For languages using a different alphabet, more time AND a solid strategy are very important in order to save into long term memory all the content, such as Russian which I am also learning. I use the Duolingo app for French and think that combined with writing exercises and member community corrections on iTalki these are a good pairing. I really like the Coffee Break French free podcasts that I can listen to anytime and there are lots of idiomatic expressions that are taught although perhaps a little old fashioned perhaps in season 3 but a little too much spoken English.
The only product that I have purchased is News in Slow French and it is relatively inexpensive and if you like news, it is also informative and the two broadcasters have good chemistry. Rosetta Stone is on sale today so that is what made me look for reviews.
I like what you have suggested in terms of iTalki lessons with tutors and the 30 to 50 sessions would totally outweigh the benefit of the price of the Rosetta Stone package.
I have decided to spend the money on iTalki tutoring after reading this! Let's put the cost in a little better perspective. Start with the actual price tag. As of today, you can buy levels of French, Italian, German, Spanish, etc.
And you will own it forever and can share it with whomever you want. Each level includes 4 units of 4 lessons each.
Of course, if you own it, you would repeat any lessons you want and if there are two people in your family, you cut the per-hour cost in half. Or if you give up on things easily, etc. Yes, you can fly to a country that speaks your target language. But who in this country would teach you the difference between masculine and feminine words?
The subjunctive? How to use the conditional or imperfect? If you don't have a base, going to a target country is fun and you pick up things, but this is not a learning strategy.
You can't learn a language on vacation for a week; the best you can hope is to make some progress if you already have a good start. Yes, you can get 15 hours less than one-tenth the hourly content of Rosetta Stone of in-person instruction. But how much better is a person going to be teaching you how to say "apple" or "red" or "twelve" or "I'm hungry" than a computer is? I would argue the live tutor would be worse because they don't have the stock of images to illustrate all these basics.
Even if the person is just as good, you get one-tenth the value; and if the person, somehow, is twice as good, you still only get one-fifth the value.
Many of the complaints people have are valid, especially that they don't tell you things. But there is no rule inside Rosetta Stone prohibiting you from using a dictionary, looking something up on Google, or asking a native speaker.
The woman who melodramatically drove across town illustrates the point: sometimes you have to go to certain lengths to figure something out, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I bet after all that effort and fussing, she won't forget what she learned. The thing to keep in mind is that this is one tool in your toolbox. It can and should be one of the most useful tools for a beginner, but like a hammer you still have to use it properly in order to derive any benefit.
Using it properly means: studying the content, not just breezing through it; repeating what you don't absorb the first time; being curious about the content and why things are true; and -- perish the thought -- going outside the program for an answer if you don't immediately get it.
Other tools you can use concurrently or after you finish include reading children's books, watching cartoons and movies, going on vacation to a target country, subscribing to other learning tools, getting private lessons, or -- if you're really serious!
There was a lot of information given in the review however none of it really answered the only question that I was interested to find out. I currently have the RS Latin Spanish installed on my computer so I don't need a lot of talk about whether I should spend the money. After all, I already have and am working my way through the program.
More specifically how fluent should I expect to be when I finish the series. Having read what seems like 5 pages of review never seemed to answer this most obvious question. What am I missing? Also - nice job mentioning the fact that you can get these second hand or slightly dated versions, this is quite true and they are not hard to find. What do you think of the Rosetta Stone Shared Talk website? Any experience with this? I am going to be reviewing your website very soon on my own, keep up the great work, truly a gem of a site you have Donovan.
This was a helpful review. My only note is that you wrote that it made more since to learn casual speech prior to honorific. I purchased Rosetta Stone to learn French. The software never worked properly; I had quite a "run-around" trying to get technical support; then, all but one of the technical support personnel were not helpful; and the software has never functioned correctly.
I have nearly ten years of experience teaching languages and have to say that the parts of the software that did function did not seem especially effective for reasons already noted in your article. When I sought a refund, I was informed that it was outside the 30 day refund window and the company refuses to provide a refund - despite the horrible experience I had with the software and their personnel.
