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Can Rosetta Stone take you to fluency? | ||
Tags: Rosetta Stone | Fluency | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| ColdBlue Groupie Angola Joined 6575 days ago 40 posts - 41 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 15 20 August 2008 at 7:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not native level fluency per say, but a basic level of fluency where you can understand basically all practical things (like watching a movie without subtitles and reading the news in the target language). Now I’m talking about Version 3 of the program (and completing all three levels), and using it to learn a Romance language like French and not something like Mandarin. Does anyone think that Rosetta Stone is incapable of doing this?
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| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6089 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes  5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 15 21 August 2008 at 2:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I think I mentioned this in a recent thread, but I'll reiterate: It's got enough content where it should take you to a level of basic fluency, but the method is ineffective.
As for Romance languages, well, the main issue is that you need to have an understanding of the target language's syntax. That's to say, if you are starting the program from an English-speaker's point of view, you won't understand a Slavic language's syntax. If you can get a handle on the language's syntax (either because the language is simlar to your own, or from previous study), then I don't think it matters whether its French, German, Russian, Greek, or whatever. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 15 21 August 2008 at 11:48am | IP Logged | ||
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Just imagine if Reservoir Dogs was filmed in Rosetta Stone language:
"Mr Orange is pointing a gun at Mr Pink. The policeman is holding his ear." etc... Well it isn't -- and you're unlikely to find a film that is. Nah, don't bother. It's a waste of time. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6089 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 15 21 August 2008 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | ||
Yeah, I partially agree. Looking at this Princeton course dialogue I have in front of me, I see stuff like "Mind your own business", "Can't you get it into your head...", "Be quiet", "Be careful", "What do you mean?", "Believe it or not, but..." "It's cold as heck outside". Rosetta Stone wouldn't prepare you for much of that, and although such things usually aren't vital for general comprehension, they are very important parts of communication. Another issue is that there's isn't enough emphasis on 1st or 2nd person speech, or modal verbs if I recall correectly. On the other hand, the vocab and grammar you learn will still be usable, and as I've said, there's quite a bit of both in RS. It seems like you'd have a wide span of knowledge, but it would be limited mainly to 3rd person expository stuff. All that said: If you manage to make use of the program as a supplement to something else (that's how it will almost always be; there are very few courses that will take you to a level of fluency on their own), then you'll be able to manipulate the information much better. Why are you so interested in RS? If you already have it, then use it, but otherwise I think you should just trust us when we say there are better, cheaper (sometimes free) options. It does look like a really cool program, and when you first start it seems like you have the entire language at your fingertips. But then the initial thrill wears off, it gets tedious, repetitive, and boring, and you want to go do something else. I'm just thinking outloud now, but IMO, the reason it gets so boring and tedious so fast is because it's basically glorified flashcards. There's no real interactivity, and your brain is never actively working to form the sentences. Come to think of it, you might be best off if you did the written and vocal exercises and just skipped the rest... Edited by chelovek on 21 August 2008 at 12:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dvorask Newbie United States Joined 6006 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 5 of 15 21 August 2008 at 8:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can say it's stupid. I have taken ONE YEAR of HIGH SCHOOL Spanish, LEVEL 1, and i was able to do some of the
stuff on level 3 of the program. I have never taken the language before, and i studied it in SCHOOL! and i could do some of level three. I think its to the point with me where i have a basic understanding of how things fit together, and how they should be, and i just need to learn a WHOLE LOT more vocabulary and get a LOT more exposure. I do want to clarify though, that i did not buy the program. I was at a mall and they had a booth set up. I tried level one and flew threw it. I got down the written part, and needed work on pronunciation. That's why I'm now using FSI Spanish. It's hard, and a lot of work, but it makes you listen, and differentiate. This helps. A lot. I hope to be reasonably fluent (watching tv, talking about any mundane subject, understanding when spoken to, you know, the basics) by august '09. This gives me a full year to really learn the language. I watch the tv and listen to spanish music as well, so that helps. I feel rosetta stone has a lot of "fluff". Rosetta stone is ok, but to "get off the ground" in a language, i recommend learning the grammar and practicing the boring way until it's becomes natural. Then, when you pick up a new concept, you got something to relate to. All in all, i don't really like rosetta stone, but i've only tried it once. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6089 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 6 of 15 22 August 2008 at 1:10am | IP Logged | ||
If you've only briefly tested the program, then you really shouldn't give your opinion on it. Especially not one as illogical as, "I think it's stupid...but I hardly tried it." If you already know some of the language (from a year of study), then you'll likely have a command of some of the things covered in Level 1. Understanding a few things here and there in Level 3, even with a basic understanding, is normal. Given that each individual lesson has ~40 new words/constructions, and that there are 10 lessons per unit, and about 8 units per level...being able to recognize SOME things during your brief trial of the program doesn't really mean a thing. Edited by chelovek on 22 August 2008 at 1:12am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Autarkis Triglot Groupie Switzerland twitter.com/Autarkis Joined 5954 days ago 95 posts - 106 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, French Studies: Italian | Message 7 of 15 23 August 2008 at 3:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I a word: No.
Contrary to what other people think, I believe TRS to be quite useful. It lets you get a first impression of what building sentences in your target language will be like, something many books fail to transport. In my opinion, it's also very good for the most basic listening comprehension skills. You're going to be nowhere near fluency though, but after that, taking a class will be much more prolific. No point in letting the expensive teacher do what the cheap software could've, is there? ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 8 of 15 23 August 2008 at 5:17am | IP Logged | ||
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TRS, cheap?
If you want cheap software there's things like TeachMe! that are similarly inadequate as a sole source, but also provide a lot of supportive learning. In the final analysis, all these software courses are simply flashcards. TRS may be useful in some respects, but not enought to justify the price. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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