Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I discovered Ouino's Spanish Language software almost by accident. I was looking on a website that did a side-by-side comparison of different products: Fluenz, Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, Berlitz, Tell Me More, etc. Ouino was very highly rated (it came in at #4) which I found odd because I had never heard of it and hadn't seen any other mention of it. THE DEMO I had tried the Fluenz demo, and while I liked the tutor-style approach the pricetag was definitely a turn-off. Other programs on the list either had no demo or just a video showing the features. Enter Ouino. Ouino lets you download a portion of their program. The demo is a good and accurate representation of the full version. Between the Fluenz and Ouino demos, I have to say that Ouino was far and away the most fun, filled with bright, colorful pictures and challenging games with a scoring system. With the Fluenz demo you mostly listen to Sonia Gil talk and do lots of repetitive typing lessons. THE PURCHASE Ridiculously easy! I kid you not, you can be using the full version of Ouino in the next 15 minutes! Instead of having the software mailed to you, you can *download it* from their website. They accept paypal and credit card. Then you get a download link and a product key in your email. Copy and paste and Tada! you are using the full version and you don't have to worry about storing a DVD somewhere. The software even works offline which is a huge plus. THE OUINO APPROACH This part is very important! Unlike most language software that uses a linear "enter here"-->"do this next"-->"exit here" approach, Ouino uses a "buffet-style" approach. The user gets to pick what aspect of the language they want to focus on. Want to learn more vocabulary? There is a whole section that is nothing but vocabulary! They even have a dedicated "fantasy" lesson where you can learn words like "dragon" and "knight". --There are *tons* of verb charts with well-explained examples of the conjugations. The only thing I didn't see was the Subjunctive . . . but I have yet to see *any* software program cover the subjunctive. I really hope Ouino adds this in the future and I believe they could do it very easily. --There is a Conversations section that has--as far as I can tell--very "normal" sounding conversations. None of this ueber-formal, rigid Pimsleur language that will make locals laugh at you. --My personal favorite, there is a Pronunciation section where you can practice on the individual Spanish sounds and hear a recording of your voice compared to a male and/or female native speaker. So as you can see, instead of being led the by hand every step of the way, Ouino gives you the freedom to pick what you want to focus on. Some may see this as a negative, but I see it as a positive because it means that you will be less likely to lose interest in the software as a result of having this freedom. GAMES Ouino has the best games and quizzes. There is a scoring system that encourages you to truly master the material. In addition, some games have a timer where you lose points if you take too long. Stuck on a question? There is a brilliant hint system where you can spend part of your score to get a scrambled-letter hint or some other clue. Even the multiple choice questions are great because you sometimes have 6 options to choose from and not just 4. As for the written portions, they are very forgiving about accent marks and the accent marks are easily added by clicking on an on-screen letter (as opposed to Fluenz where you have to press [ and the corresponding letter on your keyboard). INTERFACE The interface is very user-friendly, full of large buttons and easy-to-read text. There is also a generous use of pictures and colors so that you aren't looking at a boring background all the time. The English narrative and male and female Spanish speakers are very clear in their pronunciations. The production quality is very good compared to some programs where it sounds like they recorded the audio at the bottom of a well or back in the 1960s. CUSTOMIZATION This is one of the many things that absolutely sold me on this product. Ouino is the Linux of language software in that you have such a large degree of control over your learning experience. Here are some of your *many* options: --Listen to male native speaker --Listen to female native speaker --Listen to both --Turn music on/off --Turn ambiance on/off --Increase/decrease time interval between sentences anywhere from 1 to 9 seconds --Select if the audio is fast or slow . . . or both. --Subtitles I have used these controls to greatly enhance my learning. For example, if I want to practice saying sentences ala Pimsleur method, then I increase the time interval to about 3-4 seconds. If I just want to hear the dialogue "full speed" like it would be in real-life then I decrease the time interval to 1 second. You can make these changes as you go, they are always available to you. I don't remember quite as many options in the Fluenz demo. AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT No software is perfect and Ouino is no exception. I do wish they had the Subjective verb charts. I also am curious as to why they chose to teach the verb "comprender" instead of "entender" for "to understand." From what I've seen and read, "entender" is more likely to be encountered. I also wish there was a way you could go back to the sub-section you were working on after finishing a quiz. The way it is now, after you finish a quiz you can either restart the lesson, go on to the next or go to the main menu. I also wish they prompted you to choose a star-rating at the end of each section or quiz for how well you think you know the material. The star-system they currently have is not very prominent at the bottom-right-hand corner of your screen and if you forget to select a rating you have to re-open the lesson to give it one. You can even see what I'm talking about if you try the demo, but really, those are just nitpickings. I've seen some language software where I have written at length on what I disliked about it--I'm looking at you Rosetta Stone. OVERALL I've just started using the full version, so I can't comment too much on how good the software is at teaching you Spanish. A lot of it assumes that you know what you want to study. I can see this aspect being an outstanding tool for someone who has a problem area in Spanish, whether it is a certain consonant sound (that tricky "RR") or a particular verb conjugation. But even just going through the verb charts I've picked up on a few things (Tengo que aprender Espanol!) For beginners I would recommend the pronunciation sub-section, the alphabet and numbers. I liked how for the numbers they actually count all the way to 100, skipping nothing! But even intermediate learners of Spanish can probably learn a thing or two from this program, whether it is perfecting a conditional or future-tense verb conjugation or learning how to say something playful like "Be careful! I could drink your blood!" Again, if you want ueber-formal Spanish like Pimsleur, you won't find much of it here. As someone that has looked at *lots* of different language software programs I encourage you to at least give the demo a try. You might end up agreeing with me that this is the best Spanish language software you've never heard of.