
accompanied by a cartoon picture which thus reinforces learning by picture-word-sound
association. The authoring facility allow the user to add his/her own words and
recordings.
The on-screen help is useful and appropriate. It has a simple
child-friendly interface which requires no document reading. It is not possible to
bookmark or print. In the aural feedback the children hear the word and record themselves.
It requires manual installation but launches very quickly after installion. Responses
are fast and satisfying. There is no network version available.
Documentation comes in separate elements with clear instructions. We found the
information sufficent. There were no added resources.
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