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Finally! High Expectations Met - Scholarly Success for Autodidacts!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 73 / 74
Date: November 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I spent an hour wringing my hands at the store deciding whether or not to plunk down the $50 bucks for this game. I love word games from Boggle, to Scrabble, to the Jumble in the newspaper. My concern was that Ubisoft might have dumbed the content down for an audience of younger gamers. Three minutes into the game I saw the words "paroxysm" and "raffishness" pop up and I knew they had done nothing of the sort. The result is a great success that exceed my high expectations of how a word training game might be. The game is not anything like the shallow Brain Age/Big Brain Academy but rather an in depth word training game designed by phd linguists. There is some actual meat to this game unlike the others that satisfies your quest for knowledge and fun simultaneously. The game really trains your vocabulary skills. In fact I would think it would even be acceptable for someone studying for the vocabulary portion of an ACT, SAT, or the graduate GRE Exam and even ESL. From the get go Word Coach tests the player to find a baseline at which to start building from and provides tutorials on how to play the learning games. The controls are really easy and really satisfying that is fun to carry out. The spray painting of letters takes a few minutes to get but within no time it'll feel second nature. I began and within about 40 minutes had reached my quota for the day. After that you can continue playing but the game won't rate you or introduce too many words as there is science and thought going on to keep the learning of words manageable. As soon as I sat down the controller my Mom a former English teacher picked up the game and played for an hour and a half, and she "doesn't like games" but there was something about this one. So you'll find it accessible for the non gamer as well. We even battled each other in missing letter multi player. Conclusion, My Word Coach is high brow yet approachable for anyone that wants to improve their vocabulary and become more literate or expressive. If you were on the fence then get off and go buy. This game and Mario Galaxy have justified my Wii purchase tenfold. Ubisoft also makes My Word Coach Spanish and French for the DS. Here's to hoping they bring these titles to the Wii or I might just have to buy a DS after getting to try the store clerks copy.

Vocabulary and Spelling Done Right

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 37 / 39
Date: November 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My Word Coach
Do you have a kid who hasn't read enough to build a large vocabulary and strong spelling skills? This game provides lots of word practice with a series of different games -- my son seemed almost surprised at the end of his first series that he had learned so much. There's lots of reading (definitions, etc.) which I think would make it tricky for kids much younger than ten. Each player sets a profile(up to 8 profiles - after that you play as a guest or delete a prior profile)that provides progress graphs and high score history for encouragement. There are vocabulary games (e.g. Split Decision where you match the word on the screen to its correct definition) and spelling games (what could be more fun than grafitti-style spray painting to fill in the missing letter or correct a wrong letter?), with six training games in all. We haven't tried the multiplayer option yet, nor have we used the DS to play Missing Letter. There appear to be lots of options to keep a player's interst as the game gets harder -- for instance, both definitions may be wrong in Split Decision. My soon-to-be eleven year old played for over two hours tonight -- there's a slight learning curve, but he figured it out on his own without getting frustrated. He intuitively began picking up on clues such as how to guess a word from the definition. My son says it's "lots of fun -- almost, but not quite, like a regular game." There's an emphasis on vocabulary that should prove helpful to young readers who have a basic familiarity with a word, but the game also provides lots of spelling opportunities. I predict libraries and after-school programs will be holding lots of competitions with this game. We liked Spelling Challenges (DS version is portable and only $20 ) -- we love My Word Coach.

GOOD WAY to review the words you alread know. BAD WAY to learn new terms.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

For people whose English is their second language, this game presents a GOOD WAY to review the words they already know. However, it's a BAD WAY to learn new terms. It's because of the reasons listed below

1. The words are explained but there are no examples that show how to use them. As a result, you can create non-natural English sentences even though you know their meanings.

For example, "influx" is explained as "the arrival of large group of people or things". That's it. There's no example. This is just like learning new words by memorizing an English dictionary which is next to useless. It's because you won't be able to create correct English sentences. Further more, it's very difficult to remember them without good examples.

In this area, this game is far more inferior to Collins Cobuild-advanced Learners English Dictionary, paper back, ISBN 978-0007210121. It has multiple examples for every term. One of the examples for influx is "The increase of 4.5 million in America's foreign-born represented the largest immigrant influx of any decade in US history"

2. There's no pronunciation! English is a living language. You might know the words but other people won't understand what you're speaking if you pronounce them wrong! Again, In this area, this game is not as good Collins Cobuild-advanced Learners English Dictionary. It contains a CD with pronunciation of all the words it explains.

