Rosetta Stone is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I am learning Turkish, and I have already taken A1 and A2 level classes. But what was missing from my classes entirely was the speaking and listening. It is not easy to find A1 and A2 level listening videos. This solved that. I do not use this as a primary source. You MUST have a textbook to UNDERSTAND the grammar. Which I do from my classes. If you understand the grammar behind it, Rosetta is a wonderful secondary source to practice listening, speaking and work on pronounciation.
it does work, learning a language is about getting it, ideally, from different sources. this program is one of those. it builds vocabulary and grammar basics. I am a teacher, my native language is Spanish and I speak English and French, and I am using this program for German and Italian and i have seen improvements, it works better if you use it for a short time daily instead of a lot of time occasionally.
+MrUbeimarr Exactly. The key is discipline. Use it for 45 minutes to 60 minutes per day. Repeat lessons if you need to. You can supplement Rosetta Stone with other sources. It works, but not overnight.
I´ve tried some weeks ago Rosetta Stone Demo version for French. I used it for less than one hour and I still have in my mind words like Leau, mange, boit, garcon, femme etc We do not think in words we think in images so Rosetta´s method makes much sense to me!
I learnt French no problem! I had a 45 min immigration interview in French and it was easy! I think any language needs time, patience and dedication. Rosetta Stone is fun way to learn a language : no books, no homework, you love it and it is like a game, it absorbes you, you want to study every day! If you spent an hour and a half to learn just one word, it's not the software, that's you!
Svetlana Vernigora your saying that this person has a problem because she learned only one word in one hour and a half in Rosetta Stone? Just watch her other videos and see how many languages she speaks fluently. She doesn't have a problem. She's just making a review of Rosetta, a product that she had not used before. But she has learned several languages very well using other sources.
i am learning arabic at the moment with rosetta stone...and the best part about rosetta stone is, that it is motivating and fun! i tried many other ways and got bored after a week and feelt like i wasnt learning anything. this programm is at times confusing but it is helping out
I've been learning German with this program and it works for me. I guess everyone has its way to learn. p.s English isn't my native language either. I learnt it by watching movies and listening to the music, then I started to talk with the tourists who were visiting my hometown. That way worked for me as well.
Grammar picks up along the way in Rosetta Stone. For me, R.S is a way to encourage you to explore the language. Then again, everyone learns differently.
For those who are just beggining: Rosetta Stone is not a language course, but a software to obtain vocabulary. If you've never learned the language structure before, you won't be able to learn anything, depending on the language. If you are learning chinese for instance, you will learn all wrong, because the don't explain about the tones. For exemple, they say "ma", but there are four different ways to say "ma", and each one means something different. Instead of 'mother' you'll be saying 'horse'.
I purchased the downloadable version of this software and didn't have any issues installing it. Arabic may be a hard language to learn, but that doesn't mean all of the Rosetta Stone products are bad. I recently purchased the Spanish version and it's been working very well for me. I've been learning and retaining a lot of information.
I completely agree since Arabic comes from a different mother language than English, French, Spanish, German..etc. Learning Arabic is sometimes like an impossible mission but after long time, especially after practicing some of the difficult sounds like ض, ط,ظ,ع ..etc. it will seem a little bit easier. These sounds are even wrongly pronounced by Arabic native speakers. very funny..lol
I am using Rosetta Stone to learn German. It works really well for me, maybe because I already know English, French, Italian and Spanish quite well so my mind is already trained to learn different languages patterns and words. It is like in programming languages. When you learn the first language it seems superhard, then you learn a second one though it seems almost impossible (especially if they're really different like JAVA and C). When you learn the third one you start seeing some patterns, when you learn the fourth you have your mind set on patterns and it works quite well. You just need to keep order in your mind and do not confuse words from a language with another one. That is my advice.
LISTEN UP EVERYBODY! Someone who finished ALL levels of Rosetta Stone Italian actually made a video demonstrating how it works and how well it works. Watch this: Rosetta Stone Italian Level 5 FINISHED - CONCLUÍDO - FINITO
this is a great pace(a little bit more than my average memorization time) i wish more people could realize what they are capable off, for example memorizing 50 new words in 30 minutes. not to mention roughly 70 percent( i cant cite this one sorry guys) of typical dialogue is only like 1500 words. ( google iit for yourself cause you cant believe everything you read on the internet :).
interesting...all of the comments that disagree with the commentator have disappeared...i have the arabic version of rosetta stone. i'm not having a problem learning. sure, the alphabet is a bit tricky, but not a big deal...i don't see a problem with it. i've used it for spanish, russian, and latin...thought it was very useful.
Susanna, The video you uploaded was interesting. The Arabic in this course is the Formal Arabic...and this is really interesting. I am Arabic native speaker and would like to recommend this course for you if you are willing to learn Arabic. Arabic is different from all other languages, as far as I know, in one respect and that is all Arabs can speak and fully understand the Formal Arabic. Let me give an example, if different Arabs from different countries speak the Formal Arabic, it is really hard to recognize where each of them is from. Learning Arabic is very difficult but it is possible. Many have failed but many and many made it and they can speak Arabic now. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
I’m learning Spanish and have had no issue. I’m not sure it’s supposed to be intuitive as much as it is to learn a language in the most natural way possible; as when were children learning to speak our own, native languages. Again, it installed easily and have been rapidly learning the content presented in the short time I’ve used the product.
I'm using the Japanese version, and like it pretty well. I've had some Japanese experience in the past through college and learning the classical way, but I'm finding that the words are sticking so much better through this program. It's fun and engaging, and maybe a little on the slow side, but slow isn't always a bad thing. Especially when it comes to a language.
CreateYourWorldBooks Hi, Susana! I hope you are doing well. I have tried the product for German and I think it's not that bad, everything that you have criticized I found it useful somehow, for example I didn't manage to recognize the words for Big and Small "Gruß und Klein" until the next level. Though I loved it because this is what have happened with my native language Arabic throughout exposure to the language e.g. If I'm listening to some political show in Arabic I just listen and keep going, I didn't pause the show to lookup some word in the dictionary and then continue; And that is what they do with the product. If you just let yourself get immersed in the language as you did with your native one will benefit a lot from it. I know it sounds hard for as you have mentioned that you love mazes and patterns just like me; but you just have to wait for the grammar explanations as you did with English. Sorry for being talkative, wish you all the best!
Thank you, This video is much helpful. You gave a good example about Arabic because Im Arabic(Iraqi) and now I am understanding the issue with this program. Actually, It is huge issue.Thank you very much
I've just finished Unit 1 of Level 1. There are 5 levels each with 4 units. It took 1 month to finish a unit. What Rosetta does is it makes the building blocks, and once you are given those blocks you can make beautifull buildings. It wants YOU to figure it out and when you do so "you remember things". Its a beautifull feeling. I dont want to listen to someone speaking/reading, its boring. Rosetta is fun. Its Speech recognition is the best out there. Remember one thing with RS 'Think & create'
Luciano, this is exactly why I made the video! I don't have an extra $500 burning a hole in my pocket, nor do most of the people who ask me for advice. Language learning can be done on the cheap. Many of us in the online language learning/multilingual community learned with little money and I think we, at least the ones I've spoken to, feel an obligation or deep sense of purpose, to help others learn language even on a small budget.
