Rosetta Stone

A few people I know have had good luck with Pimsleur Approach. This is of course second hand info.......

 

Mal is right IMO. Pims is great. I have the CD's. But, no matter what she needs to use them to learn. Most people get through a few lessons and give up.

 

I have rosetta stone DVDs with 23 different languages on them -- they are OK, imo -- i have not gone through an entire course myself, so i can't comment on how effective it is, but from what I can tell, it works. I believe there are even reading, writing, and pronunciation exercises [if you have a mic] I'll have to check out Pimsleur. I'm a tactile learner, so i like the interactive nature of the RS software.

 

I listened to the first couple of lessons of Pimsleur and it is "proper" Spanish. They made a point of mentioning it.

 

the RS DVDs i have have 3 different...i guess, dialects of spanish. they have Spain-Spanish, Latin-American Spanish, and one other, i believe.

 

The last place that I saw the RS software was at Dulles airport. It was being pushed at a kiosk by someone who barely had a grasp of English...

Silly as it sounds, that pushed me to try the other product.

Will post an update in a few weeks and let you know how it feels and works.

 

+1 for Pimsleur, I used them to learn Polish, and have retained a good amount

 

I bought the CD to learn Korean and was disappointed. It was good for learning words but when they got into sentences, I got confused. The problem I had with the CD was that there were sections that didn't make sense unless you already knew Korean and there was absolutely no translation to bridge the gap.

 

I've been using the online version for about a month and it seems to be working very well. I actually like that there is no English translation at all. I find it forces you to understand it and make the visual reference.

 

I learned that my local public library has Rosetta Stone available online, you only need a library card to access it for free! Not a bad deal.

 

Good info, I would like to learn some Vietnamese for my wife. It would help with her family. Its bad enough when I visit I am like a walking tree compared to all of them ( I am 6'4") and my wife is 4'11" and her family is much the same. Its frikin hilarious to see pictures, but they are the best people in the world and I eat like a king when I see them in Cali. We are also all going to Vietnam in January so I need to get hot and learn so basics

 

bump

I am considering buying Rosetta Stone but wanted to see if anyone would update their statements or add new thoughts before I plunk down $500 on the system. Thanks!

 

My wife studied Dutch with Rosetta Stone. Worked well. Our daughter lives in Netherlands and my wife visited. She could hold some conversation with relatives and friends. Give Rosetta a try.
John

 

Pimsleur Approach I use it in the car to and from work. I have retained alot of it.

 

Si, estoy tratando de aprender el espanol y estoy usando los CD's de Michel Thomas. He tratado el Rosetta Stone y es OK, pero el metodo de Michel Thomas es con mucho mejor y es mas barato. He estudiado por solo cuatro meses y ya he aprendido mas que mis amigos que han estudiado por muchos anos... Su metodo es muy logico si lo das un oportunidad. No compraria el Rosetta Stone, no vale la pena - pero que es solo mi opinion. (for spanish speakers, sorry for any mistakes!)

Yes, I am trying to learn spanish and am using Michel Thomas CD's. I have tried Rosetta Stone and it is OK, but the Michel Thomas method is by far better and it is cheaper. I have studied for only 4 months and I have already learned more than my friends that have studied for many years... His method is very logical if you give it a chance. I would not buy Rosetta Stone, it's not worth it - but that is only my opinion.

The reason I like his CD's is that he teaches you structure, then you learn words and use the structure to form sentences. I will admit, when I first listened to the CD's, I was like, WTF... but I gave it a chance and once you realize what he's trying to do, it makes all the other ways of learning almost silly (Berlitz, Rosetta, etc).

Anyway, again, JMHO... GL!

 

i've never heard of michael thomas, i've been wanting to learn russian for a long time, most of my friends are russian, and all are fluent in english, but they have a tendency to switch it up in mid-sentence, which drives me crazy. the thing that has stopped me from doing rs is the price, it seems awfully high, but i'll check out that michael thomas software.

 

I've been wanting to learn Italian for a while now. I actually looked at a couple different programs. After finding this thread I decided to try again. I was able to find the Michel Thomas Italian set on ebay for about $60. I'll give it a try for that price!!

 

Digging up an old thread.

Well I didn't get far with the CD from Michel Thomas. Trying to learn just by listening just wasn't happening for me.

I found out recently that I could get access to Rosetta Stone through my work for free. Signed up and have been trying it out. Seems pretty easy so far. It is interesting how they set it all up. They mix up reading and speaking with some typing and little quizzes.

If anyone really wants to learn a language this seems to be the way to go, very interactive.

 

I have had experience with Pimsleur. I know nothing about Rosetta. I went through three levels (plus/minus 45 lessons) of Portuguese before I moved to Brazil, playing them repeatedly and practicing responding to the questions per the workbook.

Pros: Excellent tool for learning pronunciation, common phrases, asking for directions etc.

Cons: In the real world when you ask someone a question you learned in Pimsleur and they respond with anything other than exactly what was the response on the CD, what you hear is gibberish because you have learned virtually no grammar and do not know how to construct/deconstruct even a simple sentence. The best you can do is to hit them up with "can you speak more slowly?"

As kids most of us did learn to speak our native language without grammar and we weren't taught grammar until we got to school. But that still took years and the technique is what is today described as immersive and intensive.

Conclusion: Pimsleur is a good start, but not much more than that.

Comment: Fear of embarrassment and/or looking stupid in public is a significant hurdle for most people in learning a new language. If you can help the learner to overcome most of that, he/she will learn far more quickly.

 

Something that I'm seeing with Rosetta is that it also makes you figure things out on your own. It will teach you one part of a phrase then throw in a new word and make you match it to a picture.

I haven't tried Pimsluer so can't comment on it but so far Rosetta seems to be doing a pretty good job of also getting you to think about how to adapt new things as you go.

There is no substitute for REAL immersion in the REAL culture but if it gives you a good headstart then it is probably worth it.

 

If anyone wants to know anything about Rosetta, let me know. I work for them