Happy New Year!
For a long time I have recommended Rosetta Stone to visitors and budding language learners. They make one of the most comprehensive and flexible language methods, and it is available for some languages with few other choices. I have finally included a more in-depth review of Rosetta Stone on the site. Also, there is a section for visitors to review Rosetta Stone, so if you have already used the program, you can add your voice and opinion!
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16 comments:
just fyi i work for a co that takes calls for rosetta stone off the commercials. they advertise to every one, "call now your first lesson is free" when the customer calls, we are supposed to sell the program to the customer.we only get paid by rosetta if we sell the program, but the scripting is designed to keep us from selling the program to the caller. why do they do that you might ask, well because they take the information that we gather from the customer and send a free disc and info to the customer who then calls rosetta directly and places the order and rosetta avoids paying us the 2.00 comission we would have earned had we taken the order. nice!
I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. While many people love the software (others hate it) I can't seem to find anyone who has anything nice to say about the company. This is what has been turning me off of this company in recent months. Sorry to hear it.
I ALSO WORK FOR A CO THAT SELLS ROSETTA STONE, I AGREE IT'S TOO HARD TO SELL THE PROGRAM WHEN THEY OFFER A FREE LESSON(WHICH IS NOT A LESSON). WE ARE GETTING INTO TROUBLE FOR SAYING YOU'LL BE FLUENT, YOU WON'T BE YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET BY IN A CONVERSATION MOST OF THE SPANISH SPOKEN IN THE US IS SPANGLISH. i HAVE A COUPLE OF FRIENDS THAT ARE HISPANIC AND I TRY TO GET SOME HELP FROM THEM BUT ALOT OF THE WORDS THEY USE ARE NOT SPANISH LIKE CINNAMON IT'S CANDELA IN SPANISH BUT THEY SAY CINAMON. THE PROGRAM IS GOOD IF YOU WORK AT IT BUT FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME THAT IS GOING TO SCHOOL FOR A DIFFERENT CAREER AND NEED TO KNOW SPANISH IT ISN'T HELPFUL AT ALL ALOT OF THE WORDS I ASK FRIENDS ABOUT THEY LOOK AT ME AND THEY WERE BORN AND RAISED IN PR.THE COMPANY ISN'T THAT GREAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP US THEY DON'T WE ARE FAILING MISERABLY DUE TO IT IT TOOK CO A MONTH TO GET UA OUR COMMISSION.I THINK IF THEY DIDN'T OFFER THE FREE DEMO FIRST THEN IT WOULD BE EASIER TO SELL AND FOR THE ONES THAT ARE TRYING TO SELL IT GIVE US THE SUPPORT WE NEED OR EVEN THE INCENTIVES WE WERE PROMISED. THIS PROGAM IS VERY STRESSFUL ON THE ONES TRYING TO SELL IT PEOPLE THINK OK FREE LETS GET IT. FINE LIKE A GUY HAD LEARNED ITALIAN WITH RS THEN CALLED FOR THE DEMO ON SPANISH HELLO SAME CONCEPT PEOPLE SEE FREE THEY JUMP ON IT THE WE HAVE TO TRY TO SELL A PRODUCT WITH BAD REVIEWS AND JERKS ANYONE WHO IS GOING TO CALL FOR THIS PLEASE LET THE WORKERS DO THEIR JOB BY READING THE BS WE HAVE TO OR WE LOOSE OUR JOBS AND BE PATIENT IF YOU WANT FREE WE'LL GIVE IT TO YOU YOU JUST HAVE TO LISTEN TO OUR SPEEL FOR A MINUTE THANK YOU AND FOR RS YOU NEED TO THINK OF YOUR EWMPLOYEES WHO MAKE YOU ALL THAT MONEY WHILE WE STRUGGLE EVERYDAY TO MEET YOUR GOALS THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE THANK YOU ANONYMOUS
Sorry, but I gotta call you on the kudos you're giving to Rosetta. I've used Rosetta Stone twice. Once for Italian and once for Thai. As you know, Rosetta Stone is roughly based on the Direct Approach. They try to teach you 100% in the target language, and try to teach you concrete stuff, the same way that kids learn.
OK, there are five fundamental problems with this. 1) Adults don't learn like kids. 2) Adults don't want to learn just to describe objects, they want to give opinions and talk about more abstract things like hangovers and overdue visa payments. 3) Adults want to be able to talk about said hangovers from the first day of study. Not after 136,284 hours of incremental learning time talking about "The kids are jumping," "The red butterfly is on the car." 4) You have to be VERY good at being able to reverse engineer grammar to figure out what it is you're actually repeating. If you're working on your 3rd language, maybe you have a chance. If you are taking your first shot at language learning, forget about it. And 5) There is loads of research showing that people NEED their mother language to make sense of a second language. The only way to learn like a kid is to basically take a few years out of your life and have somebody spoon feed you the new language. Good luck finding a partner who's that patient!