With all due respect, what's your hurry? No one learns a language in a month (I don't care what promises the marketing team makes). Yes, culture, dialect, and other nuances should be part of the learning process, but that's well beyond the scope of any single learning product. It sounds to me like you jumped on TH-cam to trash a product after you had a bad installation experience and used it for 1 hour. That's a bit like getting upset that you didn't get your doctorate after the campus orientation speech.
The best way to learn a language is learning a lot of vocabulary then make sentences,watch movies in that language,listen to music in that language it helps a lot that's how I learnt english.
Now I'm totally dismayed !. I want to learn English language with this course 'cause it looks like the best option on the market but after listen this review I don't know how is the better way to speak it. Thank you for this advice.
I have severe dyslexia and the Rosetta Stone for German was a godsend after trying two different language schools in Berlin. I used it for Russian prior and it really helped train my ear, which is something people with dyslexia need a lot of extra time for. Listening to a class full of people mispronouncing shit a few times before moving on to the next lesson was detrimental if anything for me. As for learning German cases, this is something I will likely never able to memories, my dyslexic brain simply does not process that. Memorizing what sounds right is far more advantageous and that is what the Rosetta Stone provides.
I think Rosetta works best for languages that use the same letters as English. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and other such languages require intense grammar sessions one on one with a teacher before one can even attempt to delve into sentence construction. I have found Rosetta very helpful while learning Spanish Latin America. It is almost as though the program was designed specifically for Spanish. I would not however expect to learn a language that uses completely different text than English, via Rosetta. This is one area where Rosetta messed up, in thinking that they could use a cookie-cutter method to teach completely different languages. I speak several languages and I can tell you right now that Eastern languages for someone who was not born there require intense core lessons and immersion. Want to learn Arabic? Find a real live teacher.
I completely agree. I had similar problems with attempting to learn Spanish with Rosetta Stone. You should develop a language learning program yourself! You'd be great at it!
I think Rosetta Stone works if you are learning another language that has your native alphabet however if your a native English speaker and are learning Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese your going to struggling because the writing systems foreign.
I would have to disagree. I am learning both Spanish and French at the same time with Rosetta Stone and I have only been learning for one month and I have retain way more than one word. I have a friend who works in the corner store who speaks to me only in French and Spanish to assist me my speakings. I also utilize the online sessions. Therefore I would recommend Rosetta stone. The entire foundation of Rosetta Stone is to learn as you did like a child. As an adult you problem let that interfere with the immersion process and wanted to learn what the word meant.
It depends on what language, I assume you are a native English speaker and Arabic is completely unrelated to English, this would explain you difficulty, I am doing Rosetta Stone Italian (I'm a native English speaker and English and Italian are closely related) and I have made great progress and I highly Recommend Rosetta Stone to any one wanting to learn another language.
hmm I tried RS for French and it was pretty good experience for me. I tried it for 10 days and after 6 months I still remember most of what I learned. It did not take much time for me to install the product but I'm an IT guy so I can't comment on if general people would find the installation. It's expensive - true but it's very good.
I'm using Rosetta Stone for Chinese, pretty much one of the hardest languages you can learn for an English speaker. Rosetta Stone is such a great program and it is totally worth it for me. The only thing is that's different than most languages instead of Japanese I believe that is offered by Rosetta Stone is that there is no alphabet, so I need to learn thousands of Chinese characters. Other than that, Rosetta Stone is perfect in my opinion. 再见！
Thank you for an insightful critique. I also found Rosetta Stone to be mostly an over-priced, unhelpful, computer RAM-pig of a product. It is refreshing to hear a seasoned polyglot smite this product with a good bang on the ear! By the way, you mentioned letters changing from the beginning, middle, and end of words. I encountered this for the first time learning modern Greek.
Thank you kindly Susanna, for a heck of a good review. It is through the efforts of people like you that we people can decide rightly. What bothers me the most is the fact that Rosetta Stone doesn't answer. They seem impervious to all comments and seemingly unwilling to move an inch away of their path. It seems that in order to get the lessons in your iPad you still have to pay more. Rosetta overcharges you in the sense that results don't match the costs. C'on Rosetta, give us an answer!
I have justsaid yes to a special offer from Rosetta Stone and bought myself a Turkish course. It is a pity that I have not read this review before. It is an objective and accurate analysis of Rosetta as it will not explain grammar nor irregularities. . If you are motivated enough you can find great Turkish courses in the web that are entirely free. See them in TH-cam. Rosetta Stone is both expensive and slow, although it certainly is a good complement of Turkish TV watching, watching films with Turkish subtitles or even Turkish sound (I have found two so far, sheer good luck). Rosetta Stone, to make a long story short is just a complement. It will not replace your will to learn a foreign language using as many ways as possible. Thanks, again, for this lucid review. Save your lmoney.
Comletely agree. Almost every review come from people who 1. language enthusiasts and satisfied with the traditional / basic methods of learning a language 2. simply can't use basic technology and after 2 hours of using the software they just declare that "I can't imagine this software" doing this and this and this, at the same time demonstrating their complete lack of understanding how the software actually works. This overdramatizing with "had to get in the car" sillyness is also annoying.
I agree: "Rosetta Stone" is great ... but if used as a "helper " (a very expensive one). Their motto is "learn languages naturally, as babies do" but they do not consider that a small child to learn how to say a word takes a year, of 24 hours exposition. it is a great help if you want to learn new words, expand vocabulary, and hear how the words sound, but a language learned by adults also needs grammar. As you say, it is often very difficult to " discover " the rules of grammar from the diven text or image (often not very explanatory). I used it for languages written in Latin characters , I dare not imagine the confusion that can be generated with Arabic. I can understand that they can avoid giving historical and cultural knowledge , to focus on the language , but teaching a language to an adult you can not avoid giving information on the structure of the language itself . The main problem is people who design these courses , they know only their native language, and do not have the faintest idea of what it really means to speak a language : It would be just enough to insert the information sheets to improve the course of a thousand times .
Susanna, thank you for your videos. I am an English teacher and I always tell my students about your experience and share your advice with them. May God bless you and all your deeds! ;)
I tried Rosetta Stone for Arabic and it was impossible. Many years later of studying the language traditionally you will begin to speak it and write it OK, that's what I did. It's one of the most difficult languages in the world. I recommend Rosetta Stone for European languages utilizing the same alphabet. Good luck.
I think the review is somewhat fair if you are a typical age of Google progeny who requires instant gratification. Regardless of the RS hype about "natural" learning, they do clearly state that their method is learning by association. So complaints about not having learning basic phrases or explanations is moot. RS clearly states that it is a departure from those conventional learning systems. That said, RS is not the most effective way to learn a language for a vacation, where most people just need basic conversational skills. My company does use RS for employees working overseas, and the Arabic program worked reasonably well for me. I went through the whole program (V2) out of necessity, and will say that you probably won't be conversant until about unit 3 (40+ hrs). The complaint of having to seek a native speaker to learn the language is unfair too, because that is the ONLY way to become fluent in a language. No learning system can replace that. She states that she learned faster by speaking to an Iraqi cafe owner. If you want a personal lesson, you need bilingual friends, or use italki for 10-30 $/hr. Finally, the setup issues are pretty specific to this user's lack of IT skills. I'm sure the included headset just required a driver to work properly.