So in addition to substantive flaws, the technical and customer support for the product is awful. I strongly caution folks to be very careful about purchasing Rosetta Stone products. I know I will never do so again. Speaking for Japan, it is considered very rude to speak casually to people who are not in your inner-most circle.
People have enough trouble trying to get past the "Ugly American" stereotype because, at least if you're Caucasian, you're automatically seen as American without going and proving people right by speaking to them as though you're a close friend when you are not.
It takes a lot to get to that level in Japanese society, and even then there can be restraint. So, you might likewise consider the cultural aspect. RS isn't perfect, and I believe the BEST way to learn is by living in the country of origin for the language you want to learn, but it is definitely a great supplement, or a great basis. What's more, children learn language based on context, and that's something I like about RS. As a child you're faced with situations where someone is telling you something and you can't make sense of what they're saying or what they're trying to illustrate to get their point across, so I think RS is right on with that.
And as someone who has done both "standard" college classroom instruction and full immersion no English, PERIOD, not even in textbooks in Japan, I can say that the latter is much better for retention. Also, as someone who has spent thousands of dollars both in the U. I agree with some of the people who said that it's too difficult or not useful for some people because they're either not the type of person who can learn with visuals and audio, or because some people are too lazy and want results now.
Some people are obsessed with price and think that they need to have some results A. Price is not an indication of possible success. It takes dedication and diversification of learning methods. I think RS is a great tool, but it needs people going into to use it with the right mindset and realistic expectations, as well as materials to supplement their learning.
You don't go into a classroom without books. I purchased Rosetta Stone to learn to speak German after moving to Munich. After many hours of working through the lessons, I gave up in frustration. Firstly, as someone living here, I was impatiently trying to acquire vocabulary that I needed every day.
Rosetta Stone was teaching me: "the girl, the boy, the bike, the cup" rather than expressions which were immediately useful interacting with other adults such as "How are you? Secondly, I am already fluent in 2 languages and functional in two more. Rosetta Stone does not leverage my existing knowledge. I was diligently having to convert the lessons into extensive notes of verb conjugations, and to attempt to reverse engineer the intricate german grammar rules.
I have friends here who take german classes and use Rosetta Stone as a supplement to help them build their vocabulary. The extensive repetition enables them to naturally pick up on the gender of words and sentence structure.
But, the classroom lessons are still a necessity. My husband wants to learn some german. I have suggested he use babbel. I must admit that I agree very much with this article. Rosetta can be good for the kind of person it will work with, and who will work with it. It is not magically going to teach you effortlessly I had been learning a language with various sources over the past 10 years, and even though I got an idea about the grammar and structure, and some rules, etc, I never got around to properly learning it for lack of motivation, structure, and support.
Rosetta may not have worked for me when I started from scratch, because I like and do need the grammar. But it has provided me with the catalyst I needed to put it all together and finally progress: I progressed more in a month than in 10 years! And I use all the other resources to confirm the grammar, etc. This being said, I found the 4 teacher-led sessions a month very very beneficial and flexible. But it has a lot to do with the fact that I usually get the same teacher, and am alone in the class.
And having 1 session a week is more than enough: it forces me to progress daily and review two lessons and get a bit head in "previewing" the next ones. Finally, the iPad apps, and the Livemocha addtions, make it richer than I could want it to be. The Apps make it easy to preview a lesson, or review it without interaction, for instance while driving. Don't do it, it is dangerous! Thank you very much for this review Donovan and for posting this content. There are Three days later it went down to I tried to get a credit but here is the problem I have tried calling it twice.
The first time I waited an hour before I hung up, I am still trying to get through and have been on hold for almost 45 minutes. So here is the kicker The "money back guarantee is a scam. They wont answer the phone, so how do you cancel it??? I'm just finishing RS Mandarin. It's my only exposure to Mandarin. I went to China two years ago after I'd done 2 levels, and got by somewhat and was also understood.
