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Talknow is a package which supports the Junior Cert German syllabus and focuses on a large number of the basic First Year topics such as Food, Colours, Countries, Time, Parts of the Body and Basic phrases. The software is designed to aid the student in their aural and oral competency and as such does not cater for written proficiency. It is easy to navigate and attractively constructed, especially for the younger students.

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Students are introduced to basic vocabulary related to specific topics and are given the opportunity to repeat, record and compare their own pronunciation of each word . An option of a basic or harder quiz is then given and users are asked to listen to the terms used by the instructor, compare them to the options either in English or German and then match them up accordingly. The level taken can be selected by the user and students can monitor their progress. Whilst this is an attractive feature, it is not one which cannot be used to great effect except in the case of small group or individual student work, as a multiple user option is not available. The tone of the programme remains affirming, even when an incorrect answer is given. This ensures that students do not get disheartened, but rather to strive to achieve a better result. An ongoing score is kept on screen, and this too provides an incentive for improvement, particularly in a group situation, where a healthy, pressure free competitive atmosphere is created.

The content of this software is very suitable for beginners as is does not presuppose a prior knowledge of the language, and as such does not intimidate or discourage the learner. The programme uses ‘intelligent’ software which remembers recurrent weak points and so targets them. While this may not be highly instrumental in its whole class usage, it is very productive in a small group, or one to one scenario.

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A variety of learning modes are catered for through the use of colourful on screen displays, spoken instructions and tasks which require the student themselves to repeat the information given. Again I feel that the latter, while certainly applicable to some extent in a general way in the classroom, is more beneficial on an individual level as it allows the student themselves to assess and review their performance in contrast to that pre-recorded on the software. In order to thoroughly benefit from using this programme a school must provide a multimedia projector and microphone for the students. A language laboratory or computer room would of course be most suitable for facilitating the integration of this software into the traditional teaching of the language.