Instant Immersion (English) Reviews

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Editor's Overall Rating:
Average User Rating:
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Category: Teach Yourself English Guides



Editor's Review User Reviews
 

Instant Immersion (English) Review



by No1Reviews.com. Last updated: 22 May 2011

Editor's Star Ratings:

Emphasis on Speaking / Pronunciation:
Emphasis on Writing / Grammar:
Variety of Learning Materials:
Features:
Ease of Use:
Customer Support:
Value for Money:
Overall Star Rating:

Costs:

  • Instant Immersion English levels 1, 2 and 3 including 6 CD-ROMS and 3 bonus disks: $44.99
  • Shipping within the US from $4.98
  • Shipping outside the US: $24.94
  • 6 month money back guarantee

 

Prices are subject to change. For the most up to date information, please refer to the actual website.

 

Features:

  • A complete and comprehensive English language learning solution for travel, business or school
  • Fun and effective exercises
    • Interactive activities
    • Challenging quizzes
    • Uses Images, audio and video as teaching tools
    • Speech recognition technology
    • Suitable for all learning levels and styles
    • Interactive flashcards to build your vocab
    • Native speaker audio
  • Windows and Mac compatible
  • Bonus interactive DVD for your TV
  • Audio disk which can be loaded onto your Mp3 player for learning 'on the go'
  • Who is Oscar Lake; put your new language skills to the test in this learning game
  • Microphone not included
  • Spanish user interface

 

Editor's Verdict:

Instant Immersion not only claim to cover the basics (reading, writing, talking and listening) but also promise to get you 'thinking in English'. This is achieved using natural image association techniques to get you learning English as easily as you did your first language. In this way, in theory, users will achieve far more fluency and confidence in expressing themselves in spoken English; arguably the most important aspect of the English language. The course takes you from a beginner to upper-intermediate level with a variety of interactive activities which not only make learning fun and varied but also stimulate different areas of the brain; optimizing the language acquisition process. With the help of flashcards (a tried and tested vocab learning tool) users build up a base of vocabulary with which they are able to form increasingly complex sentences in order to express a range of concepts and ideas. Users get the chance to practice actually verbalizing what they have learned with Instant Immersion's speech recognition technology.

Although initially a bit tricky to navigate, we found Instant Immersion to be enjoyable and effective in building up a large base of vocabulary. We especially liked the bonus game 'who is Oscar Lake?' This is an interactive game which you can play with friends, providing you with a rare opportunity to learn English socially. Also, the audio disk is a great way of taking your English learning with you wherever you go; essential for the full immersion experience.

However, there were several drawbacks to Instant Immersion which, for us, prevented it from achieving a top ten spot. The speech recognition technology, for example, was not in itself flawed but just more basic than that of other competitors in that users cannot visualize their pronunciation of a word in an audio graphic. Also, some of the grammatical explanations were pretty basic, not really enough to allow users to get to grips with the grammar. Although the immersion approach is supposed to have little focus on grammar, if there should be any at all, it should at least be of good quality. Finally, although it is not likely you will come across any problems, the customer support offered is poor. It is not indicated that the user interface only comes in Spanish and there is no help line or Email address through which contact can be made. Neither is there an FAQ or online support section, just the option to apply for some guidance forms.

Overall, although Instant Immersion will enable you to learn the basics of English quickly, advanced users will have to supplement it with other language learning tools if they want to achieve anything approaching fluency. The variety and accessibility of the features make it fun, certainly not a chore, but the lack of interactivity and cutting edge technology mean they are a little lacking when compared to other products. Also, lack of personalization, evaluation or tracking tools can leave users unsure of whether or not they are actually making progress at all! Despite these drawbacks however, at a very attractive price Instant Immersion English represents one of the best price-to-features ratios in this category.

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