Rosetta Stone software teaches Spanish with a program known as Dynamic Immersion, in which you view everyday conversations between Spanish speakers. The program displays the words being spoken at the same time as you hear them, letting you make the connection between the written and spoken words. The context of the situation helps you understand the conversation. Rosetta Stone reinforces learning with exercises where you match images to words and build sentences. The program also comes with audio CDs so you can learn in your car or away from your computer. The Spanish language program is divided into five levels. As of February 2011, the complete, five-level set sold for $549.
The Pimsleur program is based on the "principle of anticipation" and "graduated interval recall." The principle of anticipation teaches you to anticipate the correct response as you listen to the speaker. Graduated interval recall means that the program repeats the words and phrases you learned in early levels of the course. English language narration helps put the Spanish conversations in context. An English speaker introduces a scene by saying, for example, "You want to order breakfast in a restaurant. Ask the waiter what he recommends." A Spanish-language conversation follows, with the learner repeating each sentence. Illustrations help visual learners connect words and phrases with images. As of February 2011, each of Pimsleur's three Spanish levels is priced at $345 for 16 hours of instruction. Unlike Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur learning programs are available at many public libraries.
The Tell Me More Spanish language learning software uses a proprietary approach described as progressive, real-world, interactive, movivating, and effective. The progressive approach starts at the learner's level and uses testing to assess readiness for advancement to the next level; a real-world approach uses video, animation and graphics to immerse the learner in an authentic environment; an interactive approach bases exercises on interactive dialogue and speech recognition; a motivating approach includes tracking tools for goal-setting; and an effective approach boasts a 95 percent satisfaction rate. In more than 20 years of business, Tell Me More has earned dozens of awards for its e-learning methodology. As of February 2011, Tell Me More offered software including 10 Spanish levels for $399.99. Like the Pimsleur course, Tell Me More is available at public libraries.
Mi Vida Loca is a free, interactive online course offered by the BBC that is designed to teach beginners the basics of the Spanish language. Learners follow 22 interactive episodes, 10 minutes each, of a mystery adventure set in Madrid, Spain. Because the course is set in Madrid, students learn European Spanish; however, most of the content can also be used to learn Latin American Spanish. Each episode includes a learning supplement with video explanations of the vocabulary and grammar covered in that episode and additional learning activities to help reinforce the material. The program has garnered acclaim from the British Academy Television Craft Awards, winning the Interactive Innovation award in 2009. The BBC recommends students view episodes over a 12-week period and offers a certificate of completion for students who finish the entire course.