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My Chinese Coach (Nintendo DS, 2008)
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$19.99
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Pro: This is a great fun way to learn Chinese. There are learning tools like listening, audio, and writing, as well as games. I love the library where you can search an english word and it will gives you not just the mandarin translation, but also the audio. So if you travel to China and need to ask for something, you can just click it and it will read it out loud. How convenient. The audio tool is excelent as it lets you repeat the word and record it to match the teacher's voice. Cons on this item is that the stroke writing is too difficult to follow because the strokes are done too fast. I had to keep repeating it just to catch which way the strokes go. You see the words being written like magic, too fast. Can't follow at all. Also the screen is too small to fit a few chinese characters. You see a bunch of tiny lines but not something very clear. However when you click on each character to learn to write, you will see a clearer and bigger version. If the characters are very complicated... it will not appear clearly. I have to use online search to get the write strokes. There is also a slight defect on the system because you can write the character wrongly and it register it as correct. Most likely because the ds was counting the strokes. Sometimes I have not finish writing the character and it already says "correct". Sometimes it doesn't let me finish my character because it just jammed... maybe it should have 8 strokes, and I paused and write it, so it recorded mine as more than 8 strokes. Conclusion, still a good buy. If you care to learn and not worry about writing it correctly, definately get this!Read full review
Not for beginners.I was hoping this would be more methodical in it's use of "frequency dictionary" learning sets and that it would provide step by step tutelage for stroke order. On the latter it seems completely lacking which is a big disappointment for me. There is no pause between stroke animations and if you blink, you'll miss it-- especially complex characters-- very frustrating. However, the software is solid and what it does it does very well-- think of more as a very sophisticated flashcard database-- best for someone who already has a little Chinese under the belt. The audio and recording and wave forms are excellent but I'm more interested in learning to read and write Chinese- not speak. If you're just starting out, like me, go get Delcan software and/or Rosetta. I was hoping to have the funness and conveniesnce of a DSI game for my Mandarin orthography, but I will probably make more use of this when I am further along in my learning but it's too advanced for a newbie like me. It feels like trying to start a language with the 2nd year coursebook- possible but difficult and inefficient. Rosetta and Delcan- you should make apps for iPhone and DSI! Xie-xie!Read full review
I think that if you are dedicated, this is an excellent starting point for you. I commend Ubisoft for putting all of the DS's tools to use - it's really an excellent job by them. I don't think this title could ever necessarily replace formal language lessons, but as a starting point, or a supplement to those lessons, it comes highly recommended. Even if you use it just to practice your calligraphy, it's certainly worth it. And for those who aren't absolutely dedicated, but would just like to learn the basics, you can certainly do that with My Chinese Coach. Most of the pronunciations are easy to understand, but every so often, you might have to replay something a few times over to comprehend. Headphones also make a significant difference, so keep that in mind if you're having trouble. Over all its a nice program to get you started or to brush up but if you need to learn Chinese for work or to really interact fully then you need a different program or classroom instruction. If can get this title for under $15 then its worth picking up but it is not worth full retail price of $30.Read full review
I've studied Chinese for several years, and I mostly got this game in order to brush up on my characters. It does that task adequately, but I could see room for improvement; it'd be nice if you could set the fading character game to not show the character at all, and force the player to recall it entirely from memory, that would be nice. There a few technical problems in the game; My Chinese Coach and I seem to be forever at odds with how many strokes there are in the radical for "woman," for example. The writing recognition software is still pretty fuzzy, and will often accept characters that aren't drawn properly. One very nice thing is that my brain seems to register MCC as "recreation" rather than "studying," which is a good way to trick me into studying more. I would suspect that this sort of game would be most helpful if you had studied a language, been out of practice for a while, and wanted to get back into the swing of it again (for this reason, I plan on getting a copy of My Japanese Coach sometime soon).Read full review
Just brilliant! So simple to get to grips with, even my mum can use it! It begins with an (optional) assessment test to check your level, and once completed, the game moves you forward to a lesson appropriate for your level. The lessons involve learning words and phrases on a given subject (e.g. colours) using several games (I've yet to unlock them all!) such as hit-a-word (basically whack-a-mole with words underneath them), flashcards, multiple choice questions, and a brilliant tones game where it shows you a word or phrase with the tone missing, and you pick the right one. By far the best element of this game, is the Speaking Tests. If you're unfamiliar with the My Coach series (as I was) then you'll be blown away by this too! You tap a button to hear how the word sounds, then tap another button TO RECORD YOUR VOICE! you can then play both you and the woman's voice together to make sure you got it right! Genius!! Ahem, moving on... The game advances as you earn "Mastery Points" for everything you get right, and you need to master a lesson to unlock the next one- a good one for me because I'm a sucker for taking a peek at more difficult exercises when I'm learning languages! The game also includes a dictionary, phrasebook, and a sketchpad, where I like to make a note of characters I spot while out and about for later grilling! I would say sometimes the characters are a bit small, but so far for me, I haven't confused any- and when it comes to practicing writing them, they're huge anyway! I haven't seen any characters that look too similar in the same lesson as yet, but those with poor eyesight might have some trouble. Overall, a brilliant find- it's just a shame it isn't out in the UK!!Read full review
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