I bought this for Japanese... and I live in Japan. Still, the vocabulary is completely without context... Juice! Camel! Hello! Mountain! Having said this, I've been a language learner, teacher and teacher trainer for over 20 years, and I believe that it's all about the learner's motivation. No matter how great a teacher / approach is, if the learner doesn't see the value, learning won't happen. And no matter how lousy the tools, if the learner is motivated, learning will take place!
I agree with you. I bought Rosetta Stone for Arabic but I sent it back for the reasons you stated. Honestly, I think Rosetta Stone might be okay if it didn't cost so much.
I agree with this completely. I used Rosetta stone for over a year blindly, trying to reteach myself spanish. I ended up quitting and just listen to the radio, practice writing, reading, and speaking, because I learn much more in 10 minutes in reading then I would in an hour of RS.
There is a guy on youtube who has a five part Rosetta Stone review for the Spanish version and I think he did it for almost a year and made it through four levels. It should be easy to find. I ended up going with Pimsleur and I'm real happy with it. I'm retaining almost everything I learn. Take the first lesson online for free and you will know if it is for you.
thanks for your comments and review, please let us know if you find any better platform to learn languages? as i am interested in italian and other european languages.
I am on level 5 in Rosetta Stone learning Spanish. I have had to go to the internet for translations of the script. I knew a lot of Spanish to begin with so I have been able to go quickly through the program and I agree that it isn't the best way to learn a language. I wish I had researched it first. I would have been better off getting a tutor. Rosetta Stone gives you two sessions with an online tutor per month for three months after that you have to pay extra money for the online access.
Well though I didn't finish the program I can say I learned at least 10 words and a lot of grammar stuff from Japanese version in 30 minutes - an hour with this program. However this program essentially forces you to use logic and reasoning to figure stuff out, something I find very easy and have always excelled at and enjoyed more than being give n the answer and tend to retain more with. I have decided to pursue a different method for my self study, its just for entirely different reasons than you mentioned.
Hi there! I was wondering what program and books you use to learn languages, I am interested in learning Hindi and what to know a good resource where I can learn it. Thanks!
completely agree with your opinion. I have started learning Mandarin just 7 days ago and I already know at least a hundred words that I can ACTUALLY use in a sentence. I'm now living in China so i can practice with my colleagues. I speak some Japanese myself but I just took a peek at the RS japanese and i think it is quite useful. So I gave to my friend and she loves the program. This review is very biased and inaccurate. Yes it's true it doesnt use translation but it doesnt need to. ...(cont'd
While I have definitely had a better experience picking up words with Rosetta Stone (it didn't take me an hour and a half for one word), you may have made a good point about the obscure nature of how the orthographic system is poorly portrayed within the program. I didn't really think of that.
I definitely agree with this, and I find that language learning softwares that try to make learning the language seem like a game are way less effective.
Great thanks for your video! I share the same opinion as you do, although I am just at the beginning of German course which for some reason is repetitive beyond the level of sanity and seems as a waste of time compared to Duolingo. Have you actually finished the course and feel like it was a waste of time? If yes then I'll switch to another software as I would rather spend more money than waste more time
Hi, I have the same experience with Rosetta Stone. Could you please introduce me any software for improving my pronunciation and eliminating my accent?
I would very much learn german...I live in Mexico and unfortunateky don't have access to trips to europe due to economics and so forth...yet I embarked on one of those Rosetta courses ( pirate one) and I completely concurr with you...in terms of german language it was difficult for me to learn it and to find the groove of grama...My question is...What do you think about Rocket Language program?
For me, I liked it because it slowly introduced vocabulary and grammar. I found that I learned from it. It was especially good for Swedish which was very difficult for me. When I went onto other programs, I was able to understand the language. RS was slow, but I think that is what I liked about it.
Sorry to hear so many have less than good experiences and for some, miserable ones. I am studying Mandarin, not easy and extremely challenging. The language is tonal so listening and pronouncing is critical. The version of Rosetta that I use is the TOTALe where the entire course is done on line. There are many, many opportunities to learn and practice within the course and not a bunch of 'dry discs'. Solo games and games you play in real time with others are fun and enriching. One can also download the pdf of the entire course..no pictures but all the text is there (in pinyin (roman alphabet) and Chinese characters) and space for notes and vocabulary lists. the notes alone are helpful since one writes them and helps memory. in addtion the online course provides tutorial sessions with 2 or 3 other learners, one session per week. These sessions are about 25 minutes long, there is no English and your coach asks the learners to describe what they see in pictures. In fact one carries on a conversation with the learners and the coach. I have been studying for quite sometime and have had moments of frustration and despair. however with the online version (no discs) one can chat with others and believe me many have similar frustrations. the chats alone can be motivating. I have sat in on various Rosetta Stone Webinars, the engagement teams and they don't speak of some magical 'way'. They recommend 30 minutes per day. Once the online subscription expires one can renew the subscription-- just a few dollars per month without losing your progress or place in the course. The games are still there as well as the tutorial/studio sessions. All that said , some degree of immersion outside of Rosetta is critical. Go to a Chinatown in your city or find similar communities related to the language you are trying to learn. Go shopping in these districts or city sections, go to a restaurant. RS is a good approach and may not be the best for some. It is worthwhile finding another program to supplement RS. probably the greatest drawback is there is no explanation for grammar rules. Over time though one sees a pattern. Nevertheless there are many opportunities to get grammar rules etc from many other sources. Good luck everyone
I read your post about the problems, and I agree with them most of the article. I would have one more problem to add to it. In arabic they have vowels, and case endings. Native speakers in arabic usually don't pronounce all of them unless it is needed for some reason, but 99/100 you will never hear them pronounced, so another thing the program needs to have fixed is the literal pronunciation of the words.
Your comments echo my own experiences using Rosetta Stone for Arabic. I have typically struggled to achieve any level of proficiency doing these exercises. Rosetta Stone requires a good deal of practice using an old-fashioned textbook to learn grammar and to master the alphabet, i.e. in particular to recognize letters according to their position in the sentence. Studio session coaches are wonderful, but I dream of performing better than I usually do in this live situation. By the way, which dialect of Arabic does Rosetta Stone use?
Out of topic, but as an Arabic native speaker, it is never mentioned what dialect is used. And as for teaching the language, it is all the "fosha" that is used, and then the dialect will come on its awn depending on where the person is living :)
as some other people have already pointed out. you cant just use Rosetta Stone - it's a language program! you need to use a language on your own. However I find RS to be extremely helpful in terms of teaching vocabulary and grammatical structures. I figured out everything just by listening and seeing the pictures. if YOU cant do the same - well that's a different issue. Either RS is a lot better than some damn boring grammar books that may teach you rules but NEVER listening/ speaking !
