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Ok, OK. I give UP trying to encode this damned title.
Written by Head Gic on Monday, November 28, 2005
I got Talkman a few weekends ago, and while I really don't spend a lot of time messing around with handhelds (at least not since I got bored with Lumines), I've tried to make a particular exception by diverting some of my "home time" to this "game".
If you don't already know, Talkman isn't so much a game as it is a travel dictionary/language tool/conversation aid for use in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The app is mainly targeted towards the typical Japanese tourist, but it can also serve as quite a useful tool for the linguistically curious. In particular, it can be helpful for anyone who would be interested in a basic language primer for the three major East Asian languages, of which there are very few widely accessible study aids geared towards the native English speaker.
The two main game modes are Talk Mode and Game Mode. Talk Mode lets you choose from several different settings and situations, such as "In a Restaurant", "At the Airport", "At a Hospital", or simply just "Meeting People". You start by saying what you want to say in the language you're most comfortable with, and Talkman, with its USB microphone and voice recognition software, will translate that into your target language. Then, you give the PSP to the person you're trying to communicate with, who will read or listen to the translation. He then chooses an appropriate response, gives the PSP back to you, and you read the translation of that in English.
If that sounded confusing to you, here's a hypothetical example. Let's say you're in Japan and don't know a single word of Japanese. You drop something accidentally and a random stranger gives it back to you. Using Talkman and your PSP, you say "Thank you" into the microphone and out pops "Arigatô" You give the PSP to the stranger, and he selects "Dô itashimashite" from the list of replies before giving it back to you. After confirming the choice, Talkman will translate that into "You're welcome".
At least that's the way it's supposed to work, but a few problems, of course, will arise with this mode. First and foremost is the fact that only a relatively small number of set phrases have been installed in the the database, so chances are, you won't even come close to finding a phrase appropriate for what you really want to say. Second is the cumbersome nature of the translation process - your average passer-by isn't really going to have the time or patience to go through the annoying process of passing the PSP back and forth, so this mode eventually will turn into just a helpful phrase dictionary (which is just as well, really).
Game Mode offers four different games to choose from: two of them are available from the start while the remaining two must be unlocked. The first game, Pronunciation Game, simply functions as a means to test your pronunciation in the four featured languages. Max, Talkman's spunky mascot, says a phrase in your target language, and you simply have to repeat it into the microphone. The voice recognition software rates your performance and spits back a grade. Acquiring straight A's in all phrases in any one particular language unlocks a new game for you, but don't get too excited - it's only a cheap Pong rip-off.
Listening Game, the other game mode that's available out of the box, is a game in which Max repeats a number of different phrases in your target language for you to memorize. After this, he'll say one of the phrases, and you have to pick the correct one from a list. I'm sure that if you get perfect marks on all of them, you'll unlock a new game, but I'm loathe to discover what cheap freeware reject that might turn out to be.
As far as software goes, Talkman is fairly innovative, but it's not without its major flaws. The most aggravating of which is load time, since switching between languages and modes takes forever, and the menu system is a nightmare. Secondly, I don't wholly trust the voice recognition software, since it has sometimes offered inexplicably poor grades to what I've personally perceived to be perfect pronunciation. I've brought the software to my school and my conversation classes, and have had mixed feelings with the software's grading system.
But all in all, Talkman was certainly worth the purchase. Since I've studied Japanese, I don't have much use for the phrases it teaches me since I've studied and used them many times over, but I still find it useful as a great resource for Chinese pronunciation and phrase recognition. As a result of tiddling with Talkman, I've discovered that I know far less Chinese than I should.
So, unless you have fluency in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (and really, who does?), I can assure you that Talkman has at least something to offer you.
