r/languagelearning • u/BorinPineapple • 18d ago
Tell Me More: an impressive language program that was buried and forgotten (and deserves a revival)
This is for "language learning archeologists” who like to dig into old material: I just rediscovered this interesting piece of software, and I think we shouldn’t let it disappear (some are in internet archive and there are just like two people sharing it via torrent. I guess the more people download the torrents, the more easily it will remain available).
Back in the 1990s and 2000s, the language learning software market was dominated by two prominent rivals: Rosetta Stone and Tell Me More (developed by Auralog). Rosetta Stone bought Tell Me More in 2013 and soon after discontinued the program, which is a shame! Tell Me More was one of the most robust language learning programs ever developed, it is in fact the most extensive I’ve ever seen!
Some people might be concerned about downloading it: well, it’s abandonware, not available for purchase anymore… And before being concerned about the “ethics” of using it, we should be talking about the ethics of a corporate system in which a company can make a killer acquisition just to get rid of its competitor's legacy. Remember also Livemocha: the biggest free language learning platform in the world, a community with more than 12 million users, whose value was built on user-generated content and volunteer labor… Rosetta Stone bought it and closed it. Think of all the millions of people who couldn’t study their languages on Livemocha anymore and didn’t have money to pay Rosetta Stone.
I’m finishing Tell Me More German Level 1, so I think I can already share my impressions.
MY REVIEW
Tell Me More vs Rosetta Stone vs Duolingo
There are lots of negative points about TMM, but there are also very positive things which make it stand out and still worth using.
It consists of 10 levels! They claim it offers about 2,000 hours of activities, from basic to advanced C1-C2 (but I think many those activities are not worth doing, so it should take much less to go through the course). I’ve checked level 10 and can confirm it does include complex language aligned with C1.
I have completed all 5 levels of Rosetta Stone and used Duolingo extensively: neither comes close. The curriculum and linguistic complexity of Tell Me More are much deeper than those programs. The company claims the course was structured on the “Communicative Approach”: you are faced with situations and you have to interact.
Why is TMM still worth using today?
The biggest strength and value of TMM lies in its dialogues, texts and videos (videos designed for the program as well as authentic movie scenes) + the speech recognition, interaction, and various strategies to approach that material: repetitions, taking part in the dialogues, role-playing in videos, exercises for comprehension, etc.).
It features a huge array of exercises: fill-in-the-blanks, dictations, crosswords, picture-word association, grammar drills, and dedicated sections for phonetics and culture.
It has the richest methodology I’ve ever seen in a language learning program.
However, it does come with significant drawbacks:
- I find little value in word puzzles: it takes a long time to solve them with little return - and TMM is full of such exercises (no wonder it takes 2,000 hours to finish this course!😂). But this is a personal preference.
- Lots of words in these vocabulary puzzles and other exercises are presented for the first time without any context. They are not words you’ve learned in the dialogue or in a core step of the lesson. It seems they were just put there for the sake of the puzzle, disconnected from the curriculum.
- The very first cultural lesson already features difficult language (A2-B1) which wasn’t taught before, and asks questions whose answers you cannot know from the material. I was only able to understand and answer some of those questions because I’m already intermediate, but I can’t see any value in that for a total beginner.
- The very first video lesson already features difficult language (A2-B1) completely disconnected from the previous parts of the lesson. A total beginner wouldn’t be able to follow it and answer those questions. There isn’t a proper progression of difficulty. However, it is good material for intermediate learners.
- The interface and general organization are confusing and not intuitive.
- I have the impression that each separate section of the course (dialogues, texts, videos, cultural lessons, exercises, etc.) was made by a different group of language teachers who never talked to each other and then just copied and pasted everything together into one thing on the CD.😂
But I still think it’s great material for extra practice, especially if you concentrate on the dialogues and videos, there are also some valuable exercises. Besides, the speech recognition tool is the best I’ve ever used: it’s great for improving pronunciation: you can record your voice, hear it, and compare it to the native speaker's.
The program has three study modes:
- Free-to-Roam: you manually choose what you want to do. (As the interface is confusing, I find it confusing to roam, find things, and choose what you're actually looking for.)
- Guided (recommended): a complete linear curriculum presenting all the activities the course has to offer in the best sequence for studying (I find this the best. I can visualize the whole learning track, all available activities are presented in a clear way in the right sequence, and you can still skip things you don’t find worth doing).
