Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone: Swahili Explorer

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I had no prior knowledge of Swahili and found this program very frustrating. No English is used to explain what the Swahili sentences mean, only pictures. In every unit there were 4 or 5 words that I could not figure out simply from the pictures. Also, know instrcution is given about the grammer. I would realize that something is being conjugated, but could not figure out why.

Over all, I was very frustrated.

Ninafikiri software hili ni zuri! ( I think this software is good)Especially if you've already taken some courses in Kiswahili.One of the previous reviewers mentioned that they were frustrated with the program and I can understand that a person completely unfamiliar with the language would be baffled. So for this reason, I say that it's a good supplementary tool. I definitely think that it helps to reinforce some concepts,but do agree that the software could be improved in some ways. More features would be nice ,but I'm sure in the future editions I will see such things. I know one complaint for this software may be about the repetitiveness of some activities,but in language you really can't have enough of this. Afterall, if one wants to build correctly, one needs a solid foundation. Haba na haba hujaza kibaba ( little by little fills the measure). I recommend this to anybody looking for some extra study aids in Kiswahili, it's worth it.

Iwapo nia pana njia! -Where there is a will, there is a way!

This product is great in helping me brush up on my Swahili. It's fun & motivating to go through (rather than just trying to do little book exercises & never know if you're right or wrong). It's a great way to learn if you don't have an instructor to give feedback.

Only problems are: the pronunciation check fails pretty often -- either it doesn't create a voice print for the native speaker, or it doesn't stop recording after I finish speaking the phrase, so I get no information on how close my pronunciation was. I end up doing the same phrases over and over trying to get it to work correctly (I guess I get practice, though!)

I'm also not sure how easy it would be for someone with no knowledge of Swahili to learn the grammar this way. It is very different from English and I think a little instruction on the nature of the grammar would help a lot. I find that I look up some words in the dictionary to be sure when they mean as I am going along. For most examples, though, it is clear.