My Chinese Coach (DS) Review

Posted by Natalie Shoemaker on 09.26.2008

Speaking, writing, and reading comprehension. Does My Chinese Coach practice the right teaching methods to help people learn another language or are the promises on the box never fulfilled?

My Chinese Coach is the first Ubisoft language game to move away from Latin-based languages. Chinese being one of the most difficult languages in the world to speak and read, one has to wonder if Ubisoft possibly shot themselves in the foot with this language coach?



Graphics


The pretty things to look at in this game are few and not in this game. There’s only one person that needs to be attractive and that’s the teacher. She’s the most graphic eye-candy the player will get through the whole learning experience. Everything else seen in My Chinese Coach boils down to text and buttons. But this is a learning game, no one said it was going to be “My Crysis Chinese Coach”.

Gameplay

At the start of My Chinese Coach there is a test to see how proficient the player is in the Chinese language. Placing the player in the proper category for him/her to begin the learning experience.

The game is split into two parts, lessons and games. The lessons introduce new vocabulary, grammar, and anything else the player might need to know to excel in Chinese. In order to advance on to a new lesson the player must get a certain number of points through completing mini games that test your knowledge. These games range from whacking a gopher on the head with the correct word to multiple choice. The games also range in difficulty, from easy to hard, and depending on the level will test the player on past lessons as well.



My Chinese Coach calls the player to use the stylus throughout the game. The touch pad on the DS comes in handy when learning to write all the different character. One game has a character on the screen that will slowly fade and the player must draw the Chinese character in the correct order a certain number of times within an allotted time frame. Some might find they won’t even need to draw the character properly, but merely draw it in the correct order to win this writing mini game.

Sound

The sound factor is one of the most important aspects of this game. In order to learn a language one must be able to know how to pronounce the words. Especially in Chinese where a single word may have several different meanings depending on the stress you put on the vowels.

My Chinese Coach has a section where the player can take advantage of the DS mic to record your voice saying a Chinese word and compare it with the teacher’s pronunciation. When the player is first going over a new word list a female voice says the words in Chinese, so the player can visually associate the word with the correct sound. The female voice comes in clear, so there is no mistake as to what she is saying.



The sounds are well done, but it’s difficult to only hear a word without seeing how the mouth moves to the words. Some might complain that the developers should have integrated a video or an animated mouth for the player to mimic to help pronouncing the words. The speaking is one of the most difficult aspects to the Chinese language, so one might wonder why developers wouldn’t include the most learning examples possible.

Lasting Appeal

This game will last a while, being that you can’t just sit down and play through My Chinese Coach all day… well you could, but that would be missing the point of the game. My Chinese Coach is to be played 15- 30 minutes a day and digested.

After finishing some could use this game as a refresher for studies, so it has a mild replay value if you find it to be a useful reference.

Fun Factor

My Chinese Coach is a learning game that is only as fun as the player makes it. It’s difficult to make this game a ritual to pick up everyday to play and still have little proficiency in the language when the player is starting. Learning Chinese on your own is a slow tedious process and it’s hard to keep up when there’s no one assigning this game for homework.


The 411

This game is ultimately defined by how much motivation the player has. It’s a game that requires dedication everyday, but has very little pay off in the beginning. It comes down to: If you already have a basic knowledge of the Chinese language this game will be great to rekindle interest. But if you are not taking or planning on taking a class and have no knowledge of the Chinese language ignore the part of the box were it says, “Learn a new language”.

My Chinese Coach with help anyone learn how to read and write Chinese, but speaking is almost impossible without a teacher.

Ubisoft deserves a pat on the back though, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn and it can’t be done with a DS game alone. Combined with an introductory class to the language it makes a great supplement.

Graphics	7.0	Good for what there was, but there wasn't much to see
Gameplay	6.5	Lots of pressing buttons with the stylus...
Sound	8.0	Good integration of voice recording and good voice actress to pronounce words
Lasting Appeal	7.0	If you keep at it and love it, this game could be a great companion or a good trade-in
Fun Factor	6.0	It's hard to keep motivated
Overall	6.5   [ Average ]