Confusing, unsystematic; uses a system that is obsolete and unprogressive

by Hans Weiss
(London, England)

After reading all the other positive reviews of Tell Me More over Rosetta Stone, I decided to see whether this was really a product that could upstage even Rosetta Stone by getting a copy of ?learn English? from the library. I tried out the guided mode and was horribly disappointed.

The very first lesson dove straight into replying to dialogue involving vocabulary that definitely would not be suitable for a beginner in a language. What I was supposed to do in that activity was even more confusing as all three answers seemed valid, thus making it seem like an explore activity. Yet the activity ended up being graded, with no indication as to whether I got an answer right or wrong, or even how an answer could be wrong. The adjacent pictures gave no indication as to whether the answer should match and the computer added to the confusion with responses that did not match the pictures and even with voices in the wrong gender!

Aside from beginning with a confusing and unsuitable lesson, the rest of the activities would not even be suitable for people who want to supplement their knowledge. The units offer little more than a jumbled package of fragmented activities, whose order is in no way decisive in actually helping you actually progress and achieve. Some activities are downright useless, such as the crosswords, which some people would say offers 'fun'. Well, in a language learning software of this price, I'm looking for something that will help me to progress, not to waste time with various obsolete activities that seem to come from a children's classroom!

Now, some of the activities are truly interactive, and would actually aid in learning a language, however they are so scattered that they become rather meaningless. Without being supported by an evident lesson, with an intuitive method for retaining information, like Rosetta Stone does, the aspects that would otherwise be of aid in the program become futile.

I've assessed many programs in the past, and I can conclude that Tell Me More is no different from any of the other traditional, obsolete programs that offer nothing more than a jumbled mess of unprogressive activities. What's more, for its price which is on par with highly acclaimed software such as Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone, it is certainly not worth even a try. Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone both offer, as mentioned by many other reviewers, unique methods that help people to progress and retain information, such as Adaptive Recall and Dynamic Immersion. Tell Me More offers no such comforting 'breakthrough' approach, and tries to feign the "Communicative Approach", whereas in reality, it in nothing more that a jumbled mess. The fact that is features in Instant Immersion, a program of similar disappointment, where it actually features as the main course with a few obsolete audio disks, also tells us something about Tell Me More's desperation for approval.

All I can say is, I'm glad I didn't waste my money considering buying this product. Don't be fooled by other glowing reviews. Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone are the way to go.