I do comprehend some of your complaints, Susanna. I started learning Hebrew and Arabic with Rosetta Stone as well. There's no way to start with, if one isn't skillfull in the writing-system. One won't be able to read just only the very first word. One has to start training the writing-system before starting with Rosetta Stone. I had good experiences with it before (in Hebrew), so I had no problems starting the course. Yes, that geisha also appears in Hebrew, but however, I really made (and am still doing) rapid advance with it. But also to mention, it's too less only focusing on the pictures, I also do a lot of writing (out of the pictures), also trying to understand the grammer. For me it's a fantastic system, but for sure not easy going. For example, I guess, they assess 30 minutes for the first lesson - far far away, guess it will take you 4-5 hours to be really perfect in it. Anyway, in my mind, a very good system and to recommend. - And concering Arabic you started with: as I didn't know the writing-system I hadn't been able to start with. But I'm focusing on Hebrew, maybe to return on Arabic later.
Hi guys. Personally i have used Rosetta Stone to learn japanese and mandarin, My native language is spanish.Agree the software is a bit weird at the beginning and you advance slow, but after a couple lessons everything makes sense, as a very positive thing, you learn with no translation, i have tried to think on a translation while i say something in chinese and only concepts come to my mind, i like it a lot. Agree it lacks explanations but if you complement it with some internet I RECOMMEND IT
do you speak french? Excuse me, but Im really anxious because I havent found an appropriate way for learning. Maybe you should know about any program ir something like that. Thanks for the video.
I agree with you that Rosetta Stone does not give us any clues to get used to the character and no any explanation to make you clear. What made me mad was that I can't copy the text to get the explanation from somewhere else and actually I don't know how to write the text on google bar to get help because it was Japanese... Crazy software!
Nice vid I like it .Actually I decided to buy one from best buy to my friend ,but when I saw your vid .I told him to find another better cheaper way than Rosetta stone ,but I think the problem is only with Arabic Vol only I think it's because (The lack of Arabic language learning multi media ) .Anyway, you can ask me if you have any difficulties in this Vol ,especially if you have old proverbs ...Thanks .
I completely agree with this review. I was lucky and I was able to purchase Rosetta Stone Totale for French at a fraction of the cost. I find that it is more useful as a supplement to the Podcast I've been using to learn French, than as an actual language learning program. And while I agree it does have value...that value should not be priced at $500. Absolutely not.
Naomi, I can see RS being useful for review. And I wrote about this in my blog post. I like the bingo game and it's more fun than doing flash cards or re-reading a text book. Why do you find it to be an excellent backbone? What aspects helped you? I am sincerely curious.
I finished it, all 5 levels of Spanish, Latin American version - over the course of about 9 months, usually 30-60 minutes a day (Jan-Sept 2012). It's May of 2013 I haven't been on it since last fall, and I've lost almost everything I picked up to that point. I still remember how to count to maybe 50, and know a word here and a word there. I know a couple quick phrases, but nothing that's going to get me by in Mexico. The problem is lack of 'conversation' to get you into it.
Ultimate Arabic Beginner-Intermediate (Book and CD Set): Includes Comprehensive Coursebook, 8 Audio CDs, and CD-ROM with Flashcards (Ultimate Beginner-Intermediate) by Living Language ... Ultimate Arabic contains lessons in the Modern Standard Arabic as well as four regional colloquial dialects. Arabic script is taught and used in all Modern Standard Arabic lessons. The course also includes an hour-long audio phrasebook for each dialect. flashcards with over 500 vocabulary words and phrases.
Perhaps it took so long to install, and the headset didn't work because of your computer? You should check your drivers are up today's or even make sure they are installed for the headphones. However I found all the same problems with not understanding what anything meant, only educated guesses and a English/Japanese dictionary!
Good point. It would be nice to know elementary stuff first. I have them all, but learning French (my hubby is former miltary). I don't like it, too hard. There is way too much guessing. This is one of the hardest ways learn another language because they don't tell what things are. that is crazy how different Arabic is different depending on the area.
To me Rosetta stone is best for people who know the language basics such as the alphabet and grammar and want to study alone for a bit. I think that its bad marketing to say anybody can pickup this and learn a language with it.
And if you are going to spend $500 why should u have to use any other resources? It is a rip off. I use courses from teach yourself that are £40 max and i can actually have a portuguese conversation after 4 months now. However i do have little apps that help but other than that. I couldnt afford rosetta stone and their is good reason not to use it. thanks susanna this has been really helpful for me and i hope it can help other people.
People always tell me they are going to learn a language with Rosetta Stone, This is simply because it is well advertised. I have never even bothered with it. For standard Arabic, the best course is Linguaphone, if still in print.
I used Rosetta Stone for Spanish and Swedish. My personal philosophy is that self learners should invest in three different programs. I used Rosetta Stone, Living Language and Pimsleur. I reject the idea that one program is enough. Rosetta Stone is an excellent backbone for language learning. I would use it again. However, it is not worth the money. They need to come down at least $150 because it is not worth what they ask.
I agree, hard stuff. You do not get the basics to meet people or maybe getting around. A lot of times I look at the picture and have no idea what they are saying and cannot figure what I am suppose to learn.
Try it for yourself and see. I am not lying. It was very frustrating because the upgrades didn't work the first two times. I am used to installing software and this process was ridiculous. And I truly only retained one word, "girl".
Whoa thanks for your opinion Was hoping to use internet as a backstop for interpreting Russian (another hurdle for foreign alphabet & grammar) Somehow, don't believe that Rosetta Stone with a single install platform is the right product -- would have to dedicate one expensive laptop to Rosetta Stone then sell both installed as a "Rosetta Russian laptop (one advantage with MBP is availability of a Cyrillic keyboard) Thanks again
ok so I'm looking to learn German to acuratly go and wright dialog for a charecter of mine and know what I'm having him say. I'd rather not go to google translate because in my experiance it has translated things wrong. How ever, I can't afford much more than $150.00 due to having just moved and some un-expected expenses having come up. What would you recomend?
I agree, I looked up Rosetta Stone on TH-cam that somebody had posted so I watched. I had no idea what they were talking about or how the words associated with the pictures it made absolutely no sense.
Rosetta Stone is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I am learning Turkish, and I have already taken A1 and A2 level classes. But what was missing from my classes entirely was the speaking and listening. It is not easy to find A1 and A2 level listening videos. This solved that. I do not use this as a primary source. You MUST have a textbook to UNDERSTAND the grammar. Which I do from my classes. If you understand the grammar behind it, Rosetta is a wonderful secondary source to practice listening, speaking and work on pronounciation.
it does work, learning a language is about getting it, ideally, from different sources. this program is one of those. it builds vocabulary and grammar basics. I am a teacher, my native language is Spanish and I speak English and French, and I am using this program for German and Italian and i have seen improvements, it works better if you use it for a short time daily instead of a lot of time occasionally.
+MrUbeimarr Exactly. The key is discipline. Use it for 45 minutes to 60 minutes per day. Repeat lessons if you need to. You can supplement Rosetta Stone with other sources. It works, but not overnight.
I´ve tried some weeks ago Rosetta Stone Demo version for French. I used it for less than one hour and I still have in my mind words like Leau, mange, boit, garcon, femme etc We do not think in words we think in images so Rosetta´s method makes much sense to me!
I learnt French no problem! I had a 45 min immigration interview in French and it was easy! I think any language needs time, patience and dedication. Rosetta Stone is fun way to learn a language : no books, no homework, you love it and it is like a game, it absorbes you, you want to study every day! If you spent an hour and a half to learn just one word, it's not the software, that's you!
