If you’re serious about learning a new language, you’ll find that phrasebooks and limited learning tools will only get you so far.

A complete language course is a far better choice that, while relatively expensive, will allow for a better approach to mastery of a foreign tongue.

Fluenz is a new system that takes a different approach to most language software, making use of the fact that adults learn in a different way to children, so it uses a range of methods to help the user understand and remember foreign words and phrases.

The courses are currently available in Spanish, French, Italian and Mandarin and are available as either a half or full course, with the latter comprising two computer DVDs and two audio CDs. The set is available for PCs and Macs – you can choose which when buying – but it won't play on set-top box DVD players. The programme is split up into lessons, which each combine a range of methods to help master not only speaking skills, but pronunciation, writing and spelling.

Typically a lesson will involve a brief introduction followed by a list of key words and phrases. These words and phrases are then explained by a teacher in video clips before it moves on to a series of workshops to help with using or recognising them in a real-world environment.

Workshops combine exercises such as word and phrase association, image association, text entry and speech, and each focuses on a specific situation such as meeting and greeting people or ordering food and drink in a coffee shop.

The accompanying audio CDs are split into chapters that correspond to the lessons on the interactive DVD, and are intended as a refresher to help users practice what they’ve already learnt in their own time.

It’s worth mentioning that there are 150 hours' worth of interactive video on the full course and this isn’t even taking into account the additional exercises and audio content, so there really is a lot to learn here. Despite this, the course is well organised, so that you’re unlikely to feel daunted by the volume of information.

We were impressed by how much it's possible to learn from one lesson without having to strain to remember reams of words and phrases, which is a tribute to the variety of approaches Fluenz takes. At no point did the learning feel like a chore, and the structure of the lessons on the DVD and audio CD makes it very easy to skip back and forth to brush up on subjects that are more difficult to master.

We can see Fluenz being a very effective program for both beginners and those with some experience with a foreign language, and as such it's recommended to anyone serious about learning.

Good points

Well organised
Variety of interactive lessons
Accompanying audio CDs
Focuses on what user really needs to know

Bad points

Can be slow to load
Quite expensive