Rosetta Stone

[RhodaDEttore]

Is Rosetta Stone worth the price? If not, what is the best software to learn a language? Or is it better to take a class in person.

I tried Rosetta Stone for Spanish, but I did not follow it well. I was wondering if perhaps it is worth it, and I just did not give it a chance.

[NATASHA]

I personally feel that language lessons are best done through a person that can stop if you dont understand and move on if you are progressing. I have not tried the Rosetta but I did go for language lessons at a college and found that so much more useful.

I tried to do some of the lessons via youtube but it is frustrating when you need to ask questions about tenses or certain words that cnnot be explained by anything other than a teacher.

[SamClemensMT]

All of theses programs will sharpen your skill with any language you want to study and learn.  The key to progress though is reading in that language.  Reading forms the foundation of your aptitude.  Through reading you gain vocabulary, grammatical correctness and even some cultural literacy.  Furthermore, reading allows you to pause and consider what you just read, to truly comprehend it.  So, Rossetta stone or any other language learning program can help, but let reading in the language be where 75% of the learning takes place.  All the best. Never quit you'll make it.

[Trellum]

It definitely is worth the price if you are serious about leaning the language and only if you actually want to learn it for a good reason, like for example because you will be moving to a country where that language is spoken.  Otherwise it might be a waste of money, because if you are not going to be using that language soon and need to learn it fast, then I'd take a different approach.

[takibari]

I agree that it is worth the money if you are serious about learning the language. My boss once asked me to use it to learn Chinese (Mandarin), but as I wasn't interested in learning that language yet, I truly found it useless and frustrating. Frustrating because, it was purely taught in Chinese, no translations whatsover. But to someone who's interested, it's a good tool as you are forced to really learn it.

[Trellum]

No doubt about it!  If a person isn't a language learning enthusiast, who is also presented with the choice of learning a new language said person isn't even interested in, then for sure that person will get frustrated. You are so right! 

But when the incentive is good enough, and you are forced to learn... a good and attractive language course can be the key   Nothing worse than boring thick boo with a bunch of grammatical rules!

[kevinvdsande]

Personally I don't have any great experiences with Rosetta Stone. The set-up is great, since it doesn't aim to translate anything and opts for complete immersion in the language but I think that this is simultaneously its biggest mistake as well...Since it doesn't explain grammar concepts and the likes. I used the one for Korean and got to about lesson 15 but I found that it didn't really help me that much. I think it's perfect for learning new alphabets or writing systems though (I can't really say anything about this because I didn't learn Hangul this way).

If you're more of a visual/auditory learner as opposed to learning grammar from a book/website it might be just what you are looking for! If it's not entirely what you want, maybe you can try DuoLingo. It's somewhat similar but in my opinion it does a better job at explaining grammar points. If you find that that isn't your thing either maybe you should think about investing in a grammar book.

I wouldn't necessarily say that learning languages is something you have to do in a class (and for me that just takes away the fun) so I always advice against that especially when people just start out. Hope this helped!

[linguaholic]

I think it's perfect for learning new alphabets or writing systems though (I can't really say anything about this because I didn't learn Hangul this way).

May I ask you why you think it is great for studying new writing systems? I rather have the impression that for learning scripts, Rosetta Stone doesn't come in very handy. However, I don't have a lot of knowledge about Rosetta Stone, so maybe I'm wrong!

[Melee]

I bought Rosetta Stone to study Japanese, and I think it's a good product, if you use it consistently. My problem is that I use it for maybe a couple of days in a row, then put it to the side for about a week. I think all language programs will work, but you have to be willing to put the time in daily.

[OddVisions]

    I don't really trust Rosetta Stone. I know others whom have tried it and they said that when it comes to speaking on a conversational level, it made them sound rather silly to the native party. I've gotten this reply from more than one person. I've found that most free tapes and listening to actual conversation as well as free language lessons on YouTube are some of the best courses of action as an alternative to paying for Rosetta Stone.

  In addition, I think Rosetta Stone charges too much for what little it can teach you. However, that's mainly my personal opinion on the matter. If you feel that the product is helping you to improve then you should use it. If not, there are other means of learning a foreign language.

[RollingBlues]

Rosetta stone certainly has an interesting idea, with it's total language immersion. I think that's perhaps one of the best ways to learn a language. The cost seems to be justified in the newer versions, where you can schedule classes with a teacher at no charge to help you go over the lessons. Overall, there's a lot of value in the software.

Personally though, I don't much like it for a couple reasons. The first is that pretty much all of their pictures are recycled. You might not find this a big deal yourself, but it means that they pretty much skip over the culture of the country that speak that language. For me, that's the primary motivation, so I can immerse myself in the culture! Another is that they don't go over the writing systems in enough depth This is a big deal in languages like Arabic, Korean, etc. I also find the words you learn aren't very useful. I can't think of the last time I asked someone for a newspaper, for example.

