Does Rosetta Stone Really Work?

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• I'm learning Dutch since I have a lot of Dutch ancestry and I'm a language teacher and I love learning languages myself and I've always been curious about RS! It may not work for everyone but it REALLY works for me - talk about communicative! and Stephen Krashen's meaningful input and all the stuff I learned in my linguistics courses. Of course nothing beats going to the country and speaking with native speakers but I think that RS really does get you started with the speaking and listening, and has some reading without being totally reading based as so many language programs are (and as are the courses we took in high school and college...) Thumbs up from this end.

• Man, this is expensive, but there is a reason.
  It works.
  The system is interactive, so you don't just sit there being told stuff like they did at school (where I went, anyway), so you get as close to the experience of speaking a language in a culture as you are going to get without actually going there. Which is clearly the best way to learn a language. But unless you have no commitments elsewhere and can drop everything to go live in another country for a year or so, this is by far the best way t learn another language from your home. You can make up the schedule, but this also means you have to maintain the discipline. Sometimes having a class to get to makes you do something more than if you can do it whenever.

• I'm just half way through the second Spanish course, but my thoughts of the Rosetta Stone program so far are exceptional. It helps to truly have a basic understanding of the vocabulary, but I believe actually a total beginner could browse it without a lot of trouble. Even though they do not have you make terminology lists, I myself find it useful to truly have a self-created one by my side, and in a different browser window. I also got a free online Spanish-English translator because every once and again I simply do not get what they need me to understand. I simply quickly enter the phrase, and I am set to proceed. The mic and earphones that come with the set appear sufficient for the program. My husband and I are happy to suggest Rosetta Stone.

• Having tried Rosetta Stone out myself I must say that I was highly disappointed by how such a low quality product would have such a high price. This only proves that just because something is expensive doesn't mean it's necessarily the best. I think the most offensive thing about was that it catered heavily to an American audience and used pictures from America. Especially reusing photos are a bit inappropriate for certain languages. Such as a photo of guy reading an Arabic newspaper for learning Russian or a Geisha for learning Spanish. Not to mention there are quite a bit of photos that were poorly photoshopped as well.

  It claims to be an "immersion" program but it's far from it. Learning phrases like: "The elephant is green" is not going to be useful in the long run. It's basically like teaching you a visual phrasebook but you won't actually learn any natural phrases and will sound like a foreigner anyway. I found LingQ to be more useful and it's a lot cheaper than Rosetta Stone in the long run.

• I had a hard time with the Rosetta Stone method - maybe some people just do better with the structure of a live classroom. My daughter is fluent in four languages and when she was home for Christmas the year I was learning Spanish, she was not impressed with the way the lessons were offered (especially in light of the price). I thought I was learning a great deal of a new language, but was really just reinforcing some bad habits that come with not having an instructor to interrupt at the time of the mistake. It surprised me since I'd always thought of myself as a 'visual learner.'

• I used Rosetta Stone for French, Farsi, and Chinese. Our local library used to have an online subscription, and you could use your library card number to access any of the languages. It was awesome. Apparently, Rosetta Stone felt they were losing too much money with this though, and they banned online subscriptions through libraries. Now, the only way to get it through the library is by checking out the physical copy. I tried to get the French one again, and I was like number 70 or something on the waiting list. I did love Rosetta's methodology, though, so I'm considering possibly buying it in the future. It's a great refresher, and hearing the language again and again helps to make the words come to your mind quicker in a real life setting.

  • My favorite method to learn languages is to travel and to immerse myself in the culture and the language. I find that within a week or two in a country it is usually possible to learn so much more than with books and programs. I learned a great deal of Spanish that way. The humain interaction is key and it is pretty hard to replace that. However Rosetta Stone seems like the closest substitute for someone who prefers computer programs.

    It cost more than a the other programs but I read that it was possible to have video conference sessions which helps.

• Did it for Italian, my relatives came from Italy for a wedding and I wanted to be able to converse with them. I am not the best with learning by rote and I can say that Rosetta Stone is easy and fast.At the beginning it may seem a little awkward especially if you are used to writing stuff down and reading a book. This program takes a different approach and gets you conversing with the characters on the screen. A definite thumbs up for me.

• funny, i wasn't 18 when i had my first conversation in english. i just got rosetta stone to learn spanish. i'm still on level 1, but i already feel more knowledgeable about the language then i did after passing all of my spanish classes in highschool. i read the reviews and understand its not a complete language in a box. im just going to stick with it till i finish every level, and then go from there.

• Awesome. This is everything you need to learn Spanish, Italian, or any other language in one super package. Forget about alternative. Go Rosetta and stop wasting time and money. Personally and many have recommended, including in this article that practicing with real partners or finding cool people to talk with is essential in ironing out the kinks with specific tones and words. Use RS to get goin’ and improve over time but make sure you practice a lot in between with anyone you can. Practice is the key to learning a new language. Learn to talk Mandarin isn’t the same as learning to cook breakfast. It’s a completely different ballgame. It starts with lessons, practice and more practice and challenging the mind in different ways until speaking in your new language becomes almost second nature. Rosetta Stone will definitely help and they’re always improving their service and have so much feedback and many users backing it up. Hope this helps.

• 18 Years to learn a language?