New Products: Before You Know It
Transparent Language Inc. (www.transparent.com) has launched Before You Know It, a language-learning program that uses electronic flash cards to help users easily and effectively master essential vocabulary and vital phrases in Spanish, French, Italian and German. The program, which is available for PCs and handheld devices, presents themed sets of vocabulary as a series of flash cards using a proprietary presentation scheme that makes learning faster and easier - with the program actually tracking a user's progress and presenting the words that need work more frequently. Before You Know It vocabulary lists include full native speaker pronunciation, so users can learn how to pronounce the new material like a native speaker. Users can acquire more than 1,000 words and 250 common phrases by progressing through four stages of learning. As a user moves through each stage, the program tracks his or her progress, recognizes achievement, and reviews the words and phrases that the learner is having the most difficulty with. In addition, by using a free downloadable viewer, the software allows users to share lists with other Before You Know It users, teachers and family.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2004 issue of THE Journal.