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Rosetta Stone Q&A (Former Employee)

  Tags: Rosetta Stone
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
109 messages over 14 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 12 ... 13 14 Next >>
Juаn
Senior Member
Colombia
Joined 5373 days ago

727 posts - 1830 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*

 
 Message 89 of 109
20 June 2012 at 2:52am | IP Logged 
hrhenry wrote:
TV's a pretty powerful medium, for sure. But that's not all RS uses for their
marketing. Pick up a magazine (doesn't even have to be travel-related) and you'll find
ads for them. I've even seen ads in newspapers.


This is correct. I remember repeatedly encountering ads for Rosetta Stone on Foreign Affairs and possibly Scientific American many years ago before I ever considered learning foreign languages and thinking to myself, this looks really cool.

And when I purchased a new computer in 2008 those ads were still on my mind to the degree that I decided to give the software a try. Whatever else it may or may not achieve, it did demonstrate to a neophyte like myself that the possibility of studying and learning a foreign language on your own is real.

One may raise much criticism of the program but one thing is for certain: it is not all bad.
3 persons have voted this message useful





Frau Doktor
Pro Member
Germany
Joined 4571 days ago

8 posts - 25 votes
Speaks: German*
Studies: Modern Hebrew
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 90 of 109
20 June 2012 at 3:34am | IP Logged 
I did Rosetta Stone Hebrew, and I have to admit I liked it. When I started I already knew the Aleph-Bet, but that was about it. RS tought me lots of words in virtually no time. And they really stuck with me, even weird ones like "fence", "counter" or "hardware store".

However, I didn't learn to actually speak the language. On their German website it says that you'll be able to "converse after only a few sessions", and that's just a lie. I completed levels 1-3, and if somebody on the street came up to me and started speaking Hebrew, I'd probably start crying and hide behind my mommy.

I think they should just add a few more pictures, put "vocabulary builder" on the box and sell it for 25 dollars, and everyone will be happy.

14 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6625 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 91 of 109
20 June 2012 at 4:00am | IP Logged 
hrhenry wrote:
Serpent wrote:
dbag wrote:
It seems to be the only course just about everyone has
heard of, along with linguaphone strangely.
I think in some places linguaphone
might've become a common noun as a synonym of the audiolingual method? it's definitely
the case with Russian.

I only have experience with one Linguaphone course - Turkish PDQ, which was utter crap.
It had way too much silly banter between the two presenters, and didn't teach all that
much in the end. I got a lot more out of Pimsleur Turkish, frankly.

Since it's well known in Russia, how is the course actually perceived?

R.
==
I'm not sure it's known as a proper name. I just mean that for example a classroom with the equipment for listening and recording yourself is called a linguaphone classroom. Or an audio course can be called a linguaphone course though I think I've only seen this term in the translation of Gunnemark's book.
1 person has voted this message useful



nonneb
Pentaglot
Groupie
SpainRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4779 days ago

80 posts - 173 votes 
Speaks: English*, Ancient Greek, Latin, German, Spanish
Studies: Mandarin, Hungarian, French

 
 Message 92 of 109
20 June 2012 at 5:10am | IP Logged 
kanewai wrote:
Solfrid Cristin wrote:
Every American I talk to about the fact that I am learning
languages, always say: "Oh, but you must get Rosetta Stone - it is a wonderful product!"
When I then ask which languages they have learned using Rosetta Stone themselves, it
always turn out to be exactly zero languages.

I've had this same conversation a dozen times! A lot of my friends have actually bought
the program, and highly recommended it ... before confessing that it didn't actually
work for them. It's really the strangest thing.


There are two things I think Rosetta Stone does well: 1) Build confidence for people who have never had a successful language learning experience and 2) Teach new writing systems. In the US it has even been advertised as a tool to help illiterate people learn to read and write.

I think number one accounts for some of the responses your receive from people who used the program but didn't succeed in learning the language. They felt good about it, but they didn't really learn anything.

In general, I think Rosetta Stone is a sometimes useful program, namely for the reasons listed above, but not worth its price. I have it available for the students at my school and find that it really helps some beginners with confidence issues. Most everyone enjoys using it and it's just one more way to interact with the language outside of class. Using it as the sole and only method of learning a language is pretty much doomed to failure though.

Edited by nonneb on 20 June 2012 at 5:11am

2 persons have voted this message useful



Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5593 days ago

938 posts - 1840 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 93 of 109
20 June 2012 at 11:23am | IP Logged 
I should add here that the Linguaphone PDQ courses (like the All Talk course) are just
touristy courses made when the company had passed through about 3 insolvencies and buy
outs. They are nothing like the courses from the 1920s-1980s, which is what most people
talk about here when they talk about Lingaphone.
6 persons have voted this message useful



COF
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5859 days ago

262 posts - 354 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 94 of 109
20 June 2012 at 12:08pm | IP Logged 
Hello Rosetta Stone employee!!!

Edited by COF on 20 June 2012 at 12:09pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6625 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 95 of 109
21 June 2012 at 1:21pm | IP Logged 
Accidentally posted this in another thread lol:

The ad reminded me on how Cainntear said that "I've learned more in a week of X than in years of Y" is a very biased statement, as often a new method can help you systemize what you already knew, so you can't really judge how much you would've learned if you hadn't gone through what you consider less efficient now. As much as I despise classroom study, it's better as a main method than Rosetta Stone.
1 person has voted this message useful



Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5593 days ago

938 posts - 1840 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 96 of 109
21 June 2012 at 3:16pm | IP Logged 
From what I understand from watching the French in Action reunion videos - some US
schools have sacked their elementary Spanish teachers and just stick the children in
front of Rosetta Stone. Can this be actually true or is it just hyperbole?


1 person has voted this message useful



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