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Hi!
Glad you took the plunge to try the pen! It is true that it speaks rapidly in mandarin, but I haven't found that to be a huge problem re the instructions as at this point we are just pointing to listen, not doing the included games.

I didn't have the startup problem that you did, in that I bought the pen through http://bigreach.ca, and I requested that they upload the files for me onto the pen before sending it with the books. My pen was ready to go right out of the box, so we just had to turn it on, touch and listen. I carefully checked out the books on their website (there are video samples as well as page examples for each book) to choose which books would be best for our level (my son is a prereader fluent in English who understands a bit of mandarin, I am just past beginner in Chinese and can read some characters and pinyin).

We chose the 600 Words books (set of 3) which is for learning characters and has pinyin and English for every character, as well as the English Dictionary, which has pinyin, and also English translations for everything the pen says, both the sentences and the images (the images speak). You are right, the Fairy Tales are a real challenge. Though I am finding that at my level I can understand a lot of it by listening over and over, and starting with stories I know well, ie Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, instead of the Happy Prince and Pinocchio. It is great for hearing common ways of speaking, as every wee animal and character drawn on the page "talks"! "Da hui lang lai le!" (the Big Grey Wolf is coming!) "Xiao Hong Mao, ni mama zai jiao ni ne!" (Little Red Riding Hood, your mama is calling you!)

Anyone interested in a bit more customer support can look at my blog for info on bigreach.ca and also use my Pen ID # to get a $10 off credit for their next purchase (after buying the pen). Congrats on your purchase! I'll try to get a proper review done in the near future!