The All-in-One Language Fun CD-ROM is a simple but effective way of learning or brushing up on a language. Through a series of games, youngsters can master a wide vocabulary in Spanish, French, German, Japanese and English.

Aimed at three to twelve year olds, the CD-ROM concentrates exclusively on verbal skills and does not explore the written word, grammar or sentence structure. Beginners can click on any object to listen to the word in the chosen foreign language. Once confident of the word’s meaning and pronunciation, the fun really begins.

There are 27 games, broken down into three levels of difficulty, which focus on teaching the names of objects we see and use every day.

Areas of study in level one include identifying colours, shapes, animals and dressing a boy and a girl. In level two, which is set at a similar pitch, there are questions about fruit and vegetables, food and drink and finding the correct items for laying the table. Level three is more challenging and includes such games as “What Time is It?” and “Bingo” played with coloured objects.

The graphics are clear and colourful throughout with many embellishments including the animation of a mouse moving towards a cheese whenever a question is answered correctly in “How Many” and a competitive scoreboard in “Memory Mania”.

Although all speech is by native speakers, if using this CD-ROM to learn English as a second language, note that American English is used as in “Dress the Boy” where trousers are called pants.

Overall, this is an excellent way to introduce your youngster to another language. Because of the emphasis on verbal skills, the CD-ROM is particularly useful when planning a family holiday abroad. Imagine the satisfaction when your child can ask with confidence for a loaf of bread in the native language.

This has hours of fun with real results! –Tracey Hogan