Since there has not been any sophisticated multimedia aid to accompany the PCR textbooks available on the market, CyberChinese is certainly a welcome addition to the existing audiocassettes and videotapes. In adition to incorporating all the basic and supplemental texts in the Practical Chinese Reader , this program expands the vocabulary, adds a searchable vocabulary database, and recreates all the exercises and activities of the textbook accompanied by extensive audio, video files and character animation. The exercises and activities are organized by lesson. Documentation CyberChinese provides both a printed manual and online help. The printed manual provides installation instructions and states clearly all the included features and applications of the software.
Illustrations make the instructions easy to follow.
Without a table of contents or an index, however, it is inconvenient for the user to consult a specific feature of the software in the manual. Online help can be accessed on every screen by clicking on a question mark icon. The help screens display context sensitive help texts, which include an introductory sentence summarizing the instructional purpose of the section and instructions on how to use the different exercises featured in the section. The online help texts are essentially a condensed version of the texts in the printed manual. Evaluation Technological features CyberChinese offers multiple platform compatibility.