JumpStart Spanish
© 1997 Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
We've yet to see a program for young children that presents foreign languages in an appealing, well designed, child-oriented context. While this one has a way to go with its uninterruptible instructions and reinforcers, slow pace, and slightly repetitive theme, overall it does a good job of presenting more than 200 Spanish (or English) vocabulary words. Children learn the Spanish names for familiar objects by matching body parts, animals, toys and furniture in a concentration game. They can also click on clothing to dress a bear, collect guests from different parts of a town for a party, explore furniture in four rooms of a doll house, count objects, and paint pictures with different colors. For most of the 10 activities, kids can simply explore the objects and their names, or test their knowledge through a directed activity. In Wall Poster, for instance, children click on a monster's body parts to hear the words in Spanish (or English), or select the monster's body parts, according to instructions. For every five solutions, the child earns a star. Once kids have five stars they turn them in for a fish or accessory for their fish tank. Testers loved this reward! Games are saved, as are fish, but kids still have to sit through the lengthy instructions each time they play. The activities themselves are straightforward but a bit too dry, and the slow pace between questions and other transitions interrupted the program's flow. While in general the reinforcers were effective, parents commented that some were excessive. (Note that the program presents vocabulary words in English or Spanish and instructions can be set for Spanish, English, French or German.)
$30, Win 95, Win 3.1, Mac OS (CD-ROM)
Teaches: foreign language, Spanish or English