I agree. Usually when someone is trying to sell a book, they will instinctively attack their competitors.
Svetlana Vernigora your saying that this person has a problem because she learned only one word in one hour and a half in Rosetta Stone? Just watch her other videos and see how many languages she speaks fluently. She doesn't have a problem. She's just making a review of Rosetta, a product that she had not used before. But she has learned several languages very well using other sources.
i am learning arabic at the moment with rosetta stone...and the best part about rosetta stone is, that it is motivating and fun!
i tried many other ways and got bored after a week and feelt like i wasnt learning anything.
this programm is at times confusing but it is helping out
I've been learning German with this program and it works for me. I guess everyone has its way to learn.
p.s English isn't my native language either. I learnt it by watching movies and listening to the music, then I started to talk with the tourists who were visiting my hometown. That way worked for me as well.
Arabic has to be one of the hardest languages to learn however way you learn it...!!
Grammar picks up along the way in Rosetta Stone. For me, R.S is a way to encourage you to explore the language. Then again, everyone learns differently.
YES
For those who are just beggining: Rosetta Stone is not a language course, but a software to obtain vocabulary. If you've never learned the language structure before, you won't be able to learn anything, depending on the language. If you are learning chinese for instance, you will learn all wrong, because the don't explain about the tones. For exemple, they say "ma", but there are four different ways to say "ma", and each one means something different. Instead of 'mother' you'll be saying 'horse'.
And thereby make a complete foal of yourself? (Sorry, couldn't resist that one)
I purchased the downloadable version of this software and didn't have any issues installing it.
Arabic may be a hard language to learn, but that doesn't mean all of the Rosetta Stone products are bad.
I recently purchased the Spanish version and it's been working very well for me. I've been learning and retaining a lot of information.
I completely agree since Arabic comes from a different mother language than English, French, Spanish, German..etc. Learning Arabic is sometimes like an impossible mission but after long time, especially after practicing some of the difficult sounds like ض, ط,ظ,ع ..etc. it will seem a little bit easier. These sounds are even wrongly pronounced by Arabic native speakers. very funny..lol
TheComputerScientist Word
I am using Rosetta Stone to learn German. It works really well for me, maybe because I already know English, French, Italian and Spanish quite well so my mind is already trained to learn different languages patterns and words. It is like in programming languages. When you learn the first language it seems superhard, then you learn a second one though it seems almost impossible (especially if they're really different like JAVA and C). When you learn the third one you start seeing some patterns, when you learn the fourth you have your mind set on patterns and it works quite well. You just need to keep order in your mind and do not confuse words from a language with another one. That is my advice.
I dont know why people buy it. I just downloaded from piratebay
Very thoughtful. I'm glad you explained that because if I don't understand something it's pretty easy for me to get discouraged.
LISTEN UP EVERYBODY! Someone who finished ALL levels of Rosetta Stone Italian actually made a video demonstrating how it works and how well it works. Watch this: Rosetta Stone Italian Level 5 FINISHED - CONCLUÍDO - FINITO
1.5 hours for just one word? I learned 50 new words in 30 mins.
you are a genius
this is a great pace(a little bit more than my average memorization time) i wish more people could realize what they are capable off, for example memorizing 50 new words in 30 minutes.
not to mention roughly 70 percent( i cant cite this one sorry guys) of typical dialogue is only like 1500 words. ( google iit for yourself cause you cant believe everything you read on the internet :).
+visDIJ It's not that difficult...
I learned Euskera in 2 days :)
interesting...all of the comments that disagree with the commentator have disappeared...i have the arabic version of rosetta stone. i'm not having a problem learning. sure, the alphabet is a bit tricky, but not a big deal...i don't see a problem with it. i've used it for spanish, russian, and latin...thought it was very useful.
Susanna,
The video you uploaded was interesting. The Arabic in this course is the Formal Arabic...and this is really interesting. I am Arabic native speaker and would like to recommend this course for you if you are willing to learn Arabic. Arabic is different from all other languages, as far as I know, in one respect and that is all Arabs can speak and fully understand the Formal Arabic. Let me give an example, if different Arabs from different countries speak the Formal Arabic, it is really hard to recognize where each of them is from.
Learning Arabic is very difficult but it is possible. Many have failed but many and many made it and they can speak Arabic now. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
I’m learning Spanish and have had no issue. I’m not sure it’s supposed to be intuitive as much as it is to learn a language in the most natural way possible; as when were children learning to speak our own, native languages. Again, it installed easily and have been rapidly learning the content presented in the short time I’ve used the product.
I'm using the Japanese version, and like it pretty well. I've had some Japanese experience in the past through college and learning the classical way, but I'm finding that the words are sticking so much better through this program. It's fun and engaging, and maybe a little on the slow side, but slow isn't always a bad thing. Especially when it comes to a language.
I just purchased the Japanese version of Rosetta stone. Is it effective? Or did I just waste my money on it?
CreateYourWorldBooks
Hi, Susana! I hope you are doing well.
I have tried the product for German and I think it's not that bad, everything that you have criticized I found it useful somehow, for example I didn't manage to recognize the words for Big and Small "Gruß und Klein" until the next level. Though I loved it because this is what have happened with my native language Arabic throughout exposure to the language e.g. If I'm listening to some political show in Arabic I just listen and keep going, I didn't pause the show to lookup some word in the dictionary and then continue; And that is what they do with the product. If you just let yourself get immersed in the language as you did with your native one will benefit a lot from it. I know it sounds hard for as you have mentioned that you love mazes and patterns just like me; but you just have to wait for the grammar explanations as you did with English.
Sorry for being talkative, wish you all the best!
Thank you, This video is much helpful. You gave a good example about Arabic because Im Arabic(Iraqi) and now I am understanding the issue with this program. Actually, It is huge issue.Thank you very much
I've just finished Unit 1 of Level 1. There are 5 levels each with 4 units. It took 1 month to finish a unit. What Rosetta does is it makes the building blocks, and once you are given those blocks you can make beautifull buildings. It wants YOU to figure it out and when you do so "you remember things". Its a beautifull feeling. I dont want to listen to someone speaking/reading, its boring. Rosetta is fun. Its Speech recognition is the best out there. Remember one thing with RS 'Think & create'
Luciano, this is exactly why I made the video! I don't have an extra $500 burning a hole in my pocket, nor do most of the people who ask me for advice. Language learning can be done on the cheap. Many of us in the online language learning/multilingual community learned with little money and I think we, at least the ones I've spoken to, feel an obligation or deep sense of purpose, to help others learn language even on a small budget.
With all due respect, what's your hurry? No one learns a language in a month (I don't care what promises the marketing team makes). Yes, culture, dialect, and other nuances should be part of the learning process, but that's well beyond the scope of any single learning product. It sounds to me like you jumped on TH-cam to trash a product after you had a bad installation experience and used it for 1 hour. That's a bit like getting upset that you didn't get your doctorate after the campus orientation speech.
I started rosetta 2 years ago, barely know any Spanish at all.
***** Agreed.
***** I will definitely consider it! Thank you! :)
I was going to buy Rosetta Stone but after watching your review decided to research other language programs. Thanks!
