Spanish Whiz

Learn Spanish with this simple program aimed at helping users develop speaking skills from the ground up. With easy controls and a few surprises, this is a great tutor for those getting into this beautiful language.

The program’s interface will be a blessing to computer users of all skill levels. With simple icons that do a good job of describing their function, users need only hold the cursor over each for a more in-depth description to pop up. A Help file is also available, which focuses on program functions and not Spanish language. Users begin by choosing what level of competency they are at with three level buttons. From here, users can choose from a range of icons across the top for tools like Listening Comprehension (a voice repeats letters and words for users to hear), Dictation (users hear a word and must write it down), and a Spanish-to-English dictionary.

All programs operated intuitively, with clear voices speaking and simple quiz-like setups to track our progress. As skill levels increase, the tests grow from simple words and the alphabet to conversational Spanish.

One feature we found to be particularly fun was the tool for joke telling. Users can see a joke in Spanish and press a button to translate it.