Software
Title: Smart Talk French |
Publisher : |
Talk Interactive |
Age Group : |
10
yrs - adults |
Curriculum Area : |
Language Development |
Year of Publication : |
97/98 |
Mac, PC or other : |
PC Microphone |
This
language cd-rom contains three modes of
learning : listening, reading and speaking. It
has several topics to choose from, including Number, Food, Home & Office etc. The classroom teacher could use this program quite
effectively to improve pupils vocabulary, listening skills and pronunciation.
Overview of
Teaching with this Title |
The program
supports language development in all its forms. Special needs pupils could benefit
from the use of the programs listening mode. With
help, perhaps from another pupil they might also manage to use the other modes. The
program allows the pupils to record their own voices, and this in turn can be played back. This activity allows for the refinement of
pronunciation.
This software package was used by pupils in pairs, and also individually.
Potential
for classroom use would be particularly beneficial as backup to language acquisition in
the French class. It is a big plus that the
pupil can select the topic he/she wishes to work on.
In some packages this facility is not allowed so that the learning is
somewhat hit & miss.
The content is accurate, reliable and
up-to-date. It is culturally and racially
balanced. The scenarios are more geared
towards older learners. Scenes such as
checking out an apartment for rent are included. This
is not terribly interesting for primary school pupils!
There are three levels of difficulty, but this really boils down to a choice between
working on (!.) Vocabulary (2.)Phrases, and(3) Conversations.
I liked the fact that the pupils could slow down the rate of speech of the native speaker
to suit their abilities. This would be a big plus for not-so-fluent learners.
As
already mentioned, there is good all-round language exploration (oral / aural/ written
word).
Product is well designed, colourful
and offers plenty of variety. Its easy
to navigate around the program. The
Help feature offers spoken guidance in French which can be a bit off-putting
for beginners.
A nice feature of this program is a link on to the publishers website. Here the teacher can receive technical support,
teacher previews etc. The pupils can also
view a daily language lesson which focuses on Word of the Day.
The program installs easily, and proved easy to run each time.
This is sparse,
being contained in an insert in the cd-rom case. However
it does contain the transcripts of the conversations contained in the program.