Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The Rosetta Stone application requires that the language CD be present in the harddrive, and it *continuously* spins up the CD disk while the program runs. This unfortunate design will quickly run down your laptop batteries, making this application unsuitable for travel. My repeated requests to Fairfield Technologies, the Rosetta Stone software company, to remedy this problem were declined. Considering the substantial price paid for this software, it should *behave* like software, and not a DVD. If the application could be installed and run like normal software, it would not uselessly drain you laptop batteries.

We ordered this program only two weeks before moving to Bogota, Columbia for a two year tour. However, the Spanish Rosetta Stone taught was much higher level than the survival Spanish we needed when we arrived. Overall we are learning the language and it is a GREAT program. Wish we would have bought it 3 or 4 months before departing.

No language can be learned without some effort and consistency on the part of the learner, but some methods/tools work better than others. The advantages of the Rosetta Stone method are: multimedia interactivity, user-friendliness, and the ability to study at your own pace and test the results. The attached CDs, although rather expensive and at this point only shipped within the US, make this experience most similar to first language acquisition and plenty of fun: the language comes to you in three forms at once, which highly enhances memorizing and learning. When you click on an object/person/communicative situation you are looking at, you see a phrase describing it and hear a native speaker say the phrase too. The tasks get more and more complicated and sophisticated, as you progress and decide which language skills to practice at any given time. The package comes with a transcript of all lessons, but many students might find they need to use a grammar book and a dictionary to accompany this package. Nevertheless, highly recommended! The best computer-assisted language course I have ever come across.

I have used this software for about 4 weeks since posting my comment in reply to that review. Having now had a chance to use the software, I can only say that I am almost 100% satisfied with it. Some times, it's nice to have a spanish dictionary when after a few lessons, you still can't quite grasp the concept of the word you're being taught, but other than that...

Yes, it is repetitious. For those who want to learn another language, this is to be expected. No, it's not a magic pill.

However, in as little as three weeks I found myself largely able to understand what native speakers around me were talking about, even if my understanding of it was imperfect.

Repetition (as they say) is key, but even if it were not, dedication is absolutely required. You can only learn if you stick with the program, and even I have been rather lax about that much. Still, I am wholly satisfied with my purchase. It is clear to me that the program is only as good as its user though, and I really ought to be more dedicated to following it.

This is the most effective and all-around system that I have ever used. I took 7 years of spanish instruction in school and i didn't remember 6 1/2 years of it. This has been the best investment I have made in a very long time!

In my experience really learning a language requires a mix of learning approaches. That means books, tapes, tutoring, and experience in a country that uses it. I have done all of these and feel this product is well worth including in the mix. I highly reccomend it. If you're serious you need to just pony up the money and use it.

So far, I have really enjoyed this program. I find it an easy way to learn a second language. I would highly recommend this program, and have recommended to several people. The only problem, hence the 4 stars instead of 5, is the lack of dictionary. I fortunately had a Spanish-English dictionary on hand. Most of the words you can figure out by the context of the situation. However, it is nice to have a dictionary to clarify or confirm your inference (guess.) Other than that, I enjoy the different methods of learning available...like speaking, listening, writing, reading, etc.