Rosetta stone programs

[dreamin_disney]

Does anyone own it ? Do you like it? Does it really help learn a new language? I'm looking to buy the Spanish one. My dd16 has Spanish and I was thinking this would be great for her.

Please let me know what you think

 

[IamJBo]

Using it to learn Italian right now and so far it's been pretty interesting - it pretty much repeats phrases and crams it in into your head per lesson - so far.

Make sure you pay attention to which you get because cost varies per level as well.

My online subscription has done wonders on the go as well.

 

[Pigeon]

Check to see if your public library has a subscription to Mango, which is a platform for lots of languages and you may be able to use it from home.

I've never used Rosetta, but I'm a huge fan of the Pimsleur programs. I'm using Pimsleur to learn some Mandarin, which is pretty difficult. I took a trip to China recently and had a number of people compliment me on my pronunciation.

 

[crisi]

Duolingo is free and online.

Pimsleur/Rosetta Stone/Fluenz are all targeted to adult learners who learn a language for business or pleasure travel - they don't tend to teach the same things as a high school Spanish course. And high school Spanish really depends on how its being taught - Rosetta Stone will have you buy Latin American or Spain - my daughter's Spanish class taught a mix, explaining the difference as they went.

 

[pryncess527]

Duolingo is free and online.

Pimsleur/Rosetta Stone/Fluenz are all targeted to adult learners who learn a language for business or pleasure travel - they don't tend to teach the same things as a high school Spanish course. And high school Spanish really depends on how its being taught - Rosetta Stone will have you buy Latin American or Spain - my daughter's Spanish class taught a mix, explaining the difference as they went.

Ditto. My University offers Rosetta stone to students for free, but I have heard from both the students and our language department that it isn't really helpful for getting through the college classes. It's just doesn't fit very well with their curriculum.

 

[crisi]

Ditto. My University offers Rosetta stone to students for free, but I have heard from both the students and our language department that it isn't really helpful for getting through the college classes. It's just doesn't fit very well with their curriculum.

I did use Fluenz last year to learn a little Spanish - and as an adult learner - it was awesome. But it wasn't at all useful for helping my daughter with her first year Spanish class - I was looking for a refresher for her - and to help my son who I homeschooled last year. We ended up dropping Spanish for homeschooling - he just wasn't learning the right stuff to take 2nd year Spanish this year - and we decided to use the credit somewhere else.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I have one budget-conscious recommendation. When I had to write a French proficiency test at university, it was several years after I had studied high school French and I was rusty to say the least. To prepare for it, I listened to a French radio station every evening for a week or so. Not concentrating on it or anything, just letting the talk wash over me as I read a book or whatever. I aced the test, which meant that I was given free credits and excused from taking any French courses at my bilingual university.

So my advice is, listen to a Spanish radio station, and watch a movie occasionally with the Spanish audio track instead of English. Turn on subtitles if you want extra practice reading. I'm sure it'll be a huge assistance to studying Spanish and the cost is zero.

 

[sheetz]

With a popular language like Spanish there are dozens of free podcasts to teach the language.

There's also a video series called Destinos which is basically a Spanish telenovela/soap opera designed for beginning Spanish students. You can watch the videos online and buy the textbooks used off Amazon.

http://learner.org/series/destinos/watch/

 

[Carina]

I just signed up for a 3 day trial of Rosetta Stone through Swagbucks.

I am only on the 3rd lesson (Spanish) and I am feeling a little frazzled.

It only uses photos and when it starts throwing grammar at you for example the "we", "they", "us", in both feminine and masculine but without telling you, this is "we", "they", "us". It gets confusing. I've actually had to google a fair amount of stuff in another window.

I would give it a 6/10 so far.

I am also disappointed in myself for actual retention of what has been taught. I hope that will come with time. Again I think there is too much grammar too soon. I want to learn more 'WORDS' first.

But that's JMHO

 

[jenninaustin]

Here's another vote for the DuoLingo app - it's really great.

Just today I happened across this website and I'm eager to check it out also - http://www.fluentin3months.com/

Now that I'm finding these other great options (really - I can't say enough about how awesome DuoLingo is) I can't imagine paying for Rosetta although I used to REALLY, REALLY want to get it.

 

[Colleen27]

I am loving Duolingo. I have never been very good at retaining foreign language lessons but the app is really fun and it seems to "stick" better in my mind this way than in the ways it was taught in school. However, it is a very conversational approach and doesn't match up with high school Spanish very well. I started teaching myself in order to help DS with his homework and it is just a completely different approach, more practical/vocab based to the textbook's more theoretical/grammatical/cultural method. So while I am growing more comfortable with my ability to communicate when we travel I'm still not terribly helpful with Spanish II homework.

DD13 is playing around with Mango now through our public library's subscription but has asked for Rosetta Stone for Christmas. She wants to learn a language that isn't offered in the local HS or community college (Japanese), specifically because she wants to speak it well enough to make traveling easier. It seems like for that it would be better, since it doesn't have to match up with any other curriculum or method, but I'm still unsure whether it is worth the money.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Thanks everyone. I'll have my dd checkout some of the free ones mentioned