3. The interface is good in many areas but it's difficult to use in "Missing letter" game. Here, you have to spray painting to fill in the missing letter. Wii controller is the wrong tool for this. Many times, I just finished spraying part of a letter A when the game recognized it as "I". It's very frustrating because I had to erase it and start it all over again. That made me exceed the time limit.

Overall, it's a fair tool to be used as a supplement to other tools for improving your vocabulary skill. I own it.

Very good tool for learning new words via the Wii!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Just a word of warning - I had a little trouble with the controls, getting the screen to scroll either to the right or the left - seemed it did opposite to what I wanted.

I still have some learning to do on that end but when talking about the content of the game - it's excellent! Lots of games to keep the player going and what's nice is that REAL learning is taking place. This is very simlar to the DS game in content but certainly easier for us "visually challenged" presbyopic folks (that means we need reading glasses!!).

If it takes a short while to get used to the controls - hang in there. I think the game is worth getting the hang of the controls. And hey, it's one place where you can spraypaint letters and not get chastized for it!

An Innovative, but Flawed Game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My husband and I are in our early twenties and are both previous english majors who are enamored with words. We did not have fun with this game.

1. In terms of ease of gameplay, the controls are awful. They appear to have wanted to take advantage of the novelty of the wii-mote with no thought as to how the difficulty of maneuvering would impact gameplay.
2. The overall tone of the walk-through and the grading was a bit patronizing.
3. Performing the same tasks over and over again in order to open new ones was not interesting.
4. While they managed to pick challenging vocabulary, much of the words do not seem like particularly useful terms to know.
5. The competition with other players is lacking.

I think there are better games, particularly on the DS and the Wii, to challenge people mentally. I personally favor Big Brain Academy over this game. While those games do not pay much attention to vocabulary or spelling, this game proves to me that there is still a ways to go before we master bringing those subjects into a video game format.

Great Product

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

At first I had a little trouble with the spray paint but after some practice I am finally catching on.I really enjoy the Word Coach. It is a great learning tool for all ages.

And as always Amazon has the best prices.

If you want a "family game" - this is it!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for myself - the only game I have ever purchased for myself. Although we have many different types of game consoles and games, none had ever interested me prior to obtaining this game. Other family members enjoyed the games we have, but not I. I was actually doubtful that I would even enjoy this one, but it looked interesting. The first time I sat down to play it - something really great happened...the entire family wanted to play! Finally! A game the family can play together...wants to play together...and enjoys playing together. GREAT GAME!

Word geek heaven

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I LOVE this game! I'm an avid reader and love to play games (esp word games) so this is right up my alley. I like that I can play alone (I haven't talked my husband into playing any of the 2 player challenge options w/me yet, so I can't comment on them) and that I have a daily goal. I also like that if you miss a word it quickly works it into one of your next few trainings.

I think this would be a great study tool for SAT's or anyone looking to improve their vocab. I debated awhile before purchasing (wondering just how fun a game based on words could be) and the reviews sold me on it (well, them and the low price point in comparison to other Wii games). I'm very glad I made this purchase. In fact, I think I'll go play now!

Perfect game for nerds who play solo (and everyone else too)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

"My Word Coach" is quite intriguing, especially being an intellectually stimulating video game. There is a slight learning curve on how to use the remote control. With some practice (and patience), I'm able to spray paint my letters faster and more accurately. Picking up the letters out of my cereal bowl before the timer ends was the most challenging game so far. I wish there were a few more practice runs for using the remote properly before they start grading you. My first try got me rated as a "high school graduate" (insulting), but I tried again and rightfully got labeled as a "college graduate" (that's more like it!). It does give the option to use a Nintendo DS controller in this game, which would make it easier to write. As I play more, there are new words, but sometimes I wish that I could back and retest, especially when I make a typo.

This game is perfect for the nerd who plays solo, but there is an opportunity to compete with your friends. However, I wish it would be a multi-player game, where I can switch back and forth with a friend during a game (AKA take turns). The game makes your brain churn, not make you scream or sweat like other games, such as tennis. Let's just say, it's fun in a different way. "My Word Coach" is good for all ages, because it takes your age in consideration for selecting the vocabulary words. Yes, lying about your age in this case would be counterproductive.

I'm a visual person, so I like how it always reviews the words with the definitions after each round. The different "games" are essentially different techniques in getting you to learn new words. The one thing that is lacking is the oral part. Spelling is only half good if the word is mispronounced. I wish that the game would say the word aloud for proper pronunciation at some point, maybe even during the review after each session.

I definitely recommend this game to all ages for my friends, family, and strangers. It doesn't win the 5th star since there is some room for improvement as suggested above.

smarter as you go

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Only problem with this gamesome time you can spell the word and the game will mark it as wrong other wize it is a desent game.

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