My French Coach

This review covers My Word Coach as well as My Spanish Coach and My French Coach

Many times when you see a game hit the market that aims to teach the purchaser a thing or two about education, the only thing the customer winds up learning is not to buy a videogame so irrationally ever again. Luckily for the poorly educated gamers out there, Ubisoft has taken it upon themselves to create a gaming experience that is not only entertaining, but also as educational as any Hooked on Phoenix cassette tape could ever be.

My Word Coach for Nintendo DS is basically a portable English teacher that any DS owner can carry around with them. That might not sound like the biggest piece of fun, but Ubisoft does everything it can to prove that learning can be entertaining while also being informational. The entire Coach series focuses on slowly but surely teaching the player how to use proper grammar, spell words correctly, learn new words altogether and even learn different languages. By implementing a very simple gameplay scheme, My Word Coach encourages the player to learn while having as much fun as possible.

As you play, you will utilize the stylus and touch screen more than any other Nintendo DS feature. Your main gameplay mechanic will lie in touching specific letters or drawing the correct letter. As progression takes place, your interactive “Coach” will record your progress and continue to challenge you accordingly. All the mechanics are as simple as possible, so that most of the player’s focus remains on the content of the game itself. Your Coach will even advise you when he thinks you’ve learned enough for the day and ask you to return again tomorrow. I mean, who doesn’t want to spell for hours and hours every single day? If you wait a week to pay a visit, the Coach will scold you slightly as well.

My Word Coach contains 16,800 different words taken directly from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary for you to learn, so players of every age group are bound to find some form of challenge within the game. Each mini-game will aid in your understanding of the words available, and at the same time utilize the unique functionality of the Nintendo DS. The compatibility between DS and Wii versions of My Word Coach create an extra layer of entertaining depth and intuition, but only provide entertainment for a few sessions.

My Spanish Coach and My French Coach both expand on the original concept by incorporating a different language into the same interactive learning experience. Instead of learning English grammar and definitions though, you are tasked with learning Spanish or French words, conjugations, and phrases. At the beginning, you’ll take a preliminary test to determine how advanced you are with the given language, and as the game progresses, you will begin to learn more words and phrases, as well as simple verb conjugations via 8 mini-games. Each edition will offer nearly 10,000 words to learn.

The most interesting and intriguing feature of the Spanish and French versions is the compare option. This wonderful feature allows the player to record his or her voice and play back pronounced words or phrases compared to a pre-recorded version of the same word or phrase. This will aid with pronunciation, and could also create some very comical moments. Each version can also be used as a language dictionary for trips to foreign countries or cheating in class.

Graphically, none of the Coach games do anything splendid, and each version looks remotely the same. The visual concept was obviously not a front runner in this game’s conception. Audio detail relies on mildly catchy tunes that generate annoyance from the gamer fairly quickly, aside from listening to yourself try and fail at speaking French and Spanish.

Each game has a specific purpose, as stated in the title on the box, and each game serves its stated purpose well. If you pick up My Word Coach for Nintendo DS, you are bound to learn a few new things about grammar and spelling, but the overall experience will be less than hoped for. The Spanish and French versions could prove to be more beneficial, but only to those customers who are already searching for a new fun way to learn a fresh language. These games are meant for educational purposes, so expecting any more than minimal entertainment is ill advised.

Gameplay: 7
The Nintendo DS stylus and touch screen never seem to get old, and utilizing this pair of intuitive features in any game is a must. Luckily, The Coach franchise does just that, with simple yet structured gameplay tailored around the handheld’s strongest mechanics.  

Graphics: 5
My Word Coach is not meant to be a visual powerhouse, with a majority of interaction directed towards the content. The same applies to My Spanish Coach and My French Coach. Ubisoft voted not to take away from the learning aspect, but this direction did take away from the visual score.

Sound: 6
In all honesty, none of the games do anything remotely special via an audio experience. The only perk is the compare option, which allows you to record your sad attempts at speaking foreign languages and play them back to the amusement of your peers.

Difficulty: Medium
Each game presents a balanced gameplay mechanic that can determine how advanced you are in the given subject and challenge you accordingly. Then, as the game progresses, so does your knowledge of that subject.  

Concept: 7
Conceptually, each Coach game aims to please at an educational level, while still proving that learning can be fun. The only downfall is that the mini-games aren’t fun enough for long enough.

Overall: 7
If you have a need to learn Spanish, then My Spanish Coach will teach you in an interactive, entertaining manner. The same goes for learning French with My French Coach. But beyond having these needs, I can’t really imagine any other reason why a gamer would want to pick up any of the Coach versions. But to the targeted audience, these games will please well enough.