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How useful is Rosetta Stone software? | ||
Tags: Rosetta Stone | Software | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5804 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 17 of 21 29 April 2010 at 4:21pm | IP Logged |
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I'm not a massive fan of Pimsleur, but I'd rate it well above RS. What's more, "back formation" (building a word up from final syllable to first syllable) has proven pretty effective in teaching longer words and phrases and is used in classrooms all over the world.
The problem with trying to repeat a new word is that you think so hard about how it starts that by the time you reach the end, you've forgotten what the teacher told you. If you practise the end of the word first, then it'll be easier to remember it. Using your example, when people first introduced to the word "Mississippi" say it wrong, they usually get "Missi-" right, but end it "-ssissi", "-ppippi" or "-ppissi". The start of a word seems to be easier to remember. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 6974 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 18 of 21 29 April 2010 at 5:31pm | IP Logged |
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I got into Chinese using Pimsleur and then Rosetta Stone. At the time I thought both
were good. I would say Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone are good if... 1) You're learning a language for the first time (on your own) and you don't know what to do. Both courses don't need you to think too much about 'how to use them'. I.e. you need someone to hold you by the hand. 2) You demand instant gratification. In the case of Pimsleur you get this because you can understand the short conversation and have already produced some sounds. In the case of RS you start to get better at the tests they give you. 3) You're living in the country and so need output quick in the case of Pimsleur or with RS you need to learn basic vocabulary. 4) You supplement both courses with something else and just use them for fun. 5) You somehow get them for free. I wouldn't use either courses as my main course for learning a language these days. Assimil will always be the way for me to go. But at the time Assimil just didn't suit me. I needed to speak straight away and Pimsleur gave me that. Ok I didn't learn much but at least it gave me a break into the language. The same with Rosetta stone. It took me 3/4 months to do Pimsleur then I needed something else. Rosetta stone was good for me at the time because it took me through the course step by step. I have to say it was actually fun. However, the only way I would ever use it again for another language would be if I could somehow get all the audio clips and all the text and then put it all into supermemo/anki. A good vocabulary tool but nothing else. Oh - both courses I got for free. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5442 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 19 of 21 30 April 2010 at 4:09pm | IP Logged |
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RS is as effective as a broken condom.
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| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5138 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 20 of 21 02 May 2010 at 6:12pm | IP Logged |
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I regard Rosetta Stone as an elementary introduction and find it very useful for getting the basics right. It is particularly effective for oral comprehension. After Rosetta Stone I never find the need to use the recordings of Assimil courses for instance, as I already am capable of forming pronunciation in my mind.
You most definitely will not "learn a language" by itself however. Rosetta Stone will allow you to most profitably tackle a serious textbook, but it will never substitute for it. As such, I believe they're charging an order of magnitude more than what it's worth. I think 50USD for all levels would be a fair price for what you get. Edited by Juаn on 02 May 2010 at 6:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mafouz Diglot Groupie Spain Joined 5118 days ago 56 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: German, Japanese, French | Message 21 of 21 02 May 2010 at 10:43pm | IP Logged |
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No relationship with Pimsleur at all, that in my opinion can be a very good introduction to a language, suplemented with other materials and not paying for it. Pimsleur and Assimil (plus grammar drills) seems to me a win-win conbination that is supported by many people in this forum, as I far as I have seen.
Maybe RS is appropiate for slow learners in need of confidence building, but it is not the public you will find in this forums ;) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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