I'm finishing level 5 now, with a few days left to go before I go to China for a month to study there. I've found the program to be as described, but I haven't had trouble figuring out the grammar patterns. The one thing I did since day one, lesson one, was to take the online Studio class with a teacher once a week. If you are patient, and willing and able to figure things out, and listen over and over, and repeat things, then take the online class a week to see where your skills are weak, you'll get a great foundation.
I did try iTalki, but you need to have a certain skill level with both speakers if you're doing the free talking. After about 6 months of that and 2 years into my RS lessons I was able to switch from the pin yin of Rosetta Stone to the characters.
I use the characters for all but the newest of lessons now. I have learned many many practical phrases and went to China after one years of RS and finished only level 2 at that time I study several times a week , with a Chinese speaking tour group to sight see for 10 days, but couldn't read much. I've used Rosetta Stone for speaking, and books and Skitter for characters. I think it's an amazing program.
I reviewed the Russian level 3, as I speak Russian as well, and was impressed with it. My once a week RS teacher often goes off script and we can have conversational Chinese. I've had her for years but she'll only do this if I'm the only one in the class, which is most of the time.
I'm very confident in my speaking ability, and consider myself an early intermediate maybe HSK 3 or 4 but I'm not too familiar with that system. I had some tech issues and also had to switch from the CD's to the new version a couple of years ago. Personally, I like the no English parts, but have bought two grammar books to help me to confirm or reinforce what I think RS is trying to teach me.
I wish they would offer higher levels than B2 in their languages. I am at a C1 or C2 level in French, and I would love to work with their software at that level. Otherwise, I think the French Rosetta is probably useless for me. Hi everybody! Great review, I really enjoyed how thorough you were.
I am using Rosetta Stone to study persian, a language which, though not obscure, probably boasts fewer resources in English than the more popular languages like French, Italian, German, Russian, Japanese, etc.
The first Rosetta stone product I tried was Arabic, and I found it very difficult, probably because I wasn't used to the Rosetta stone process. I think if you are trying to learn a language with a different alphabet cyrillic, arabic script, korean , I personally found it essential to study the alphabet on my own before using the Persian Rosetta Stone.
Without any explanations I think its a bit of a stretch to figure out that each letter has three or four different forms depending on their position in a word. Having at least some familiarity with the alphabet really helped me hit the ground running with Rosetta Stone, although I am pretty much still at the point of illiteracy. I also think Rosetta Stone is a good tool if you already know how languages function, I wouldn't recommend it for someone learning their first second language.
It becomes much easier to figure out the "rule" you are supposed to learn, if you know that different subjects take different endings for example. Then you can focus on looking at the picture and you know exactly what you are listening for. So far it seems to me like the Persian Rosetta is doing a good job of using the culturally appropriate forms using the formal you when addressing an elder for example , but since I am still a beginner, I am not as aware of mistakes as I would be otherwise.
I think your idea of including culturally appropriate food is really important, and I hope that Rosetta stone person who commented here takes note and tells the developers. I can't imagine how annoying it must be to be living in a foreign country and not now how to order the actual food they have on the menu. It seems to me that the content is pretty universal from language to language, which is a bit disappointing.
But, I think its a pretty great supplemental resource as long as you don't pay full price!! Thanks for the review. I am right now learning spanish latin america with Rosetta Stone. I started two weeks ago and I'm already very good. I speak better Spanish than in 7 years french at school lol. I gotta say that I'm fluent in Croatian, German and Croatian.
I can manage French as well.. This may be an advantage for me using Rosetta Stone as I already have a feeling for languages. For me the whole school system never worked. What I like about RS is that they don't just force you to learn conjugation at the beginning.
They just throw random sentences and words at you and day by day you just get a feeling for the language. I can imagine learning Mandarin or Arabic is very difficult with a software but lets be honest, why would you do that? I would never try to learn any asian language with a software. Simply because it's a total different world to me : What I really enjoy is the voice recognition, the games with other people and the live sessions. A big dislike for me are the countless repetitions.
I often skip steps because its a bit annoying at least the spanish one. I recommend this program to everybody who is easy going with languages and who already speaks a second language :. Here is an inconsiderate comment about endangered language programs I have to say this was the most balanced review I found of the software.
