Great, real world language learning tool I had thought about purchasing other language "learn at your own pace" software for Italian for a few years. I finally decided to go ahead and buy one and stumbled upon Fluenz. I had never heard of it prior to this and was about to buy Rosetta Stone since I had their free demo. Fluenz, had a different approach, however, which was to teach conversational Italian - words, phrases, etc. which would be used in the real world. All the lessons are presented in an interesting way with explanations of why words and phrases are used. I decided I'd buy it and I'm extremely pleased with the teaching approach. It teaches you the language in a way you can use almost immediately with phrases which you will use on a trip to Italy - what you learn is everyday speaking. Definitely would recommend!

My Story I have been working through the program for about 3 months. I have found it very user friendly and appropriate for my level (beginner). I enjoy the interactive approach. I plan to visit Mexico again in the relatively near future and hope by then to be able to make myself understood in most everyday activities.

Good program, minor issues. As a beginner, I found the Spanish program difficult to use during the listening and typing sessions. Words often blend together, are rushed, and generally don't make a lot of sense. With the new program, I am not able to report feedback on individual lessons, which doesn't help. At least when I could report on issues I *hoped* they would get resolved. Additionally, I ran into issues with my Mac headset. System requirements are vague and not well thought out. Luckily, the online version of the program sufficed until the issue was resolved (Not resolved by Fluenz tech support.) Otherwise, I do really enjoy the teaching style of the program. The lessons, reviews, spoken reviews, etc have been terrific, and help me understand things mor comprehensively. As a past Rosetta Stone customer, this is by far a much better program.

Knowledge in bite sized pieces I am on Spanish level 5 and have learned the imperfect verb tense from this program. They give the conditions under which the imperfect is used in bite sized pieces with one condition per lesson. I am pleased with how my knowledge has grown. Due to the extensive reviews and interactivity I find that I am retaining what I learn better than I have with other methods of learning such as reading textbooks. I only wish there were more levels.

Fluenz is a great program for when you're traveling abroad. I have tried many different language courses and Fluenz I thought was a simple course that can be done at any time during my free time. I just spent an hour a day on each lesson and it helped me to learn a lot. Fluenz is pretty similar to Rosetta Stone, but it also has some differences. Fluenz is a good program is you are traveling abroad.