Brush up on world languages from French to Swahili

Bottomline: An excellent language resource

Price: £10

Manufacturer: Focus Multimedia

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Any program that claims to be able to teach you 31 languages has a big job on its hands. Leaving aside the fact that few people would ever need to know so many languages (and especially not languages such as Tagalog, Swahili and Haitian Creole), one is left with the feeling that quantity must inevitably have come at the cost of quality.

Thankfully this is not the case. The program is split over two discs, with most of the more obscure languages sensibly relegated to the second disc. Usefully, the interactive elements for each language can be installed separately, so you don’t end up with files on your hard disk relating to a language you have no interest in learning.

Selecting a language to learn launches a tabbed workspace offering the different options of Theater, Reading, Activities, Pronunciation and Conversation. These sections, with their various listening and speaking exercises, will quickly see you building up a broad foundation in your chosen language.

There is a speech-analysis tool that compares your own recorded pronunciation of words with that of native speakers and we were impressed by the inclusion of grammar rules and references, an area often overlooked by basic language programmes.

Naturally, you won’t become an expert using this program, but its depth was beyond our expectations considering the number of languages covered. This is a superb and highly affordable resource for the regular international traveller to help brush up on both familiar and unfamiliar languages.