Hop & Skippy�s Language Island

$39.95, Win 95, Win 3.1, Mac OS (CD-ROM)

Teaches: foreign language: Spanish, ESL

CTR Review

This is the first foreign language program we've seen for children that is entertaining, despite some rather crude features and graphics. For those familiar with the Headbone programs, (e.g. Pantsylvania), this one is cartoonish, goofy and fun in the same way. There is, however, no sign-in when you start up the program (so games are not saved), and no levels of difficulty (except for in a number hunting activity in which the mazes get harder with success). Additionally, the graphics are rather grainy, and the play is the same with each use.From the opening menu, kids can go to a castle where they find four activities that are quite effective at introducing nouns, verbs and phrases from not one, but four dialects of Spanish (from Cuba, Mexico, Spain & South America). For example, youngsters can build and then dress their own robot (each part is labeled in Spanish), and go to a Tree House (the least exciting place) where they click on objects in each room to hear and see their labels (a challenge mode tells them the word and they have to click on the object). Kids can also go to a map where they pick a location in which they construct phrases based on an animated sequence (e.g. The hot kangaroo sits.), or visit a Number Safari, where they complete a sequence of mazes while catching the appropriate numbers (when given the Spanish word). More instructions for the activities would have been nice. For instance, it took us a little while to figure out that in order to dress your robot (without the clothes coming off), you need to have all of the robot's body parts in place. We thought that the phrase making activity was particularly good, but were disappointed to find only nine phrases to make. Even with its limited features and design, some testers enjoyed the activities, and teachers and parents both felt that it was a positive, light-hearted exposure to Spanish.