Overall it's a mixed bag, if it was significantly cheaper I would probably buy it regularly for more languages. As it stands, I tend to avoid it.

[nikolic993]

It's not worth the price.

[sammie_bee]

My experience with Rosetta Stone wasn't that positive.

I bought it with great anticipation and was really hoping I was going to enjoy it. I went through the first unit but couldn't bring myself to work through the second unit.  It was just so boring.  And the lessons didn't seem to really have a good flow to them. I did like the interactive practice of conversation and thought that was valuable for feedback and learning. 

Personally, I wouldn't buy it again and the price that it normally sells for.

[doodoofan]

From my personal experience, I think Rosetta Stone is the best software to learn a new language, especially when you're still a newbie. If you already have a good grasp of the language and want to go to the next level, Rosetta Stone might not be the app for you. For example, if you finish all 3 levels of Rosetta Stone Japanese, you'll be at around level N4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which is still the beginner level. 

[Chris4Davi]

I have heard more good than bad about Rosetta Stone as I was contemplating purchasing the software. There are several reviews online that may be helpful, you just have to weigh the pro's and cons in deciding if it is the ideal program for you.

[AExAVF]

I wouldn't immediately believe the commercials about Rosetta Stone right away.  It may be useful in reinforcing your learning as well as supplementing your existing language skills taught at school, but it will never take the place of traditional learning.  If you think that you will already be fluent in the language simply by relying on the software alone, that's wishful thinking.  People who say that Rosetta Stone actually works are those who have devoted their time not only to using the software constantly, but also they have also learned the language through other means.  In short, Rosetta Stone isn't a product that makes you a proficient foreign language speaker in only six lessons.

[InfiniteGeko]

Rosetta Stone was fun for the time I had it. I was trying to learn Russian but I noticed something that Rosetta Stone does that my friends have already been doing successfully: Immersion. When you surround yourself in the language you have no choice but to learn like a child. You find yourself learning the word and then applying it to an image. This felt a lot like kindergarten and although I was a very helpful source of learning it wasn't as fast as learning directly through cooperative people.

I would like to add that you will find Rosetta Stone absolute useless if you don't have someone with the native tongue to practice with.

[elles-belles]

I agree with what most of the posters have put down that it depends on your focus and willingness to learn the language. I also think that learning a new language is much better down with a teacher or a tutor, that way you get that personal face to face touch that can go a long way in how much of the language you actually grasp.

[Rosie]

Hi all,

I'm currently learning french and have been for while. I'm also now trying to learn Spanish! I think the best way to learn is to go to the country and be fully immersed.

I've been think of a website concept relating to this and have created a survey to find out what like minded people think. If you have a couple of minutes to fill it out I would be very interested and grateful to hear what you think

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JQDJTJD

[VNtomboy]

Try duolingo...it's free, so that alone makes it better than the ridiculously overpriced RS

[booklover22]

I have never tried it, so I don't know how well it could work. I have heard a lot of people say that they like it and that it has worked. There is an app that has worked the best for me though. It's called Dunlingo, it's a free app that will help you to learn a new language that you want. There are so many that you can learn, its worth it.

[kriegerclone]

Duolingo is a much better alternative than, and you can learn much faster there. Plus, the major advantage is that it's free. 

[lushlala]

I've looked at the Rosetta Stone language tool in the past, but I remember I wasn't best pleased with the fees, as I thought they were set too high. So I'm glad I stumbled across this thread, and found some people's comments very useful. I guess me not having any native French or Italian speakers around me also rules it out. Duolingo has really piqued my interest, so I think I'll try that as someone here suggested  Thanks all!

[宇崎ちゃん]

I never used Rosetta Stone myself, but I heard from others it's just a hype and nothing more.
I know a few people who used it to learn another language, but none of them (how serious they were) have actually learnt anything (besides a few basics, but they still feel like they can't speak, write, read and understand the language they were learning).

I looked up a review after that, in which it said it's all immersion based (which is good), but in such a way that it's not realistic.
Like it's basically the same person in the same pose for different languages, Photoshopped to different locations (like the Eiffel Tower for the French course and the Piza Tower for the Italian course).
And everything feels like an American TV advert on each photo.

But that's just what I read in that review, I never used it, so I don't have a more legit argument to provide.

[Litnax]

    I don't really trust Rosetta Stone. I know others whom have tried it and they said that when it comes to speaking on a conversational level, it made them sound rather silly to the native party. I've gotten this reply from more than one person. I've found that most free tapes and listening to actual conversation as well as free language lessons on YouTube are some of the best courses of action as an alternative to paying for Rosetta Stone.

 

  In addition, I think Rosetta Stone charges too much for what little it can teach you. However, that's mainly my personal opinion on the matter. If you feel that the product is helping you to improve then you should use it. If not, there are other means of learning a foreign language.

I agree. Doesn't matter how good that these language app/system developers claimed they are, better ask any native speakers you could find to know what they think of them.