The only interactive language program featuring a real teacher who guides learners every step of the way, explaining in English the intricacies and shortcuts of Chinese. Ideal for those who thrive in a teacher-oriented learning environment, who need to understand how the language works in plain English, and who seek relevant Chinese they can actually use while in China. The team behind the application combines recent Harvard and Cornell graduates, some of whom went to China to learn the language and understand the specific challenges for English-speakers, seasoned Chinese teachers trained in the teaching of Mandarin to non-Chinese learners, and veterans of technology start-ups. The goal was to create the ideal program they would have needed when they went to China.
The Program:
Fluenz Mandarin 1+2 is composed of 45 full sessions taking up to 2.5 hours of work each. Every session combines realistic conversations between native Mandarin speakers with comprehensive tutorials explaining each new word and structure being learned, followed by a series of increasingly challenging workouts that provide thorough training in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Each session features a set of clear, common sense tools that progressively increase the learner's range of communication. Instead of endless expressions that follow simple present tense sentences no one really needs (the man eats, the woman runs), Fluenz builds steadily from useful structures like questions and commands (Where can I get a taxi?, Stop here), and useful vocabulary (restaurant, transportation, directions, etc.) to more and more complex speech.
What You Learn:
- The program covers the four-tone system of Mandarin pronunciation, essential verbs, sentence constructions in past, present, and future tenses, correct pronoun use, the ability to formulate different kinds of questions and answers, how to issue important commands, how to express time, location, and give directions, and essential vocabulary for surviving in the Mandarin-speaking world.
- Fluenz emphasizes what you need to say in in real-world situations, such as "Can I pay with a credit card?" and "I want this one," rather than the traditional simple sentences usually taught ("This is an apple").
 - The program includes extensive work on asking for, understanding, and giving directions. After training on directions, it shifts to comprehensive work on structures.
- Building upon all the structures related to directions and time, Fluenz places considerable emphasis on transportation situations, including specific vocabulary and expressions involving cabs, train stations, bus stops, and the airport.
- After establishing a strong base in essential restaurant, cafe, food, and drink vocabulary and expressions in the first few sessions, the program provides thorough practice on situations specifically related to going out to eat in China.
- Shopping also receives a lot of attention, with in-depth explanations and practice on a range of skills related to communicating with both small shopkeepers and shopping mall clerks. For example, Fluenz includes considerable work on adjectives in order to describe items and make comparisons, while providing key tools to negotiate prices--a critical ability if you're bound for Beijing.
- Essential vocabulary and phrases related to the world of work and the 2008 Olympics.
How Fluenz gets you there: - A real on-screen tutor who guides you every step of the way.
- Using English to help you learn Chinese.
- Teaching relevant material from the very beginning.
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The Fluenz Approach to Chinese:
- Chinese is easier to learn than most people imagine, but it must be clearly explained. For example, one of the biggest challenges for Westerners is the fact that each syllable must be pronounced with one of five very different tones. Two words can have the exact same letters, like ma, but they can mean either mother or horse depending on which tones are used. While these tones are very difficult to learn by simply listening to them and hoping to imitate them, a simple, common sense explanation in English (comparing familiar English sounds with each tone) can go a long way to mastering them and to navigating the many exceptions and changes that govern their use.
- Using English can make all the difference in understanding "measure words," a key concept in Chinese that is absent from Western grammars. There is no way a learner can grasp when and how to use the right "measure words" unless the concept is explained and practiced in English. Mere imitation of expressions is simply no substitute for a good understanding of what's going on.
- The Fluenz recording engine helps people hone their use of tones through self comparison, which makes far more sense than voice recognition systems that are so finely tuned to the five tones that it becomes very difficult to get it right. While voice recognition has advanced in recent years, its use in the learning of Chinese by English-speakers can actually hamper learning by forcing them to meet impossible standards. Beginning Mandarin speakers should first focus on being understood, not on achieving a perfect pitch.
