DigiGamer

On a recent excursion to Toys ‘R’ Us, with a $25 gift card burning a hole in Elm’s pocket, I picked up on a complete impulse something that will hopefully expand my mind past mathematics and vision. My French Coach nasally proclaims itself to contain all that is required to conquer the language of romance, food, and dirty novels. I have taken it up on its offer and this evening have embarked on a journey to the undiscovered. My first lesson involves the memorization of numbers from 1 to 15 (in French of course), starting with 1 to 10. The English numbers are written out on the left of the screen while on the right is a little button called Translate. When the button is hit the French number is written out and a verbal translation is spoken. I had no idea French had so much nose involved. The desire to get my pronunciation just right had me spending no less than ten minutes stamping on Translate. At the end of the sections comes a game to match the English number to the French number. During the game the related number is spoken in French.

The way that the lessons progress, really depends on determination and ability. You need a certain amount of Master Points before the next level can be unlocked. The Master Points are achieved by playing the games associated with the previous lesson. The points can be earned faster by playing the games on a higher level also. Once each word/number is “mastered” and the points are achieved, the new lesson unlocks. Each lesson takes about 15 minutes (more if you like to milk it) and should be done one lesson a day to let things sink in and slip into long term memory.


After my lesson was finished, I explored a little through the menus and options. The coolest thing under the menu is Reference! Under the References are the Player Stats, a complete Dictionary, Phrasebook, and Sketchpad. Player Stats show off your stats in the current lesson, the locked and unlocked lessons and games, and game stats. The Dictionary is a complete dictionary in English or French with written translations up top and tap on the word to get a verbal translation. Awesome! Slowly call friends d-bags without them knowing and without using your own voice! Phrasebook is the best and can be viewed in categories, list, by search, or in favorites. The category view has the most necessary phrases for shopping, dining, travel, pick up lines (oh, conversation), emergencies, etc. The others are what they sound like. When you find a phrase you think you will use a lot, give it a check mark and boom! view it in the favorites just like that. Even if I don’t master the language, I won’t have to worry about not getting around France and looking like a moron American flipping pages or the finger. I can look suave, pull out my DS, and have my personal interpreter do the work for me. Much nicer.
Sketchpad is a sketchpad. Draw a map, write down names, numbers, etc. and save the drawing to refer to later. No getting lost for me!
I am skeptical about whether or not My French Coach will have me ordering croissants in cafe in Paris with ease, but either way I’m going to get my 3216 cents worth. Having a little knowledge is better than none at all. Now maybe I can understand that beautiful song that runs throughout Ratatouille.

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