Rosetta Stone

[coastiewifern]

Ouch that program is expensive. BUT 90% of my family speaks spanish and I am tired of the communication barrier. My personal goal is to learn spanish while the kids are in school next year. After getting duped with fake Uggs last year I am cautious to purchase this software. Where do you think I can get the best deal? I am seeing some websites to be phony. I am happy to buy used. Help por favor

 

[dawson5]

There is a thread on here about rosetta stone (in the general discussion area). You can only buy it from approved sites. The activation code is a one user/one time (?) and you cannot resell the program when you are done. I don't know about getting a better deal, but just take a few and go to the rosetta stone site to read their faq's so you can protect yourself when trying to find a deal.

 

[jacksmomma]

Borders and Barnes and Noble carry RS and they offer coupons if you join their rewards programs. The discounts are not huge, but everything helps!

 

[cglaura]

Check with your local library too, they may have it or something similar. Ours offered Rosetta Stone for quite some time before major budget cuts. You had to sign up specifically for it and do it online, but it was free.

 

[NYCDiane]

If I were going to spend that amount of money, I would buy it directly at Borders or Barnes & Noble. I wouldn't trust buying it online --- there will be sites offering it for a very low price. If so, you should understand, it's probably a fake. RS is NOT cheap and you can't buy wholesale lots from RS, so there's no way people can buy it in large quantities in order to resell it cheaply.

I'm kind of curious --- if 90% of your family speaks Spanish, why don't you? I worked at a place for a few years and many of our clients were hispanic. I learned to speak Spanish just being around them and talking with them. I can't speak it now -- it's been about 15 years since being there and I guess if you don't use it, you lose it!

 

[Lucille1963]

I think I recently heard a radio commercial for RS offering a free CD. Perhaps it is worth looking into that, seeing if you like it before you spend the big bucks.

I buy nearly everything used/second hand and this is something that I would only buy from a major retailer.

 

[tomthebarncat]

Try your local library,as that is how I am learning Mandarin Chinese, for my new job.

 

[Sagginit]

I would try a lesser cost program to see if you think it will work first. You can prolly buy a CD/book for $20 to test it out. I find languages are hard to learn in a vacuum. If you can find a cheap class at a local community college or language school once or twice a month that may be better. In a class you have someone to correct you on the spot and talk back to you. With those type of computer programs you can not carry on a spontaneous conversation that really makes you work at putting what you learned to use. I currently need to brush up on my Spanish and French and its just so much harder for me to do so on my own. If I had the time I would just take a class or two. good luck!

 

[Smuggs]

I am learning German with the Pimsluer discs I got at the Library. Liked them better than rosetta stone

 

[Candace]

The best way to learn a new language is to be immersed in it. That is not possible with your situation, so I would suggest learning as much as you can with something like Pimsleur (not nearly as expensive as Rosetta stone), and then practicing as often as you can with your family. My school used Rosetta Stone to teach English to some of our students, and it helped them some, as far as building vocabulary, but they learned the most from being in classes with other students and being "forced" to use English. Don't get discouraged - I think it's great that you want to learn Spanish. Good luck!

 

[drinkme]

I also say to check your local library. If they don't have Rosetta Stone, then I'm sure there is another language program that you can access online from home. (we use Mango).

Rosetta Stone is good, but there are other programs out there that are just as good.

HTH

 

[Gina]

Ditto the Mango idea (free online from our library), or DS and I really like LiveMocha.com. It really seems to "stick." And I really like how you can practice with native speakers, and help them learn whatever languages you speak as well. Reciprocal learning is pretty cool, and seems to really help. And LiveMocha is free as well! Rosetta Stone may work, but they are just way too proud of their program -- it's nuts how much it costs.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

This is free *BBC* and just as good *or better* as RS.

 

[bumbershoot]

You do not want to buy this used.

If you are a homeschooling family and there's a convention near you, attend the convention...Rosetta had a booth at the local homeschool convention last weekend, and the prices were *amazing*.

I also was offered a decent sale price from a Rosetta kiosk at the mall.

 

[LilyWDW]

Reported the spam bot advertising message.

OP, that is the kind of junk you need to worry about. Unless you are an authorized seller of Rosetta Stone, you can NOT sell it and buying from someone like that could really come back to you. So be very, very, very careful about who you deal with.

 

[furb & dez]

(disclaimer: I've never used the product) When I was looking into Rosetta Stone, I was warned off by others - their commercials about learning "just like a child" are accurate. If you use RS, you will sound like a child speaking, because you don't actually learn grammar and all that stuff. So if you want to talk like "The bathroom I go now where be?" RS is for you. If you want to talk like an adult, I would suggest online options or taking a community college course. (disclaimer: I've never used the product)

 

[eliza61]

Ouch that program is expensive. BUT 90% of my family speaks spanish and I am tired of the communication barrier. My personal goal is to learn spanish while the kids are in school next year. After getting duped with fake Uggs last year I am cautious to purchase this software. Where do you think I can get the best deal? I am seeing some websites to be phony. I am happy to buy used. Help por favor

Coastie, I would skip the rosetta stone. As some one else pointed out, the way you really become proficient is by actually going out and speaking the language. I learned french by taking an on line course but it really sank in when I asked a French speaking friend to only speak the language. That's where you pick up and learn from.

You've got a ready supply of Spanish speakers. Get a less expensive course and ask your relatives to speak spanish to you. At first it will be soooooo frustrating but after a while, you'll pick it up.