As for my personal experience, I bought the Italian one with my employer's money, but after having lived in Italy for a year. Forget about it. Even their highest level courses are useless if you speak even moderately well at a second language. With the Thai one, I bought it -- but from a "special" dealership in Thailand that sells....uhhh..."discount" DVDs. It was cheap. Very cheap. And at that price, it was worth it. I had already studied some Thai so I knew the basic grammar (would have been impossible otherwise), and it was useful for just gaining some automatic fluency.
The verdict: If you already have some inkling of the grammar of the language you're learning, then the beginner courses will help you with some automated fluency, and this never hurts. It only takes a few hours to get this kind of automation. And a few hours is perfect, since after about a total of 10 hours your eyes glaze over from the monotony and your brain switches to neutral. Personally, I consider this software a short-term tool just to play around with, but don't rely on it for anything but the most basic of functions. I guess it's like if you want to become a professional chef, this course is like learning how to chop tomatoes faster. That alone won't make you a good cook, but it's one small part of the overall picture.
I must admit that I know about 4 people who swear by Rosetta. And all four suck at Italian and Spanish. Interestingly, all four of these people seem to think they are successful language learners. So maybe Rosetta IS good for people that tend toward self delusion. lol
What I don't understand is why people pay the insane price tag on the software. When I got the Italian course about 10 years ago it was about $300 or something ridiculous like that (not my money though, so wasn't bothered). Forget that! Just borrow it from somebody who was stupid enough to pay full price. Trust me, it will be sitting on their shelf collecting dust, so you'll never have to worry about a friend saying, "Sorry, I'm using it."
>"AND FOR RS YOU NEED TO THINK OF YOUR EWMPLOYEES WHO MAKE YOU ALL THAT MONEY"<
FYI: You are not an employee. You are just a tool.
Rosetta Stone is the most aggravating language learning system I have ever tried. Everything is based on some chinese person saying a word or words while you see a photo or group of photos. You never hear the english equivalent to let you know which photo is to be compared with the word or words that the Chinese person speaks. The companion CD's are much worse, as you just listen to someone speaking Chinese with no idea of what they are saying. This has to be the worse language leaning system on the market
I love the approach. It teaches basics, yes, but use that with interaction with native speakers and you are well on your way to being able to communicate. the photos and audio together make associating the words easy. I cant say anything more about how pleased I am with them.
wes
I am a Spanish and French teacher and I have been wanting to try Rosetta Stone for Italian, but based on everybody's reviews I might not invest the money. However, it sounds like it might work better for children learning a foreign language. Does anybody have any kids (preferably ages 4-10) who have tried the software?
Also, to "anonymous," the comment you made about native speakers not understanding the vocabulary taught with Rosetta (fyi: it's "canela", not "candela" for cinnamon) is a problem you will encounter with any method of language learning. The issue is not with the software but with the fact that language varies from region to region, country to country, and individual to individual. This occurs in many languages. Also, the influence of the English language in the Spanish language and vice-versa causes many of our words to be the same, especially in the case of new technology vocabulary.
Holly,
Rosetta is definitely not designed for kids, but it's got a game-like quality to it, so it would probably be something an 8 to 12 year old would enjoy. Any younger and it would be beyond them.
Wes,
I don't really get your point. ANY tool, when used in concert with authentic interaction with native speakers, will put you well on your way. Even a $3 pocket dictionary. The only difference is that Rosetta is a $300 dictionary -- and reviews by most long term language learners shows that it gets used very little before being abandoned as essentially useless...and out comes the $3 dictionary again.
As a software developer, I can see why you'd like the system -- it's cool -- but if you're serious about learning languages, the $300 would be better spent springing for dinner and beers with your native speaker friends :)
I am a teacher in a Montessori School which uses Rosetta Stone. The school permits students to choose from a range of options what they will work on. Many of the students regularly choose to work with Rosetta Stone, and they have had very significant success with it.
We also employ a Spanish teacher who works with the students for an hour a week in a group (hardly enough time for them to learn much, but enough time for her to evaluate them). Her comments on the students show that the students who make a lot of use of RS speak confidently, accurately, and with very good accents. I highly recommend it.
I have studied grammar-based Italian for some time, but can't understand rapidly spoken Italian or speak it fluently. Rosetta Stone is helping me to process spoken Italian more quickly. It is essential to analyze the sentences or even to have a grammar reference book handy to analyze the grammar patterns, which can become confusing in Level 2. If one just parrots back the phrases, nothing will be learned. At times the pictures can be confusing -- more confusing than the foreign language.
I subscribed to online Rosetta Stone and forced myself to complete the online Portuguese I, II, and III (it can get a little boring). I used it in conjunction with Pimsleur, a few classes, language meetup groups, and language exchange websites.
By itself, it falls far short of the ridiculous advertising claims that a person can become fluent in a language by just using Rosetta Stone. It's also a little pricey for what it is. The online version is more cost effective if you stick with it and force yourself to get through it within 6 months.