Audio CD + Podcasts:
The program includes an audio CD for the car stereo or Ipod providing extensive workouts linked to the material covered in the DVD-ROM. In addition, Fluenz Mandarin users get access to a series of informal and entertaining podcasts developed by the Yi Wei and Eric Biewener, part of the Harvard team working at Fluenz. The podcasts cover issues of pronunciation, culture, etiquette, as well as providing additional workouts based on the common sense approach guiding the entire program.
What's in the Box
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 deciding between fluenz and rosetta stone |
| Review Date: August 30, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Aaron Gibralter, New York, NY |
| When I decided to buy software to learn Mandarin, I thought Rosetta Stone was the only option. Luckily, I came across Fluenz before it was too late. At first, I was intrigued by Rosetta Stone's no-English rule and spent some time with their demo. But after comparing the Rosetta and Fluenz, I started to think the Fluenz method might be better. Sonia Gil, an English-speaking tutor, gives you tools to build phrases, and then sentences. The Fluenz linguists believe, and I tend to agree, that adults learn differently than children. By explaining key things in English, rather than having a bunch of Chinese thrown at them, adults can learn how to say many things very quickly. If you visit the Fluenz site you can see how powerful this is when it comes to learning phrases like "I need a taxi", or "I want a cup of coffee" in the first lessons. It would take weeks or even months for anyone to learn those phrases in Chinese the Rosetta way, by merely pairing images with their corresponding words. It seems difficult to learn a language without a teacher or tutor, and it is impossible to learn Chinese tones without a proper explanation.The Fluenz learning experience is further enhanced by its beautiful design. By comparison, the Rosetta V2 application, though nicely packaged, doesn't seem that up to date (once you pass the demo video, you can actually see what the real interface looks like). But the strongest point for Fluenz is the human element. Sonia takes the learner step by step, building skills that are practiced in a series of very creative workouts covering writing, reading, comprehension and expression. Overall, my experience with Fluenz has been great. I fully recommend the software for anyone interested in Mandarin. |
Fluenz, best language course for the buck!
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| Review Date: August 29, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Caveman, Boca Raton, FL |
I ordered Fluenz Mandarin 1+2 for my upcoming tour of China (second tour in 6 months). I want to be able to communicate (even if only slightly) with the Chinese people.
Sonia(Gil)makes understanding and speaking Chinese very easy. ALL new words are explained and pronounced thoroughly and sentence structures are likewise explained. Other language courses may leave you guessing what was really said when converting to English. Not so with Fluenz! That was the selling point for me.
I did have a small problem with tone marked letters jumping out of sequence when doing my lessons and ending up with misspelled words. I got an email response from Fluenz (after they read my review on another site) instructing me how to correct this. It has sped up my lessons significantly and was a pleasant surprise to be contacted by the company without even asking for help!
I don't think you can go wrong by ordering this course. It's on the expensive side, but well worth the price! |
Learn Mandarin!
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| Review Date: April 30, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dr. C. A. Holland, Columbia, MO, USA |
Fluenz Mandarin is a comprehensive program for anyone wanting to learn Mandarin Chinese from scratch. It is meant for learners over the age of 13, and it would be quite useful both for those trying to establish a strong foundation before proceeding to more advanced or specialized work, as well as for those who need survival skills for business, travel or casual conversation.
The software follows a Mac aesthetic: clean, elegant, and modern. This philosophy goes well beneath the surface and can be felt throughout the program. The learning system -- which features a tutor on full-motion video guiding the learner every step of the way, a series of relentlessly challenging exercises, and the use of English to "leverage" the learning of Chinese -- are all very innovative. Fluenz Mandarin is composed of 45 sessions that cover essential vocabulary, grammar, and syntax by going over realistic interactions involving restaurants, giving and receiving directions, negotiating cabs and other forms of transportation, shopping, basic conversations, and even the 2008 Olympics. Each session can take up to three hours each, depending on the learner's speed.