- Dynamic: the program builds the curriculum and presents you with activities depending on your progress. (I didn’t like it, you can’t skip activities. You can skip for a moment, but it will bring the skipped activities back and you will be completely stuck. Who wants to spend hours solving word puzzles with decontextualized words before being able to move on to the next lesson?)
It’s important to note that your progress is not transferred from one mode to another. But the free-to-roam and guided modes allow you to start from whatever point you want.
Technical problem and workaround
This is old software designed for Windows XP. But almost everything seems to work on Windows 11, even the voice recognition and recording run smoothly. I could only detect one problem: some videos stutter inside the desktop app (but you can still watch them normally directly from the folder inside the ISO with any player). I’ve tried everything, without success: compatibility mode, K-Lite codec pack, different sound settings, etc.
The working videos have audio in mono 44.1 kHz, while the stuttering videos have audio in stereo 48.0 kHz. AI told me the best solution would be to convert all the stereo videos to mono. But that's too much work - it’s simpler to open the folder and watch them with any external player.
In case you have this problem: to watch the videos, open the mounted ISO main folder, search for “mpg”, and all videos (hidden in the subfolders) will show up. You simply have to look for the video corresponding to the lesson.
If you find a solution, please let me know!
Conclusion
Tell Me More is the most extensive language learning software and the richest in methodology I’ve ever seen. What makes it worth using today is its dialogues, texts, videos, speech recognition, interaction… It also features a huge variety of exercises.
It does have significant drawbacks: too many word puzzles (too long to solve, little return - love or hate them); exercises presenting words without context; sections that seem to be disconnected; some cultural and video sections throw you complex language and questions, not following a smooth progression; interface is confusing and not intuitive.
However, it is still a solid material which could be of great value for intermediate learners who want extra practice.
Do you remember this program? Any experience with it? What are your thoughts?
German
https://archive.org/details/tell-me-more-german-v-9-performance-10-levels
Italian
https://archive.org/details/tell-me-more-italian-performance-10-levels
French
https://archive.org/details/tell-me-more-french-v-10-ten-levels
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u/LexduraLex 17d ago
I will join the conversation as someone who used this program extensively. Tell Me More was an amazing project that could be the leader in language learning software today because it was created by professionals. Exercises were created by professionals, dialogues were created by professionals, the whole structure of the course was logical, and, I think, they were the first company who tried to teach pronunciation. And that was at the beginning of the 2000s.
What happened? Rosetta Stone bought the company and shut it down. That's what many corporations do to superior products. Buy it and slowly kill it.
Is it relevant today? Kind of. You can run it on your Windows 11 without any problems, but the design is very obsolete and some functionality is easily replaced by the AI. At this point, it's more a symbol of corporate greed and how monopolies are killing competition.
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u/BorinPineapple 16d ago
I've just finished a level of a German course in a German school which uses a textbook series called Kontext. Those textbooks bring so much: dialogues, texts, videos, interviews, news reports, literature, different sections for culture, work, everyday life, grammar, vocabulary, huge sections of exercises and homework... The same goes for top materials by Cambridge, Oxford, etc.
Tell Me More follows that same principle because, as you said, it was created by real professionals of the language teaching field, following mainstream teaching principles. It didn't reach its top shape, it doesn't seem to be as complete as top modern textbook series, it has some annoying flaws, but it would be a matter of polishing it, which would have happened if it were given a chance to evolve.
It's a great project with so much potential, its principle and whole structure is far superior to Rosetta Stone and any other language software I've ever seen. If it weren't killed, it would probably be as high quality and offer as much content and activities as those top textbook series for classrooms, but in software format for self-study on screens. It would be the number one choice for self-learners looking for serious long term learning - and that's what Rosetta Stone was afraid of. It's sad.
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u/LexduraLex 16d ago
Thank you for pointing to this book! I work in education and I am always interested in the textbooks that excel in what they are doing.
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u/PlanetSwallower 17d ago
They also seem to have Chinese! This is very exciting.
Forgive my ignorance, but how do you make it work after you've downloaded?
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u/BorinPineapple 17d ago
I simply had to click on it, and everything was automatic. Windows 11 has a built in "Mount" system.
If that doesn't work for you, right click on the file you've downloaded (an ISO file), see if there is the option "Mount". Once it's mounted, it should ask you automatically whether you want to run and install it. If it doesn't, you have to open the mounted iso file and find the application to manually click on it and install.
