Instant Immersion is great ESL software for those looking to learn English as a second language. This TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award winning program focuses primarily on vocabulary words and phrases often used in English speaking countries. Instant Immersion uses images, video and audio as teaching tools, and has a decent speech recognition program which helps with pronunciation and accent.
While we were very impressed with Instant Immersion on the whole, they were kept lower in the ratings because of its poor technical support system, and lack of online chat with native English speakers. This is a very important aspect of learning a foreign language if you’re hoping to learn anything past the basics.
This software is set up like interactive flash cards. The instructors guide you through vocabulary lists and then you can play games to test your skills. Instant Immersion uses audio, video and written words to help you learn English. You can hear each word pronounced by a native speaker. Instant Immersion also offers a speech recognition program which helps instrumentally with pronunciation and accent. After hearing the word, you can record your own pronunciation and listen for differences. Visual wavelengths of the pronunciations, which our top rated product offers, would be a good improvement to the system.
Instant Immersion comes with three bonus discs. The first, I-DVD, Is a game to be played using a TV. It is designed for multiple people to be able to use. The second disc is an audio software disc which makes putting your English lessons onto your iPod or MP3 player easy. The third disc, “Who Is Oscar Lake?” is a mystery you must crack using only your recently acquired English skills.
Instant Immersion does a good job of covering the basics of the English language. Through its many activities, students will have the opportunity to practice reading and speaking English. The program is broken down into three levels. The first level begins with reading and writing basic vocabulary words. The second and third level gets progressively more in-depth by adding common phrases, uncommon phrases, and dialogue.
The only jab we’ll give Instant Immersion in this category is that it lacked deep explanations of sentence structure. This means you’ll learn some aspects of the language, but probably will not gather a deep understanding of the structure.
Instant Immersion English is a little difficult to use in the beginning stages. It takes a while to get used to navigating around each of the nine discs, most of which are formatted differently. However, once you’ve figured that out, Instant Immersion is a fairly simple program to use.
Instant Immersion uses audio and visual material to help you learn. You can repeat lessons as often as you like until you feel comfortable moving on. Because Instant Immersion offers such a variety of activities and teaching methods, we believe it is extremely conducive to multiple learning styles. We especially think the speech recognition program plays a vital role in the understanding of English. Each disc also comes with a quiz so you can test your English before moving on to the next level.
If you just use this software, you will improve your vocabulary and pronunciation; nevertheless, we don’t think you’ll become fluent in English.
We didn’t have any problems during the installation and setup process. It installed quickly and without any hiccups. In order to use the record and playback feature you will need a microphone and headphones.
Instant Immersion did not fare so well in this category. They do not offer an FAQs section, email address or phone number. The only technical support available is a section of disjointed forms, at the bottom of which is a form where you can log a question and receive a listing of documents in return. So, although we do not anticipate you having problems with this software, the technical support process may be irritating.
This is a simple–to–use, interactive program that uses real people to guide you through the lessons. Instant Immersion will help build vocabulary and improve your pronunciation through a plethora of language learning activities and their speech recognition system. However, their technical support and online services were not up to the level of our top rated products. For a more well rounded product check out Tell Me More English.