Each session opens with the tutor, Sonia Gil, who led the development of the program and who guides the learner from beginning to end. She explains, gives context, motivates, and keeps the whole thing going with stories of her own experience with learning Mandarin in China.
After the introduction, there is a conversation that can be followed with or without subtitles (available in English and pinyin). Sonia follows with an explanation of every word and expression used. This is the heart of the method, since she systematically compares every word and expression in Mandarin with its counterpart in English. It seems straightforward and it is, but it makes a big a difference to anyone learning.
The tutorial is followed by a series of interactive "workouts." These start with a simple review of the vocabulary and basic expressions, move on to clever matching games, and then to actual writing. Learning to write is the only way to internalize different tones because writing provides a visual cue that helps the learner retain this most challenging part of learning Mandarin. The writing workouts combine both reading and writing, and then listening and writing, and they progress from simple words to more complicated expressions. The latter relies on an innovative color-coding scheme.
The workouts also make use of a recording device that allows the learner to record and compare her or his Chinese with that of native speakers. This device first deals with simple phrases, and then offers the learner an opportunity to insert her or himself into a conversation. After a couple of review workouts, Sonia comes back to conclude the session.
Like any software program that surpasses its many competitors in quality, effectiveness, and ease of use, Fluenz is its own worst enemy. After spending some hours learning Mandarin very fast, it's altogether natural for learners to want more and better, yet Fluenz thwarts that desire on a number of counts. For instance, the navigation doesn't allow learners to repeat a workout once completed. Moreover, there are instances in which sound would nicely complement written workouts, but isn't available. And more advanced sound recognition technology would make a difference. These are features that users should rightly expect to find in future upgrades of the software. |
Good product, still version 1
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| Review Date: February 3, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Chinese Student, USA |
| First of all, I think that Fluenz Mandarin is a pretty good product compared to the others out there. It will get you to speak and understand spoken Chinese relatively quickly. However, probably mostly the mistake on my part, I didn't realize that the program doesn't familiarize you with written Chinese whatsoever. I don't prefer to learn pinyin, which is a set of romanized Chinese words, nor practice writing in it, and native Chinese probably understand very little pinyin, if at all. I'd also would prefer a native Chinese speaker in the lecture (there are plenty of native Chinese speakers in the US who speak perfect English without much accent). Sonja has great pronunciation and understanding of the lessons taught, but I can still notice slight differences, such as how she overstress the fourth tone, almost to the point that she's screaming it (a common practice for those whose first language is non-tonal, including me). Lastly, it's hard sometimes to remember which lesson you're on since it's not marked in any part of each lesson. I have to try to mentally remember which lesson I was in especially if I continue it another day. Fluenz is an excellent program for most people who'd prefer to learn conversational Chinese, but not for someone who would like to learn written Chinese as well. |
The best software for language learning
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| Review Date: September 17, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Davis Tharayil, New Jersey |
After completing the Mandarin audio lessons (I, II and III) from Pimsleur, I was looking for a program to further improve my speaking skill in Chinese. I have tried the Rosetta Stone's Chinese Mandarin Level 1 & 2, but found it difficult and time consuming to start speaking the language. Searching the Internet, I came across with Fluenz Mandarin learning software. I found the program to be the most easiest to learn, to retain and to correctly speak the language. The effectiveness of the program, to me, was through the highly structured workout sessions, especially writing the words in Pinyin. Hearing the sounds and seeing them in the written form made a world of difference for me in relating new words and phrases to the ones that I already knew. Sounding of the words that I learned from the Pimsleur program became more relevant after completing the Fluenz program.
Learning the Fluenz way first, should have shorten the time for me to learn the Chinese Mandarin and to speak the language confidently.
For anyone who is interested in learning the Chinese Mandarin, Fluenz Mandarin learning software is highly recommended.
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