Depends on the learning style you like. I learned turkish and swedish with rosetta, and worked great but its boring sometimes.
The best way to learn a language is learning a lot of vocabulary then make sentences,watch movies in that language,listen to music in that language it helps a lot that's how I learnt english.
Now I'm totally dismayed !. I want to learn English language with this course 'cause it looks like the best option on the market but after listen this review I don't know how is the better way to speak it. Thank you for this advice.
I have severe dyslexia and the Rosetta Stone for German was a godsend after trying two different language schools in Berlin. I used it for Russian prior and it really helped train my ear, which is something people with dyslexia need a lot of extra time for. Listening to a class full of people mispronouncing shit a few times before moving on to the next lesson was detrimental if anything for me. As for learning German cases, this is something I will likely never able to memories, my dyslexic brain simply does not process that. Memorizing what sounds right is far more advantageous and that is what the Rosetta Stone provides.
I think Rosetta works best for languages that use the same letters as English. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and other such languages require intense grammar sessions one on one with a teacher before one can even attempt to delve into sentence construction. I have found Rosetta very helpful while learning Spanish Latin America. It is almost as though the program was designed specifically for Spanish. I would not however expect to learn a language that uses completely different text than English, via Rosetta. This is one area where Rosetta messed up, in thinking that they could use a cookie-cutter method to teach completely different languages. I speak several languages and I can tell you right now that Eastern languages for someone who was not born there require intense core lessons and immersion. Want to learn Arabic? Find a real live teacher.
I completely agree. I had similar problems with attempting to learn Spanish with Rosetta Stone. You should develop a language learning program yourself! You'd be great at it!
I think Rosetta Stone works if you are learning another language that has your native alphabet however if your a native English speaker and are learning Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese your going to struggling because the writing systems foreign.
I would have to disagree. I am learning both Spanish and French at the same time with Rosetta Stone and I have only been learning for one month and I have retain way more than one word. I have a friend who works in the corner store who speaks to me only in French and Spanish to assist me my speakings. I also utilize the online sessions. Therefore I would recommend Rosetta stone. The entire foundation of Rosetta Stone is to learn as you did like a child. As an adult you problem let that interfere with the immersion process and wanted to learn what the word meant.
It depends on what language, I assume you are a native English speaker and Arabic is completely unrelated to English, this would explain you difficulty, I am doing Rosetta Stone Italian (I'm a native English speaker and English and Italian are closely related) and I have made great progress and I highly Recommend Rosetta Stone to any one wanting to learn another language.
hmm I tried RS for French and it was pretty good experience for me. I tried it for 10 days and after 6 months I still remember most of what I learned. It did not take much time for me to install the product but I'm an IT guy so I can't comment on if general people would find the installation. It's expensive - true but it's very good.
Thank you for the effort making the blog post and putting up the video.
I'm using Rosetta Stone for Chinese, pretty much one of the hardest languages you can learn for an English speaker. Rosetta Stone is such a great program and it is totally worth it for me. The only thing is that's different than most languages instead of Japanese I believe that is offered by Rosetta Stone is that there is no alphabet, so I need to learn thousands of Chinese characters. Other than that, Rosetta Stone is perfect in my opinion. 再见！
Thank you for an insightful critique. I also found Rosetta Stone to be mostly an over-priced, unhelpful, computer RAM-pig of a product. It is refreshing to hear a seasoned polyglot smite this product with a good bang on the ear! By the way, you mentioned letters changing from the beginning, middle, and end of words. I encountered this for the first time learning modern Greek.
Thank you kindly Susanna, for a heck of a good review. It is through the efforts of people like you that we people can decide rightly. What bothers me the most is the fact that Rosetta Stone doesn't answer. They seem impervious to all comments and seemingly unwilling to move an inch away of their path. It seems that in order to get the lessons in your iPad you still have to pay more. Rosetta overcharges you in the sense that results don't match the costs. C'on Rosetta, give us an answer!
I have justsaid yes to a special offer from Rosetta Stone and bought myself a Turkish course. It is a pity that I have not read this review before. It is an objective and accurate analysis of Rosetta as it will not explain grammar nor irregularities. . If you are motivated enough you can find great Turkish courses in the web that are entirely free. See them in TH-cam. Rosetta Stone is both expensive and slow, although it certainly is a good complement of Turkish TV watching, watching films with Turkish subtitles or even Turkish sound (I have found two so far, sheer good luck). Rosetta Stone, to make a long story short is just a complement. It will not replace your will to learn a foreign language using as many ways as possible. Thanks, again, for this lucid review. Save your lmoney.
Comletely agree. Almost every review come from people who
1. language enthusiasts and satisfied with the traditional / basic methods of learning a language
2. simply can't use basic technology
and after 2 hours of using the software they just declare that "I can't imagine this software" doing this and this and this, at the same time demonstrating their complete lack of understanding how the software actually works.
This overdramatizing with "had to get in the car" sillyness is also annoying.
I agree: "Rosetta Stone" is great ... but if used as a "helper " (a very expensive one).
Their motto is "learn languages naturally, as babies do" but they do not consider that a small child to learn how to say a word takes a year, of 24 hours exposition.
it is a great help if you want to learn new words, expand vocabulary, and hear how the words sound, but a language learned by adults also needs grammar.
As you say, it is often very difficult to " discover " the rules of grammar from the diven text or image (often not very explanatory).
I used it for languages written in Latin characters , I dare not imagine the confusion that can be generated with Arabic.
I can understand that they can avoid giving historical and cultural knowledge , to focus on the language , but teaching a language to an adult you can not avoid giving information on the structure of the language itself .
The main problem is people who design these courses , they know only their native language, and do not have the faintest idea of what it really means to speak a language : It would be just enough to insert the information sheets to improve the course of a thousand times .
Susanna, thank you for your videos. I am an English teacher and I always tell my students about your experience and share your advice with them. May God bless you and all your deeds! ;)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Rosetta Stone. I was about to purchase it.
I tried Rosetta Stone for Arabic and it was impossible. Many years later of studying the language traditionally you will begin to speak it and write it OK, that's what I did. It's one of the most difficult languages in the world. I recommend Rosetta Stone for European languages utilizing the same alphabet. Good luck.
I think the review is somewhat fair if you are a typical age of Google progeny who requires instant gratification. Regardless of the RS hype about "natural" learning, they do clearly state that their method is learning by association. So complaints about not having learning basic phrases or explanations is moot. RS clearly states that it is a departure from those conventional learning systems. That said, RS is not the most effective way to learn a language for a vacation, where most people just need basic conversational skills.
My company does use RS for employees working overseas, and the Arabic program worked reasonably well for me. I went through the whole program (V2) out of necessity, and will say that you probably won't be conversant until about unit 3 (40+ hrs).
The complaint of having to seek a native speaker to learn the language is unfair too, because that is the ONLY way to become fluent in a language. No learning system can replace that. She states that she learned faster by speaking to an Iraqi cafe owner. If you want a personal lesson, you need bilingual friends, or use italki for 10-30 $/hr.
Finally, the setup issues are pretty specific to this user's lack of IT skills. I'm sure the included headset just required a driver to work properly.
