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Is the Transparent Language system good? | ||
Tags: Language Program | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Sin_Nombre Newbie United States Joined 5136 days ago 19 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 1 of 10 18 February 2011 at 6:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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My friend swears by it, but I've never even seen it mentioned on these forums. Figured I'd ask.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 2 of 10 19 February 2011 at 12:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Last I checked, it was pretty rubbish.
Transparent language was first released in the DOS days, and what they sold back then is pretty recognisably the same as what they're selling now. They've spruced it up with a few graphics and with audio recordings, but the underlying pedagogy hasn't changed... and it isn't good. The whole system is based on a small set of dialogues. As you go through the dialogues, you get to see translations of individual words and of whole sentences at the bottom of the screen. You read as the phrases are read out to you. The dialogues are based on the usual situations: checking in at the hotel etc. There is very little structured repetition of particular vocabulary or grammar (exception: most dialogues start with some form of "hello" and end with some form of "goodbye"). You are tested on the exact sentences as they occur in the dialogues, so you can work from memory rather than developing an understanding of the structure of the language. As I said, there is little repetition -- this means that you don't get to see the variations and cannot develop an understanding of the language. The only good thing about Transparent Language is that they have a package called "101 Languages of the World". It contains basic courses for a few dozen languages (totalling about 3 hours of dialogues, IIRC) -- the rest of the languages are just vocabulary trainers. It won't teach you one language, never mind 101, but if you're genuinely interested in becoming a polyglot, you'll be able to use it as supplementary materials for several languages and it will probably be worth the money. But I wouldn't buy an individual course from them. NB: Focus Multimedia distribute Transparent Language products in the UK under the Focus brand. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5263 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 3 of 10 19 February 2011 at 1:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've never tried the Transparent Language system, so I'll take Cainntear's word. What I do find useful about them is their "blogs". I'm learning Portuguese now and I review their Portuguese Blog about once every two weeks. It almost always has something of quality interest to me on it and helps me with different grammar and vocabulary points with lots of video available. It's a good supplement to my other methods.
They also have a similar blog exploring 20 languages from Arabic to Thai with all the "biggies" included- just click the drop-down menu at the top left "Learn another language". Their Portuguese blog is a big help to me in my studies of Portuguese. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5035 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 4 of 10 19 February 2011 at 4:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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10 or 11 years ago, I bought some cheap software from Transparent Language that had 30 languages on it. I found it again and looked at the languages I know, and the user interface was so bad, I simply can't comment on the quality of the pedagogy. I realize this is an old product that I have found again, but I was not impressed. I know what it was so cheap at the time. I also have no desire to seriously seek out any new versions that might have been updated.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 10 19 February 2011 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | ||
I have a 2003 101 language version and a 2007 30 language version, and apart from cosmetic changes, they're exactly the same product. I've looked at the screenshots of the 2010 version on Amazon, and the interface is still the same as it always was, and looks the same as the 2007 version, which was out of date even when it was new. The interface in the 90s was pretty much the same as the versions I've got, except that it was in DOS so the mouse pointer was a big square. See it for yourself on Computer Chronicles (archive.org) It's easier to make money by tinkering at the edges of an existing product than writing something new and better.... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7147 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 6 of 10 20 February 2011 at 2:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I like the Transparent Language programs.
They are useful and are worth the low cost. There are a number of options for each language. I don't see them as complete language programs but they are a useful tool to have in addition to a complete course. The 101 Language program was my introduction to Transparent and I have recorded the audio for a few of the more obscure languages so I can play it on my mp3 player. You can vary the speed of the playback which is useful. You can get the literal meaning of any word. You can make your own notes. You can get grammar explanations for words in context. You can get the literal meaning meaning of a phrase or sentence. At less than 50 cents a language (here in Australia for the Eureka version) that is great value for money. It is easy to play the audio any time you are on the computer to get used to hearing the language. It also gives a summary of grammar and the construction of the language. I have had none of the problems described with the older versions. I see the 101 (or 70 in Australia) Languages as a great, inexpensive way to become acquainted with a language before you begin serious study. I have a number of individual languages as well. They come in several formats but I haven't done any serious work with them so I can't comment. In Australia, the Let's Learn xxx Language programs cost around $10 each and they are a more traditional approach. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sin_Nombre Newbie United States Joined 5136 days ago 19 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 7 of 10 22 February 2011 at 4:29pm | IP Logged | ||
What resources have you found for Portuguese? I've begun studying recently and it's difficult to find anything (for Brazilian Portuguese). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hobbitofny Senior Member United States Joined 6234 days ago 280 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 8 of 10 23 February 2011 at 8:00am | IP Logged | ||
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I find the flash card program very useful.
The main program is not great but is a helpful aid. I would not recommend it as the primary source for learning a language, but it is useful. For me, the Complete Russian package has been worth the cost. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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