I do also agree that it is probably best as one part of a whole for learning. I am currently learning Japanese using it, but I am not learning with only Rosetta stone. I also watch a large amount of Japanese Anime, and sporting events like Sumo wrestling so I have developed an ear for the language and I have started turning off the subtitles and am finding it easier to follow and know what is being said.
My biggest issue with Rosetta stone is that there are a number of languages that are not offered that are still spoken by a large number of people. Also that there are more than just Native American languages that are dying.
Yiddish, one very colorful and culturally relevant language to many people is dying out and that would be another good one for them to attempt to create a program for.
I had a friend who was from Germany and had asked him to teach me the language. I learned by going to his house and his family would speak in German to me, and only if I was really lost I'd ask for translation. But it was all about intuition and repetition. I also picked up Rosetta Stone German Volume 1 from a friend, and how 6 years later I haven't spoke a lick of German but I remember everything from that volume 1 and only some of what I learned from my friend.
Although, what I learned wasn't particularly useful it was family stuff, started boy, girl, bread, water, drink, eat, then sentences the boy ate bread, the girl drank water, the man read the newspaper etc but I bet if I completed all the sessions, it would get more practical and a good way to learn. But the important thing is to practice. They constantly are having sales. So my advice is research before you buy.
Also beware of any article that says they are going to give a fair review but starts off in the very first line saying you should buy this other product.
They will always undersell not necessarily be negative the competition. Every person learns at different rates and through different methods. So look for companies that offer a free trial so you can experience their program before you buy Once you get the free trials then sit back and try them all out.
If one works better than the others get that one, if they all work about the same then go for the best value. I agree about the cost, but there's no need to pay full price. I'm not sure if there's any pattern to the sales, but they certainly drop the price around Christmas.
Hi I enjoyed reading your review. Very well Put. I got the german. I do believe that Pimsleur is a better programme and gives you better sentence structures and real world country specific situations. Cheers Brett. Just want to toss in my two cents here. I was lucky enough to get to try the Russian edition. To me it has been a great experience.
I actually recommend the Russian version, if you have a knack for languages, and are good at intuitively figuring out sentence structures and grammar, this product is actually very decent. My friend has tried Japanese, which seemed to be a more bitter experience, so I think the review are very thorough. However, if I were to buy it as opposed to getting it free from work like I did, I don't think the product is worth more than USD.
I bet they'd sell like crazy if they dropped the price down to this. I liked your review. I was wondering have you ever heard of or tried Fluenz? I was wondering if that might be really good to use. Thank you!!! I don't know if this has been said already, but there is a current sale on RS. I'm using it to learn Filipino Tagalog and many of the cheaper options don't have this language.
I purchased the latest version total package for USD broken up over 3 months. This was a much more affordable option and still comes with all of the bells and whistles of the new packages. I love it. I also have friends from the Philippines that I communicate regularly with, but this program is amazing in my opinion.
I would never have bought it at full price, but if you catch the sale it's well worth it. It was on a holiday special, for Christmas. So I suggest waiting for them to have one of these deals for what I paid was less than half the price. I am just beginning my journey so I feel It is a good start speaking for myself anyway. I have downloaded a few podcasts from other sources on I-tunes just for a reinforcement excersizes. Here's my two cents. I have been using Rosetta Stone French and Korean for a while; while I haven't gotten too far as of yet, I have found that Rosetta Stone actually works very well for me.
I am a very visual person, and seeing pictures paired with the words written in the language has helped what I learn stick. I figured out pretty quickly that it really helps to have a notebook and a pen or pencil nearby while you're using the software.
I write down any new words I learn, their definitions, and their gender. I have categorized them by type basic, food, animals, colors, ect so that I have to really focus on the word and what it is used for; I have found that writing the word down helps me memorize it, and as soon as you memorize the word and don't have to work so hard to recall it, figuring out the grammar gets pretty easy.