I bought this for Japanese... and I live in Japan. Still, the vocabulary is completely without context... Juice! Camel! Hello! Mountain! Having said this, I've been a language learner, teacher and teacher trainer for over 20 years, and I believe that it's all about the learner's motivation. No matter how great a teacher / approach is, if the learner doesn't see the value, learning won't happen. And no matter how lousy the tools, if the learner is motivated, learning will take place!
I agree with you. I bought Rosetta Stone for Arabic but I sent it back for the reasons you stated. Honestly, I think Rosetta Stone might be okay if it didn't cost so much.
I agree with this completely. I used Rosetta stone for over a year blindly, trying to reteach myself spanish. I ended up quitting and just listen to the radio, practice writing, reading, and speaking, because I learn much more in 10 minutes in reading then I would in an hour of RS.
There is a guy on youtube who has a five part Rosetta Stone review for the Spanish version and I think he did it for almost a year and made it through four levels. It should be easy to find. I ended up going with Pimsleur and I'm real happy with it. I'm retaining almost everything I learn. Take the first lesson online for free and you will know if it is for you.
thanks for your comments and review, please let us know if you find any better platform to learn languages? as i am interested in italian and other european languages.
I am on level 5 in Rosetta Stone learning Spanish. I have had to go to the internet for translations of the script. I knew a lot of Spanish to begin with so I have been able to go quickly through the program and I agree that it isn't the best way to learn a language. I wish I had researched it first. I would have been better off getting a tutor. Rosetta Stone gives you two sessions with an online tutor per month for three months after that you have to pay extra money for the online access.
Well though I didn't finish the program I can say I learned at least 10 words and a lot of grammar stuff from Japanese version in 30 minutes - an hour with this program. However this program essentially forces you to use logic and reasoning to figure stuff out, something I find very easy and have always excelled at and enjoyed more than being give n the answer and tend to retain more with. I have decided to pursue a different method for my self study, its just for entirely different reasons than you mentioned.
Excellent points from an obviously very experienced language learner! Thank you!
I totally agree with you. Everything that you've said about Rosetta is absolute truth.
could also be that arabic is a very difficult language for english natives.
Hi there!
I was wondering what program and books you use to learn languages, I am interested in learning Hindi and what to know a good resource where I can learn it.
Thanks!
completely agree with your opinion. I have started learning Mandarin just 7 days ago and I already know at least a hundred words that I can ACTUALLY use in a sentence. I'm now living in China so i can practice with my colleagues. I speak some Japanese myself but I just took a peek at the RS japanese and i think it is quite useful. So I gave to my friend and she loves the program. This review is very biased and inaccurate. Yes it's true it doesnt use translation but it doesnt need to. ...(cont'd
While I have definitely had a better experience picking up words with Rosetta Stone (it didn't take me an hour and a half for one word), you may have made a good point about the obscure nature of how the orthographic system is poorly portrayed within the program. I didn't really think of that.
+jerrygord3131 I thought the point about only learning one word in one hour was strange...
I definitely agree with this, and I find that language learning softwares that try to make learning the language seem like a game are way less effective.
Great thanks for your video! I share the same opinion as you do, although I am just at the beginning of German course which for some reason is repetitive beyond the level of sanity and seems as a waste of time compared to Duolingo. Have you actually finished the course and feel like it was a waste of time? If yes then I'll switch to another software as I would rather spend more money than waste more time
haha I love the humor with your information - it has really assisted me in knowing if I should purchase the Korean version or not. Thank you so much.
learning arabic grammar is a bit different than learning how to speak the language.
The only person which is valid to assess the program is the one who made it through.
Hi, I have the same experience with Rosetta Stone. Could you please introduce me any software for improving my pronunciation and eliminating my accent?
I would very much learn german...I live in Mexico and unfortunateky don't have access to trips to europe due to economics and so forth...yet I embarked on one of those Rosetta courses ( pirate one) and I completely concurr with you...in terms of german language it was difficult for me to learn it and to find the groove of grama...My question is...What do you think about Rocket Language program?
I've never tried it.
For me, I liked it because it slowly introduced vocabulary and grammar. I found that I learned from it. It was especially good for Swedish which was very difficult for me. When I went onto other programs, I was able to understand the language. RS was slow, but I think that is what I liked about it.
Sorry to hear so many have less than good experiences and for some, miserable ones. I am studying Mandarin, not easy and extremely challenging.
The language is tonal so listening and pronouncing is critical. The version of Rosetta that I use is the TOTALe where the entire course is done on line. There are many, many opportunities to learn and practice within the course and not a bunch of 'dry discs'. Solo games and games you play in real time with others are fun and enriching. One can also download the pdf of the entire course..no pictures but all the text is there (in pinyin (roman alphabet) and Chinese characters) and space for notes and vocabulary lists. the notes alone are helpful since one writes them and helps memory. in addtion the online course provides tutorial sessions with 2 or 3 other learners, one session per week. These sessions are about 25 minutes long, there is no English and your coach asks the learners to describe what they see in pictures. In fact one carries on a conversation with the learners and the coach.
I have been studying for quite sometime and have had moments of frustration and despair. however with the online version (no discs) one can chat with others and believe me many have similar frustrations. the chats alone can be motivating. I have sat in on various Rosetta Stone Webinars, the engagement teams and they don't speak of some magical 'way'. They recommend 30 minutes per day.
Once the online subscription expires one can renew the subscription-- just a few dollars per month without losing your progress or place in the course. The games are still there as well as the tutorial/studio sessions.
All that said , some degree of immersion outside of Rosetta is critical. Go to a Chinatown in your city or find similar communities related to the language you are trying to learn. Go shopping in these districts or city sections, go to a restaurant.
RS is a good approach and may not be the best for some. It is worthwhile finding another program to supplement RS.
probably the greatest drawback is there is no explanation for grammar rules. Over time though one sees a pattern. Nevertheless there are many opportunities to get grammar rules etc from many other sources.
Good luck everyone
Thank you for the sugestions. don't you have had problems with the rosetta-stone's stockists?
I read your post about the problems, and I agree with them most of the article. I would have one more problem to add to it. In arabic they have vowels, and case endings. Native speakers in arabic usually don't pronounce all of them unless it is needed for some reason, but 99/100 you will never hear them pronounced, so another thing the program needs to have fixed is the literal pronunciation of the words.
I used Rosetta Stone to learn portuguese and it worked super well defiantly worth the money if you're determined enought to complete the program
Your comments echo my own experiences using Rosetta Stone for Arabic. I have typically struggled to achieve any level of proficiency doing these exercises. Rosetta Stone requires a good deal of practice using an old-fashioned textbook to learn grammar and to master the alphabet, i.e. in particular to recognize letters according to their position in the sentence.
Studio session coaches are wonderful, but I dream of performing better than I usually do in this live situation.
By the way, which dialect of Arabic does Rosetta Stone use?
Out of topic, but as an Arabic native speaker, it is never mentioned what dialect is used. And as for teaching the language, it is all the "fosha" that is used, and then the dialect will come on its awn depending on where the person is living :)
as some other people have already pointed out. you cant just use Rosetta Stone - it's a language program! you need to use a language on your own. However I find RS to be extremely helpful in terms of teaching vocabulary and grammatical structures. I figured out everything just by listening and seeing the pictures. if YOU cant do the same - well that's a different issue. Either RS is a lot better than some damn boring grammar books that may teach you rules but NEVER listening/ speaking !