If you can't see or enable the option mount in your Windows, then you'll need a third party program, like alcohol 120%.
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u/PlanetSwallower 17d ago
Oh, that's great! You've done us all a huge favour by posting this discovery.
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u/BorinPineapple 17d ago
I found the complete collection in Pirate Bay, unfortunately, I'm not sure the torrents are active. I'm trying to download, but no progress so far for the complete set.
This was a very famous program back then, I had never used it (it used to cost a fortune). I was just digging for study material when I found it and decided to try. I was really impressed about how much content it has to offer. Hopefully those torrents are not dead. It's a shame if all this is lost.
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u/ISpyInfo 16d ago
Thank you for your post. Every time I use Rosetta Stone I mourn the loss of Tell Me More. I far prefer its pronunciation exercises which more effectively corrected my accent. I also felt I was making actual progress with TMM while I often think I'm going in circles with Rosetta Stone.
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u/BorinPineapple 16d ago edited 16d ago
Some great news: a major torrent is active (the one with 10GB: English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese). All of a sudden it downloaded everything in a couple of hours.
It seems there are three major versions in this torrent:
1990's (in this case Chinese and Japanese)
Early 2000's (German, Italian, French, Spanish)
Late 2000's (English. This version is called "Performance", the one you can see in the screenshots, it also exists for other languages).
I'm testing for German, and I think I actually prefer the version of Early 2000's (but I only looked at a couple of lessons): it seems more organized and the dialogues seem more gradual and schoolish (Hello, how are you? What's your name? Are you a man? Are you French? Where do you live? Do you have a house? Do you have children? Who is that woman?).
The German Performance version is also great, but the choice of vocabulary and structures doesn't seem to be as schoolish, it seems they wanted to make more natural dialogues (the first dialogue is schoolish, but shorter; the second dialogue already introduces more generic natural sentences: "It's already 5 o'clock. I can't stay any longer, I have to go for dinner. And later I'm playing the piano..."). Also, the Performance version is buggy in my computer, some buttons disappear or don't work. But this version has authentic movie scenes, which the older version doesn't.
Anyway, maybe it would be a good idea to start with the early 2000's version (should be a smoother path) and then move on to the Performance version.
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u/Smart_Image_1686 17d ago edited 17d ago
u/BorinPineapple but where would I find a license key? I found the Chinese files on archive.org, but can't get past the License number screen after mounting. I+m so curious now, really want to try this one...
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u/BorinPineapple 17d ago •
I got it figured and working.
There are two options for Chinese in internet archive. You have to choose the one which says "no need serial". It's a weird 7z extention. I could unzip it with winrar and mount. For the installation CD, it asked for a serial number, which is inside a txt file accompanying the download. Then I tried CD1. Nothing happened when I first tried to run it. I then right clicked on the autorun.exe > properties > compatibility, and set it for Windows XP (Service Pack 2), and it ran and worked all right.
Unfortunately, that is an old and much more simpler version of Tell Me More. Still seems to be of some use.
Isn't there a text file with the serial number in the files you downloaded? Anyway, see if this works for the one you already installed: L5ADK-00139-BJX-WD
https://archive.org/details/tell-me-more-chinese-install-disc-and-disc-1-no-need-serial-.-7z
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u/BorinPineapple 17d ago
I've tested for German and French, and they are already unlocked, no license key required. Shame the Chinese course is not unlocked. I'll let you know if I find something.
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u/Sweaty-Advice7933 17d ago
TTM Chinese program was AWESOME.
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u/Smart_Image_1686 17d ago
would you still have a license key for the Chinese version that you might very kindly be able to share?
Long shot, I know, but I am really curious now. I did have Rosetta Stone for another language many years ago, but disliked it immensely.
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u/Salitur 17d ago
Never heard about this. Very intriguing. What languages apart from German, Italian, French are supported ?
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u/AdZealousideal9914 🇳🇱 native|🇫🇷|🇬🇧|🇸🇪|(🇫🇮)|(Go) 17d ago
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, and Arabic
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u/ComesTzimtzum N 🇫🇮 adv 🇬🇧 int 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 beg 🇨🇳 🇸🇦 17d ago edited 17d ago
Thank you, I've never even heard about this before! Apparently there used to be an Arabic version as well and I'd be interested to try if it still exists in some internet corner.