Once you get pretty good at listening for the words, watching Korean TV with subtitles is actually pretty useful because A. You have a plethora of native speakers to listen to, some with different dialects and accents.
I would say the same with any of the other languages as well; immerse yourself in their media and you'll pick up on it quicker. I am one of those people who are strongly dissatisfied with RS. I tried to soldier on through the Korean lessons, ignoring my lack of comprehension. It got to the point where I could give all the right answers but had no idea what I was saying e.
Falling, riding, holding on? There were simply not enough contrastive sets. When I was learning my first language, my mother would guide me when I didn't understand.
Linguistic research clearly shows that repetition is only part of the way people learn their first language. While figuring things out is a good learning strategy, NOT figuring things out is a bad one. Research in second-language learning has found that an affective barrier is a serious problem for many people learning a language.
It can lead to not recognizing what is already known, avoiding studying, and other counterproductive behaviors. Donovan favors speaking early, but teaching a foreign language using a silent period has been found to be quite effective. Korean has two counting systems.
This is not told to the learner. Yes, I realize that figuring something out is a stronger learning method than hearing or reading it. Korean does have a plural suffix, but it is normally used only to show contrast.
There are free online Korean courses that work much better. A Korean told me that many of the sentences used are not what a Korean would ever use. So what's the point of chunking if the the chunks are never going to be used? On the positive side, even though for ease I would have preferred the grammatical forms used with kids since it's easier, starting with the formal is better for learning Korean since using formal to your lover might be funny but using informal or familiar with your boss can be catastrophic.
So that aspect of RS I agree with. I was so upset with my RS Korean course that I tried, within the specified time, to get my money back. I got stonewalled and still have the stuff lying around somewhere. While we all might learn our first language regardless of what it is pretty much the same way and, unless there is a special problem, succeed in getting the basics in a couple of years after hearing thousands of hours; learning a second language does not always follow the same path or have the same ease.
Thus, it can well be that RS is good for certain mixes of some languages and some people. Let me give two short examples to explain. I bought my Korean RS at full price. Psychologically, this is important; I was quite poor, and the price had am impact on my basic living condition.
That meant that I felt the company owed me a good product, but it also meant that I was determined to get my money's worth from it.
An acquaintance had a stolen or pirated copy of RS for Portuguese. That is, he had no financial investment in it. He raved about RS. In addition to the financial-psychological difference, there was a linguistic one. I had had no background in Korean; he spoke Spanish, and his mother tongue was German. That meant that the vocabulary and grammar of his target language were not far from his base, whereas other than European loan words which, though not rare in Korean, are not common in the RS course , I was totally in the dark.
Interestingly, when I looked at RS free snooper course for Indonesian, a language I had had a couple of courses in years earlier, I breezed through material and actually discovered the meaning of one or two Korean pictures that had stumped me. I have been told that the Russian RS program does not take into consideration the gender of the speaker and other aspects of the language, which means it is either confusing or wrong. Ok so I read this review a couple days ago after having already started a German Rosetta Stone.
Rosetta Stone adds services over time as it expands product functionality. If your organization sets exceptions or trusted sites in network-level assets or in standard images, we recommend entering the domains below to support future subdomain additions.
For more information on deploying Live Tutoring over a restricted network, refer to Restricted Network Guidelines tokbox. En Rosetta Stone, se agregan servicios con el tiempo a medida que se expanden las funciones del producto. Veuillez noter que seul l'abonnement en ligne est pris en charge.
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Apple Trade In Get credit toward a new Mac. Just trade in your eligible computer for credit or recycle it for free. Free delivery And free returns. See checkout for delivery dates. Get help buying Have a question? My students all learn different languages. One boy's mother is Korean, so it's great he's studying it. He's been able to converse more with some family members. Give the gift of language Help friends and family experience the joy of connection with Rosetta Stone.
Choose from 25 languages. Spanish Latin America. From second language to second nature Rosetta Stone helps you tap into your brain's innate ability to learn language, and gets you comfortable with communication in real life. Language learning for all Rosetta Stone has helped all types of language learners reach their goals.
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