I do admit the Rosetta Stone method does have its strong points. In my opinion, it's actually really good for building up vocabulary and language fundamentals quickly (at least it was for Brazilian Portuguese). It's ok for comprehension (but not particularly great). It is not (by itself) particularly good for conversation. The voice recognition feature is a gimmicky joke and doesn't even work properly.
In my opinion, it's not such a good idea to just use Rosetta Stone by itself (although I suppose it's better than nothing). Doing so might give you a completely false sense of confidence. However Rosetta Stone is really good as a supplementary method for use in conjunction with other learning methods. I felt I was learning to read, write, and speak Portuguese MUCH faster than my classmates.
So in short, if you are going to use it, use it as a supplementary study. It will definitely help. But don't rely it by itself if your goal is language reading, writing, or speaking fluency.
Okay, maybe I'm being duped, but I love Rosetta Stone. It is fast-paced and much more stimulating than reading a grammar or phrase book. I took three years of French in high school, and a conversational class in college, so I was mentally prepared for learning Spanish. I have no illusions of being able to read the Wall Street Journal in Espanol; heck, I can't grasp it in English. But for basic communicating, I'm all for it.
I will have to come back here to post a further explanation of what I will say next... I was interested to see that some people have anything good to say about Rosetta Stone because I have purchased it and used it for Thai, Chinese and Arabic. In all cases, I wasted my money just to have the course as an adjunct to my studies.
Bottom line: Rosetta Stone is the worst language learning product available and I would be hard pressed to make something so worthless if I scribbled 10 foreign words down on a piece of paper and sold it to you for $250. I do not have one single good thing to say about this program, method or company. If I have time to come back again and details my dislikes, I will do so...
In brief:
1) The program simply forces you to guess at the meanings of the blabbing that you hear thousands of times until you stumble upon the right answers. If this is your main source of study, you would never figure out what you were learning... the book is only in the target language. Very very frustrating.
2) For Asian languages or Arabic, you do not learn script at all, you piece together groups of characters which could all be chicken scratch as far as you know.
3) No grammar instruction whatsoever unless you can somehow magically infer meaning as to why one answer is correct and others are not.
4) Even if you could somehow beat your way through the programs (as I have) using extra dictionaries and grammar books... you realize that you have learned nearly nothing through level 1. I laugh when I see someone write that you learn "the basics." What are they talking about? You can not ask where the bathroom is or order a cup of coffee after completing the program. Instead you learn how to say "cowboy" and "polka-dotted" and "clown." ... and how to say "The triangle is in front of the square and behind the rectangle." ... are you kidding me? Even if you learn these words, there are not many of them and they are not tied into saying or doing anything useful.
5) The program is exactly the same in every language... they change the ethnicity on some pics for different languages and that is it. It does not have any kind of flexible approach as to what may be intuitively grasped in one language and need instruction in another language. (Well, there is no instruction at all). It does not give you any awareness that there is an important grammar point being made or that this might be a critical issue in one language and non-existant in another... they just go on and on with glorified flashcards getting you nowhere. I am guessing that developing the program for a new language costs Rosetta Stone about 100 dollars in development costs... by which they they must spend 20 dollars to pay a speaker and blow the other 80 on drinks.
6) The program is insanely expensive. I would say that it is worth about 20 dollars and with the warning that it should be your 4th line study aid... just to give you a break from doing something more productive.
.... can you believe that this is my short version of complaints. The worst program ... ever.
Anonymous!!
I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, I once did a paper on this kind of bastardized "direct approach" -- I wish I'd read your post then. You summed it up perfectly. Yes, you'll learn a lot of simple words. But they are totally useless for real communication -- assuming you ever get beyond the first few lessons without smashing the CD out of frustration.
Interestingly -- on their site they advertise that you can learn a language _in_ that language -- yet the couple learning Chinese spend the entire time talking in English trying to guess what the hell they are supposed to say. I'd rather just play Scrabble if I had a night at home. More fun, and less expensive. But it's no wonder their program sucks so bad -- even they don't actually use it!! But they are a marketing machine. So they'll continue to do well financially I'm sure.
Having a moderate proficiency in French but wanting to improve it, I bought French from RS. My problem is with the really lousy software. I exited my program a few days ago and assumed, after the eternity it took to re-open it, that it was because of my Norton anti-virus software. After putting the disc in and out three times I got the program opened to my marker for the last session, but under NO circumstances, no matter what I try to do now, no matter what part of the screen I click on, can I advance the online course and continue. It's FROZEN. RS is open 24/7 for sales, but tech support is closed at 10:30 at night PST when I have time to work on studying and need help. Opinion overall: WAY expensive, pretty pictures, mediocre software. After another call to support tomorrow (the guy last time was polite but his English was so bad I could hardly understand him), I'll decide if I'm keeping it or getting my money back.
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