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Letts GCSE Spanish 2008/09 (PC)

GSP
Britannica GCSE: Spanish (PC)

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Letts GCSE 2000 Spanish

Avanquest Software
GCSE Spanish

Europress
Spanish for Beginners CD-ROM v.1

Spanish-Online
Letts GCSE Spanish 2003/2004

Letts

The Letts range of GCSE titles are revision courses on CD-ROM covering every exam board. Each title is designed with the specific course in mind--you cannot revise the same way for each subject (as there are no set "right" or "wrong" answers in English, unlike Chemistry for example). Once the program has been installed (please note you will still need to put the CD in the drive due to the large amount of content) you will need to log in as a user. Multiple users can be entered and all individual scores and progress will be stored. You're now ready to revise. The main screen provides three main options-Revision, Progress and Mock Exam. "Revision" is broken into the main study sections and includes exam and revision hints and tips. "Progress" is where you'll find the records of results, how much content you've covered and which areas need more practice. The "Mock Exam" includes the answers, so you can test yourself first or run through the paper and view the answers at the same time. As well, the software comes with a manual that's also available online within the program, a timer which allows you to set limits for revision sessions and a pop-up notebook. Titles available in the Letts GCSE range are Maths, English, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, French, German and Spanish.
Letts GCSE Spanish 2006/2007 (PC)

Avanquest Software
GCSE Spanish

Aircom
The Times Education Series GCSE Spanish

The Times

Subtitled "El Misterio Del Castillo Precioso", The Times Education Series GCSE Spanish is an electronic personal tutor designed to help students practice their reading, listening, grammar and comprehension skills.
Set in the eponymous mysterious house it's essentially a simple point-and-click problem-solving game where the object is to help a youthful detective--Luisa Lalupa--to gather nine clues hidden somewhere in the five downstairs rooms, which, when matched to her computerised criminal database, will enable you to unmask the infamous thief--Sombra. Naturally because the aim is to encourage players to habla Espanyol, all of the problems are in Spanish and are a good mix of grammatical conundrums (placing accents in the correct place with the mouse, correctly identifying masculine, feminine, singular and plural words against the clock) memory and comprehension (can you retype the sentence perfectly without referring to it?) as well as straight vocabulary tests.
You can get general help at any time (in English) and there's a built-in dictionary which lists the trickier words used in the program; once you've guessed the identity of the crook, you can re-start the game with a new set of clues, questions and answers which should ensure that it has staying power. The disc also makes good use of various multimedia elements--particularly Spanish voice-overs--ensuring that it delivers a different kind of experience from a text book.
Described by the authors as a "fun CD" GCSE Spanish isn't the kind of hardcore revision product you'd associate with students cramming for a final exam. Rather its purpose is to provide a series of relaxed refresher courses for those who want to brush up on their GCSE-level Spanish. Like most good language titles the emphasis is on fun, but backed up with long-lasting game play and good linguistic exercises. It's a combination that makes this product easy to recommend. --Rob Beattie
GCSE Micro Spanish

LCL Multimedia Ltd
GCSE English Maths Spanish Triple Pack

Europress

As its name suggests, the GCSE Triple Pack (English, Maths and Spanish) includes three CD-ROMs designed for 14-16 year olds, in accordance with the National Curriculum and incorporating material appropriate for all examining boards. The three discs were previously available individually but this is the first time they've been combined.
To take them in turn, GCSE English sets up an electronic staff room with five tutors--Jane Austen, a TV journalist, a modern poet, an English teacher and a travel writer; each of these animated characters will guide you through the various activities and lessons which cover punctuation, writing, reading, spelling, grammar, meeting deadlines and finally, exam practice. The animated guides appear at the bottom left of the lesson screen and there's an impressive degree of interactivity with lots of questions to answer, buttons to click, sentences to correct and so on; there's also a selection of exam-style questions.
In GCSE Spanish your animated guides are Perica the parrot and Chiquito the dog, who will guide you through chapters on grammar, spelling, vocabulary, verb tables, study skills and finally, exam practice. There's plenty of interactivity in the lessons, including spelling games and quizzes and an excellent vocab book which, when you click on the Spanish phrase, says it out loud. There are also good tips for students trying to revise or prepare for final exams. And if you get stuck on a word or phrase that's in red but isn't in the vocab list, right click on it with the mouse and a translation will pop up.
GCSE Maths is divided into four chapters covering the key topics--numbers, algebra, shape, space and measure, and how to handle data. It's slightly different to the others though in that you can run it in three "modes": learning mode, test mode and exam mode. Each lesson is accompanied by an animated guide who explains what you've got to do and there are plenty of opportunities in each section to answer questions as you follow through the various topics; incidentally, there's a clever "see also" feature which allows you to jump straight to related topics.
The unified interface is clever--as you install the three programs, each one is added to the main menu--and the high levels of multimedia make these products engaging as well as educational. The ability to set the ability level of each program (higher or foundation) is also useful and overall, they're good value. --Rob Beattie
GCSE Success Spanish

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