Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone: Arabic Explorer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am actually reviewing the online version from Rosetta Stone Online, which makes the full Level I and II versions available by subscription. I believe the Explorer contains just the first few units.

Each section consists of a series of Listening, Reading/Listening, Speaking, and Reading exercises. The full version of this software consists of 19 units of 10-12 sections each.

In each exercise, you are given a series of activities consisting of a choice of four pictures and/or pieces of text and/or spoken dialogues (depending on which type of activity it is), and you must choose the correct picture/text/dialogue from the cues.

The exercises are very simple, suitable for children or for quick reviews. If you are new to Arabic, or refreshing your skills after a long period of disuse, the repetition will be useful in building your vocabulary (back) up. You are fed bits of grammar incrementally with each new unit. You start with simply identifying various people and objects, and then add a few adjectives, and then add a few verbs so you are recognizing simple sentences such as "The boy drinks some milk" or "The bird flies" or "This car is not red, it is white," etc. Each unit adds more pieces of grammar and more vocabulary, building up to more complex sentences, different verb tenses, and so on.

However, that is as far as it can take you. Diligently practicing all the exercises should expand your vocabulary and give you basic grammatical skills in Arabic. It will not bring you to the point of being able to carry on a meaningful conversation (unless your conversations are confined to describing objects and pointing at various people and animals and stating what they are doing), nor will it enable you to, say, read a newspaper.

For self-study, this software makes a good supplement to more robust texts and tapes. Don't expect it to bring you up to full proficiency. If you want to do more than recognize simple sentences and learn a lot of "everyday vocabulary," Rosetta Stone is insufficient. However, I do recommend it for the crucial repetition and "training your ear" that every language student needs, especially those doing self-study, if you are at a low to moderate proficiency level.

It is important to note that the text is entirely in Arabic script. You must be able to read Arabic before you can practice anything but the listening exercises. (Get a good book on Arabic script and learn it -- it's not that difficult, a serious student should be able to read the script fairly proficiently within a week.) Also, there are no English translations at all. This is not a bad thing -- the way the information is presented, you are expected to pick up the meaning as you go along, and if you practice the exercises seriously, you will. Just be aware that this software is based on the Audio-Lingual method, so you will find no glossaries or explanations of grammar.

While the Rosetta Stone presents the student with a great deal of succint information and needed repition, the program lacks the in-depth analysis serious students of language might expect. Grammar, alphabet, etc.--all must be garnered from other sources. Great for those wanting a flavor of the language, or for the young; but the serious student of languages would have to pass.

I've gone through a lot Arabic self-teaching materials in my long and probably hopeless effort to learn Arabic. This is the best teaching tool I've found so far. It's the first one where I've actually made some progress in grasping verb conjugations and pronunciation. It is far superior to Transparent Language's Arabic CD-ROM, which I found to be essentially worthless as a learning tool. The excercises are fun but like any language learning method they require repetition. The software is easy to use and very straightforward. I'll have to break down and buy the whole course someday but for now this will suffice. As an adjunct to this software, I would also recommend "Essentials of Arabic Grammer" and perhaps "Teach Yourself Arabic", books available from Amazon. Anyway, this is really outstanding educational software.

this program shows you a picture of a boy, and all they give you is the word and how it's spelled; but they would give you a picture of boys, and how that's spelled, but there is no alphabet at all, no tenses, no prounouns, the adjectives are terrible in their descriptions, it does include a voice recognition in it, but it is lower than the low grade. This program is only for children. It is a great vocabulary builder however. that's why it only received 2 stars instead of 1.

I learned a lot with this program and appreciate the way in which it builds up your knowledge of the language. I found its approach very intuitive.

The only fault I really found with this program is it doesn't have many "small talk" phrases useful for a traveler as most audio tapes. I used an audio tape for those, but I think it would be great if Fairfield could add a subset of lessons just for that.

On the subject of what would be great: It would also be nice if they had a workbook for Arabic in their Level I course (Level I builds on the lessons in Arabic Explorer). In addition, downloadable slightly different mp3 lessons that complement the program would allow one to continue learning when one is away from the computer. -- Now that would be really useful.

Regardless, I feel Rosetta Stone Arabic Explorer got me a lot further than Language Now!8 in understanding and using Arabic during in my travels in Jordan and Yemen.

The other reviews seem to me to be on the mark for the most part. One of my favorite features in this program is the option to display the Arabic script with and without all vowels. The voice recognition feature is extremely useful and allows the native speaker's voice to be played at natural, slow, and very slow speeds. The speech waveform of the native speaker and student are compared, and a meter rates the match. Lots of fun. After a short time working with this format I was satified enough to order the full Level One program. A relaxing way to put in many painless extra hours of study.

This program is very easy to use if you have a basic knowledge of the Arabic script (I would recommend "My first 100 words in Arabic"). There is nothing in English which leaves the learner to figure many things out independantly, but I learn better this way. The only problem I had with this program is that the content is not very practical. I can say that "the car is white", but I still can't say "How are You?" I do have a very basic understanding of the grammar, but mostly just a wider vocabulary and a better understanding of the script. A lot of self-motivation is required to learn to speak with this program because there is no recording studio or anything to require speaking. I am glad that I bought it, though, and I think it will be very helpful to me while I continue to learn Arabic.

I have used many cbt (computer based training programs) and i am very impressed with this one. The main reason is, it not only uses basic pictures and words but has a micrphone section so you can hear how you are saying the word. I should of purchased this before choosing any books to help learn the sounds of the letters. BUY THIS ONE>>>

When I tried to install it, I got the message that it was only usable on the obsolete Mac Classic platform. So I don't really have a good idea of how it works.