TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6363 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 1 of 10 27 December 2008 at 6:10pm | IP Logged |
I see online that Rosetta Stone had 700 employees and $90 million in sales (85% in the U.S.) in 2006, 83 sales kiosks in airports and malls, and a $30 million advertising budget in 2007.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2007/03 /19/story1.html
Have you seen the (Olympics superstar) Michael Phelps TV commercial for Rosetta Stone? Notice you don't hear him speak a word of Chinese in it:
M Phelps Rosetta Stone TV Commercial
I'm sure he had plenty of time to study such an easy language like Mandarin in between practicing and all. ;-)
And here he is with his first encounter using it:
M Phelps Using Rosetta Stone
How many times do you think he actually used the program when he wasn't paid by RS to film him using it? I vote zero!
This one sounds like he was practicing with the German edition instead ;-) :
Michael Phelps RS Take-off
Edited by TerryW on 27 December 2008 at 6:13pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6385 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 2 of 10 27 December 2008 at 7:53pm | IP Logged |
A star endorsing a product that he may not use himself...hmm, that is strange.
So what's your point?
1 person has voted this message useful
|
J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 6036 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch
| Message 3 of 10 27 December 2008 at 8:45pm | IP Logged |
Wow...so that would be like false advertising? Imagine that......
1 person has voted this message useful
|
TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6363 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 4 of 10 28 December 2008 at 12:16am | IP Logged |
Actually, there are no false claims made.
He says: "When I started training for Beijing, I wanted to learn Chinese."
He probably did.
And he says: "They say it's the fastest way to learn a language, guaranteed."
And they DO say that.
As far as endorsing a product that he may not use himself . . . I hear he prefers FSI. ;-)
1 person has voted this message useful
|
J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 6036 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch
| Message 5 of 10 28 December 2008 at 4:27am | IP Logged |
Advertising = deception 99% of the time :D
1 person has voted this message useful
|
TheElvenLord Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6086 days ago 915 posts - 927 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Cornish, English* Studies: Spanish, French, German Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 6 of 10 28 December 2008 at 7:03am | IP Logged |
""They say it's the fastest way to learn a language, guaranteed.""
And how do they prove that??
Maybe get someone who learnt with just Assimil and just RS to do a test. I think the Assimil guy will come out on top.
TEL
1 person has voted this message useful
|
J-Learner Senior Member Australia Joined 6036 days ago 556 posts - 636 votes Studies: Yiddish, English* Studies: Dutch
| Message 7 of 10 28 December 2008 at 7:14am | IP Logged |
Even that test would be impossible to truly objectively test.
The best method is a silly question...best range of content is another. They both have an impressive range in that category. RS is just boring.....
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Kleberson Diglot Senior Member Great Britain Joined 6424 days ago 166 posts - 168 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese Studies: Italian, Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin
| Message 8 of 10 28 December 2008 at 7:19am | IP Logged |
TheElvenLord wrote:
""They say it's the fastest way to learn a language, guaranteed.""
And how do they prove that??
Maybe get someone who learnt with just Assimil and just RS to do a test. I think the Assimil guy will come out on top.
TEL |
|
|
I agree. I'm going to take it further and say that I believe Assimil would wipe RS clean out of the picture.
[This is my opinion, so please, don't take it the wrong way]
1 person has voted this message useful
|