I do comprehend some of your complaints, Susanna. I started learning Hebrew and Arabic with Rosetta Stone as well. There's no way to start with, if one isn't skillfull in the writing-system. One won't be able to read just only the very first word. One has to start training the writing-system before starting with Rosetta Stone. I had good experiences with it before (in Hebrew), so I had no problems starting the course. Yes, that geisha also appears in Hebrew, but however, I really made (and am still doing) rapid advance with it. But also to mention, it's too less only focusing on the pictures, I also do a lot of writing (out of the pictures), also trying to understand the grammer. For me it's a fantastic system, but for sure not easy going. For example, I guess, they assess 30 minutes for the first lesson - far far away, guess it will take you 4-5 hours to be really perfect in it. Anyway, in my mind, a very good system and to recommend. - And concering Arabic you started with: as I didn't know the writing-system I hadn't been able to start with. But I'm focusing on Hebrew, maybe to return on Arabic later.
Ive tried a few rosetta packages.. they all let me down they all just drop you in and make you feel stupid.
I returned each one.
Hi guys. Personally i have used Rosetta Stone to learn japanese and mandarin, My native language is spanish.Agree the software is a bit weird at the beginning and you advance slow, but after a couple lessons everything makes sense, as a very positive thing, you learn with no translation, i have tried to think on a translation while i say something in chinese and only concepts come to my mind, i like it a lot. Agree it lacks explanations but if you complement it with some internet I RECOMMEND IT
do you speak french? Excuse me, but Im really anxious because I havent found an appropriate way for learning. Maybe you should know about any program ir something like that. Thanks for the video.
Indeed, personal connections are the best ways to motivate yourself to speak a new language.
I agree with you that Rosetta Stone does not give us any clues to get used to the character and no any explanation to make you clear. What made me mad was that I can't copy the text to get the explanation from somewhere else and actually I don't know how to write the text on google bar to get help because it was Japanese... Crazy software!
Nice vid I like it .Actually I decided to buy one from best buy to my friend ,but when I saw your vid .I told him to find another better cheaper way than Rosetta stone ,but I think the problem is only with Arabic Vol only I think it's because (The lack of Arabic language learning multi media ) .Anyway, you can ask me if you have any difficulties in this Vol ,especially if you have old proverbs ...Thanks .
Lucky you for getting a PDF file. There was none in my CD.
I completely agree with this review. I was lucky and I was able to purchase Rosetta Stone Totale for French at a fraction of the cost. I find that it is more useful as a supplement to the Podcast I've been using to learn French, than as an actual language learning program. And while I agree it does have value...that value should not be priced at $500. Absolutely not.
Naomi, I can see RS being useful for review. And I wrote about this in my blog post. I like the bingo game and it's more fun than doing flash cards or re-reading a text book. Why do you find it to be an excellent backbone? What aspects helped you? I am sincerely curious.
I finished it, all 5 levels of Spanish, Latin American version - over the course of about 9 months, usually 30-60 minutes a day (Jan-Sept 2012).
It's May of 2013 I haven't been on it since last fall, and I've lost almost everything I picked up to that point. I still remember how to count to maybe 50, and know a word here and a word there. I know a couple quick phrases, but nothing that's going to get me by in Mexico.
The problem is lack of 'conversation' to get you into it.
Thank yo for your honest review. Saved me some money.
Ultimate Arabic Beginner-Intermediate (Book and CD Set): Includes Comprehensive Coursebook, 8 Audio CDs, and CD-ROM with Flashcards (Ultimate Beginner-Intermediate) by Living Language ... Ultimate Arabic contains lessons in the Modern Standard Arabic as well as four regional colloquial dialects. Arabic script is taught and used in all Modern Standard Arabic lessons. The course also includes an hour-long audio phrasebook for each dialect. flashcards with over 500 vocabulary words and phrases.
Adele is a great choice. Her words are clear. Choose clarity. Sting, Billy Joel and Norah Jones. They are all good choices.
Perhaps it took so long to install, and the headset didn't work because of your computer? You should check your drivers are up today's or even make sure they are installed for the headphones. However I found all the same problems with not understanding what anything meant, only educated guesses and a English/Japanese dictionary!
Good point. It would be nice to know elementary stuff first. I have them all, but learning French (my hubby is former miltary). I don't like it, too hard. There is way too much guessing. This is one of the hardest ways learn another language because they don't tell what things are. that is crazy how different Arabic is different depending on the area.
To me Rosetta stone is best for people who know the language basics such as the alphabet and grammar and want to study alone for a bit. I think that its bad marketing to say anybody can pickup this and learn a language with it.
And if you are going to spend $500 why should u have to use any other resources? It is a rip off. I use courses from teach yourself that are £40 max and i can actually have a portuguese conversation after 4 months now. However i do have little apps that help but other than that. I couldnt afford rosetta stone and their is good reason not to use it. thanks susanna this has been really helpful for me and i hope it can help other people.
People always tell me they are going to learn a language with Rosetta Stone, This is simply because it is well advertised.
I have never even bothered with it.
For standard Arabic, the best course is Linguaphone, if still in print.
I used Rosetta Stone for Spanish and Swedish. My personal philosophy is that self learners should invest in three different programs. I used Rosetta Stone, Living Language and Pimsleur. I reject the idea that one program is enough. Rosetta Stone is an excellent backbone for language learning. I would use it again. However, it is not worth the money. They need to come down at least $150 because it is not worth what they ask.
and what word did you learn in that hour¿?
Ironically, I've already forgotten it. I think it was the word for boy.
So we can say ,
you dont learned one word :-)
Ignacio Lunar
No, I did learn it but I haven't used it and I've forgotten it.
CreateYourWorldBooks طفل؟
رجل؟
Lol!!
I agree, hard stuff. You do not get the basics to meet people or maybe getting around. A lot of times I look at the picture and have no idea what they are saying and cannot figure what I am suppose to learn.
Try it for yourself and see. I am not lying. It was very frustrating because the upgrades didn't work the first two times. I am used to installing software and this process was ridiculous. And I truly only retained one word, "girl".
Whoa thanks for your opinion
Was hoping to use internet as
a backstop for interpreting Russian (another hurdle for
foreign alphabet & grammar)
Somehow, don't believe that
Rosetta Stone with a single
install platform is the right
product -- would have to
dedicate one expensive laptop
to Rosetta Stone then sell both installed as a "Rosetta
Russian laptop (one advantage with MBP is availability of a Cyrillic keyboard) Thanks again
ok so I'm looking to learn German to acuratly go and wright dialog for a charecter of mine and know what I'm having him say. I'd rather not go to google translate because in my experiance it has translated things wrong. How ever, I can't afford much more than $150.00 due to having just moved and some un-expected expenses having come up. What would you recomend?
Hi good video, but could you gave me the link to buy it in english please ?
I agree, I looked up Rosetta Stone on TH-cam that somebody had posted so I watched. I had no idea what they were talking about or how the words associated with the pictures it made absolutely no sense.