Rosetta Stone must be feeling the pressure

[sanantone]

In their new commercial, they seem to be attacking Pimsleur which is available for free at many libraries. A lot of people have discovered that Rosetta Stone sucks including the DoD which no longer uses it.

Rosetta Stone TV Commercial, 'Foreign Language Tape Announcer' - iSpot.tv

[burbuja0512]

Is Pimsleur any good?

I don't hate Rosetta Stone and think that it can be used as part of a language program, but my big gripe with it is the cost. They spend so much on marketing and hype that when you use the actual program, it just doesn't live up to the expectations. I can get private one-on-one language classes for $30 bucks an hour. Yes, you could say that Rosetta is cheaper than this, but I go to Portuguese lessons once a week and went from knowing the basics to being able to do business presentations in a year. Rosetta Stone is so basic that it would never have given me the ability to do this, so the private lessons are a much better deal. Honestly, I would probably say Rosetta Stone is worth about $50 bucks.. any more than that and it's too much, but yes it does have some value.

[scorched]

I honestly liked pimsleur, when I thought I wanted to learn german.
Never got past the first hour or so of the dvd, but I have yet in 8 years to forget that 1 hour.

My library has just about the entire collection.

[sanantone]

Rosetta Stone is great for learning vocabulary. My gripe with it is that it takes forever to learn grammar. They expect it to be easy for adults to learn like a child, but our brains do not operate that way. Why not take advantage of building off what we already know? I read a review from one guy who said he has never met a person who can hold a casual conversation after completing a program.

[freddy]

Rosetta Stone is great for learning vocabulary. My gripe with it is that it takes forever to learn grammar. They expect it to be easy for adults to learn like a child, but our brains do not operate that way. Why not take advantage of building off what we already know? I read a review from one guy who said he has never met a person who can hold a casual conversation after completing a program.

I think grammar is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to people learning a language. People want to learn perfect grammar before they speak a language and as a result never speak a language(hence don't practice) for fear of being grammatically incorrect.

This is pretty funny because being grammatically correct is not the norm(outside of academic settings.) If you think about how you use your native language in everyday use, and study some grammar books you will find that you have been making mistakes. However, it doesn't bother you because you are able to communicate your ideas. I think when you are learning a new language you should measure your progress on how well you can communicate your ideas with someone and have them understand it even if you do have some grammatical mistakes. When you do this you practice more often which might cause you to make mistakes, but you will learn the language much faster in the long run.

[sanantone]

I think grammar is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to people learning a language. People want to learn perfect grammar before they speak a language and as a result never speak a language(hence don't practice) for fear of being grammatically incorrect.

This is pretty funny because being grammatically correct is not the norm(outside of academic settings.) If you think about how you use your native language in everyday use, and study some grammar books you will find that you have been making mistakes. However, it doesn't bother you because you are able to communicate your ideas. I think when you are learning a new language you should measure your progress on how well you can communicate your ideas with someone and have them understand it even if you do have some grammatical mistakes. When you do this you practice more often which might cause you to make mistakes, but you will learn the language much faster in the long run.

This is okay when you're familiar with a language, but you risk not making any sense or conveying the wrong message in unfamiliar territory. I wouldn't want to accidentally insult the prophet Mohamed in the Middle East!

[ironheadjack]

I tried Rosetta Stone a few years, and I agree with sanantone, as a vocabulary learning tool RS is great. But becoming fluent or conversational in your study language definitely requires additional study sources. I stuck with RS for a few weeks but quickly realized that all I was learning was how to translate words.

I think RS would work great for someone who has a semester or two of grammar knowledge behind them, and needs to build their vocabulary.

[Snickerdoodle]

Duolingo.com is very Rosetta Stone-esque...for free. I used Rosetta Stone years ago and it costs an arm and a leg.

[Maniac Craniac]

Is Pimsleur any good?

No. Not for Spanish, anyway. The lessons are slow and boring and there is a certain distinctive, unnatural rhythm to Pimsleurspeak that makes it easy to spot a user the second they open their mouth.

"hAAblAA UstEED CastEEELlAANOo?" :ack:

I try to tell people that there exists such a thing as the internet, which is a much more powerful tool for learning languages than any programmatic lesson suite. Learn the grammar basics by borrowing books from the library, memorize vocabulary in a way that works for you (flashcards, reading practice with a dictionary on-hand, or if you are a Maniac, just open a dictionary and read it like it was literature :roflol. Then watch and/or listen to thousands of hours of movies, audiobooks and documentaries. Oh, and of course, go out there and make some friends that speak the language. Or else- what's the point?

If all of that sounds like too much, then language learning is not the hobby for you. :reddevil:

[sanantone]

Was that Castilian Spanish or Latin American Spanish? I'm going to checkout Pimsleur Latin American Spanish from the library. I got down the grammar in high school, but I never got down the speaking and listening. Rosetta Stone bored me to tears. I used Pimsleur for Farsi (only listened to part A), but they only have one level. I loved it, though. They have 4 levels for Spanish.