Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1, 2 & 3 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]

by Fairfield Language Technologies

Product Features

• Spanish language learning software with speech recognition for accent practice
• 8,000+ images and phrases in 312 lessons; about 850 hours of instruction
• Picture, video, and narrative lessons covering life skills; reference section
• Systematically teaches vocabulary and grammar without lists and drills
• Previews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BKH1JC
• Item model number: 794678027659
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,176 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #96 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Spanish & Portuguese

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Rosetta Stone teaches Spanish through a step-by-step sequence of carefully structured lessons, called Dynamic Immersion. New words become associated with familiar objects, actions, and ideas. Words build to phrases and sentences in a systematic progression.

Studies show that learning exclusively in the new language--without translation as a crutch--is crucial if you want to communicate. Grammar drills and rote memorization never develop this skill. Dynamic Immersion helps you think in the new language and quickly develops the language skills and structures you need for everyday communication.

Levels 1, 2, and 3 Include:

• 8,000+ real-life images and phrases in 312 lessons
• An average of 850 hours of instruction depending on your learning style
• Picture, video, and narrative lessons covering life skills in four areas: transportation, housing, shopping, and employment
• Speech recognition for accent perfection
• Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills
• Preview, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorial
• A complete reference section of commonly used terms

Level 1, 2, and 3 Topics Include

• Arriving at an airport
• Affirmative and negative verb forms
• Finding an apartment
• Family relationships
• Direct objects
• Greetings and conversations
• Grocery shopping
• Relative pronouns
• The weather and clothing
• Office activities and terminology
• Subjunctive and subordinate clauses

Product Description

This complete set offers Beginner through Advanced instruction. Spanish Levels 1 & 2 provide up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in Listening Comprehension, Reading and Speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. Previews, exercises and tests accompany every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. Level 3 prepares the user to communicate at school, in the workplace and in other real-life situations through picture lessons, live-action video, audio and narrative lessons. Spanish Level 1, 2, & 3 Set, Personal Edition set comes complete with illustrated User's Guides and Curriculum Text books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One piece of the puzzle, October 2, 2006

By 

B. Steeg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1, 2 & 3 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

If you are serious about learning Spanish this software isn't enough. You will need to purchase a Spanish-English dictionary - I like Barron's Spanish Dictionary because it came with a free down loadable software version - and a Spanish audio series such as Pimsleur or Learning Spanish Like Crazy (LSLC). A verb conjugation book is a good idea too, I like The big Red Book of 555 Spanish Verbs. Finally, just like back in the day, you should either buy flashcards or create your own to build up your vocabulary when you can't stand to look at the computer monitor even one second longer.

Now here's the part of the puzzle that Rosetta Stone will help you with: it is very repetitive and requires interaction with picture/word association. I have found that this burns the words into my mind and that the photos help me to recall a word or phrase. Rosetta Stone will also help you with reading comprehension as well as spelling - as long as you use all the lesson plans and resist the temptation to just do the fun parts. But the speech recognition feature is not as good at teaching you to speak Spanish as a high quality audio series such as Pimsleur or LSLC.

The advantage of the speech recognition is that you can slow down the word or phrase being spoken. So if you want to slow down the word "mujer" you can hear how the native speaker uses the hard H sound on the J and a slight roll on the last R; it's great for pronunciation but not effective for learning how to handle yourself in a conversation.

In summary, Rosetta Stone is not a one stop shop. It isn't as mobile as an audio series on your iPod. And it isn't going to make learning Spanish a thoughtless and easy task. I recommend that you buy this software and use it but understand that you are paying $500 primarily for word/picture association and the ability to analyze your pronunciation of individual words and phrases. Also, keep your Spanish dictionary handy to alleviate any confusion. The whole childlike learning approach is good, but your adult skills will definitely help to speed up the process.

92 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars So overpriced..., May 19, 2006

By 

Emma Grant (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1, 2 & 3 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I bought this software because I really wanted to learn Spanish and be fluent. The price and marketing of the company made me believe that this package was the most complete package on the market.
So I was very excited to receive it after spending $450 on a software. My excitement did not last long after that.
I was shocked to see how the software itself looked, I was expecting a top of the line interface for the price I paid but that software seemed years old.
But I still wanted to get my money worth so tried the first level for hours, even days, as I was convinced I could learn Spanish with it. I also tried the other 2 levels to make sure that my issue was not only with that first level.
I had looked at the demo and noticed that most of the content was based on that same acitivity with the 4 pictures. I was expecting different exercises for the full version...The software gets so repetitive, I was really disappointed, even more because of the outrageous price of that package.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not magic, but it seems like it is., March 3, 2006

By 

Cait O'Ceallaigh (San Rafael, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1, 2 & 3 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I've used this product for Spanish through Level III, Russian and now French. I also study Spanish with a private tutor, and I can't say I speak perfectly - I still had a lot to learn and still do - but she says that I speak "differently" than her other students. She thought maybe I'd grown up around the language, but had never been formally taught. And I'd been learning Spanish for less than a year.

If you use this product, I urge you to use it consistently, but don't force it. If a meaning or a phrase isn't clear, don't worry about. Study as passively as possible, as that is how you learned your first language. I would say don't even try to speak it for a few months. Just keep listening to the sounds. Let them settle in your brain.

So some critics say that there's no explanatin of grammar. Well, that's good. You don't want to distract yourself with that. By the age of four, most children understand a lot more than what they can say, without studying grammar. They make mistakes, they mispronounce words, but they still have the language template. That's what you want to start with. It only comes from daily, passive immersion. Study the grammar later.