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Why don’t people here like Rosetta Stone? | ||
Tags: Rosetta Stone | Usefulness | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| plaidchuck Diglot Groupie United States facebook.com/plaidchRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5333 days ago 71 posts - 93 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 89 of 93 15 July 2010 at 4:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with others for the same reason: It's too expensive for the return. With $500+ available to learn a language, you could get Assimil which could bring you at the worst to an A2 level and a ton of native literature and audio (or another teaching program if you needed it).
If you can get it for significantly cheaper or free as a supplement to your learning then by all means go for it. I don't have anything personal against it or those who use it, I just think it is too expensive and they promise way too much. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5380 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 90 of 93 15 July 2010 at 6:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I had the opportunity to use Rosetta Stone's Dutch and German versions, and I just couldn't get into them. I began working through the German version after three semesters of German at the university, and I found the programme to be too easy. I picked up a few new vocabulary words here and there, but that was the extent of it.
Regarding the Dutch version, I just found it boring. I could sit around and match pictures all day, or actually use a grammar and learn how to form sentences and speak. I believe that if one does stick with Rosetta Stone to the end, he or she will learn a nice amount, but unless one is a beginner, I feel that there are faster ways of learning. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6039 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 91 of 93 15 July 2010 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | ||
It's not any worse than the majority of rubbish on the market for language learning. Most of the stuff on the market is rubbish, but it's rubbish in the sub $20 range, which is where RS belongs. At 14 pounds/euros/dollars, it wouldn't draw any flak, because it would show it "knows its place", basically. Rosetta Stone's success is all down to perception. As others have said, people who give positive feedback about RS aren't generally successful language learners, so RS only needs to make them feel like they're making progress. A computer program can do that by pumping out lots of positive feedback and tracking a running "score" -- books and tapes don't offer this. More importantly, if you look at some of the other market leaders (TY, Colloquial, Pimsleur) you'll find that the exercises are sometimes too difficult. In TY and Colloquial you're often asked to use words that have been presented to you in a list, but haven't actually been taught to you, so you end up spending a lot of time flicking backwards and forwards while trying to answer the questions. This eats away at your confidence. In Pimsleur, because the courses are paced the same in practically all language, words that are particularly difficult in some languages aren't always given the time they need. I personally find myself stumbling over certain words continuously for ages, regardless of whether I repeat lessons or just move on. If I repeat lessons I get bored and feel like I'm being held back, but if I move on I feel like I'm falling behind. Rosetta Stone ensures that you can complete most of the tasks fairly easily, and even if you can't, the format doesn't leave you to dwell on your mistakes. So RS is easy to complete, unlike some of its competitors, and completing the course becomes an achievement in itself, as for most that's all they really have to compare it against. (And of course completing RS is better than giving up on lesson 2 of some other course, so at least it has that going for it....) 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5458 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 92 of 93 16 July 2010 at 5:48am | IP Logged | ||
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Well said, Cainntear. I certainly agree that most language-learning self-study products are rubbish. It seems that the RS secret is to make people believe they are learning something when in fact they are really learning quite little.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| katilica Bilingual Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5499 days ago 70 posts - 109 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: French, Catalan | Message 93 of 93 16 July 2010 at 6:17am | IP Logged | ||
Ha! Jerold should know that it's Buena suerte not buen suerte. Isn't that something you learn in the first day of Spanish class? You would think he would know that after using the miraculous Rosetta Stone. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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