Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone Arabic Level 1 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]

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

 

 

Tell most souls spawn from an academic mileu that you want to learn Arabic on your own and you'll get a wry smile and a patronizing mental-pat on the head. Ignore the nay-sayers! As the above reviewer mentioned, this program is a vital tool for Arabic self-study. Along with it, I recommend purchasing "Alif Baa" along with the Cd's to learn the script. Also pick up Wehr's dictionary along with the 'Oxford English to Arabic' dictionary. Around lesson 4.05 of the Rosetta program, you've reached the point where you're ready for some supplementary material. So far, your approach to the language has been passive, and if you have a desire to write in the language, as well as understand long strands of verbal narrative, you'll need more material. I recommend Vol. 1-2 of Al-Kitaab [the 'red' book] along with the accompanying Cd's. Also, if you have a thirst for grammer and more traditional structure, try "Elementary Modern Standard Arabic" [the orange book] Vols. 1-2. You can also purchase a marvelous software program entitled "Emsa Companion" that is critical for those covering the material on their own [see creativeworks.byu.edu/HRC/arabic.html]. Learning a colloquial dialect can also be fun--and critical if you need to find a toilet while touring the Middle East. Try 'Levantine Arabic for Non-natives' (see the reviews before buying.) There's so much more, but I grow weary of the keyboard. Master this material and you'll be well on your way. It may sound expensive, but it's far cheaper than a couple of semester of school. Adieu

I purchased Rosetta Stone Personal Edition Arabic 1 and 2. The first few lessons of the program will get you used to the sound of Arabic and teach you some grammatical constructions and vocabulary.

To get the most out of the program, however, you really need to be able to read the script. You will need a human or a book to teach you this skill. One of the reviewers is correct in recommending "Alif Baa" with CDs to learn the sound and shape of each letter of Arabic script. I receive private Arabic lessons from the Defense Language Institute, and I learned to read the Arabic alphabet with "Alif Baa." We also use the Wehr and Oxford dictionaries.

My Rosetta Stone program is now very useful to me and is helping me develop good sentence structure and learn vocabulary naturally. My instructor is a native speaker and compliments the sentence structure and native accents.

This is truly the Cadillac of Arabic language learning programs but a bit overpriced. Buy it used from E-Bay and Amazon for a big savings. You can also buy it directly from the company during December for a fairer price.

You won't learn much conversational Arabic from Rosetta Stone. Pimsleur's Egyptian Arabic (used widely in movies) or Eastern Arabic learning tapes and CDs will do a great job (without books) at teaching you a dialect for speaking on the street but won't teach you how to converse in Modern Standard Arabic, the formal language used in the Rosetta Stone program, books, newspapers, and television news.

I've just started to learn Arabic in August of this year and have done a lot of looking around for materials to help me. I've read all the reviews on the Rosetta Stone software and have begun using this product. My opinion:

This is a fun tool to help you acquire vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and see how the language works. Some people don't like the fact that there are no English translations anywhere, but I actually enjoy the total immersion because it becomes a puzzle for me to figure out. It keeps me studying longer than if I was just looking at a bunch of flash cards. And since there aren't many Arabic speakers in my neck of the woods, the speech recognition part is indispensible.

Yes, sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what meaning the picture is conveying. That's when I pull out a dictionary and look the word up to confirm my guess as to the meaning. And it's not going to teach you phrases you need for travel, either. I have a pocket phrasebook and a Pimsleur CD for that.

Also, I wouldn't recommend that a rank beginner start right off the bat with this. First learn the alphabet and how the script works, because this won't teach you those things. But once you get a little feel for those things, then this would be a fun addition to your program.

No book or tape or software product can ever replace talking with native speakers, but for those of us who can't get to native speakers, this is a darn good 2nd choice.

Highly recommended so long as you understand that it is one of several tools to use to learn the language.

The Good: Rosetta Stone is a very user-friendly, low-stress program that will teach you a lot of Arabic vocabularly over time. The format is very simple (a good and bad point)- You get four pictures on the screen and either a written or spoken phrase beneath. Match the phrase to the picture and you're on the way. Very good for association and vocabularly drilling, and pretty easy to use, so you can play with it throughout the day without having to devote a lot of time to "studying." Also, you would be surprised at how creative they can get with the "match the picture" format; all kinds of situations you wouldn't think possible.
The Bad: First, the price. This would be a great $70 program, but the $170 tag is really pushing the envelope. Also, although this program is sold everywhere, the company seems to be pretty rigid on the price- always advertised as $195 but offered for some type of discount at $170. On the other hand, there are a lot of lessons in the program and they go pretty far into the language, so unless you are sure you are going to stick with it, this is a big investment to make and then give up after a few weeks.
Next, this program cannot stand alone, especially in Arabic. For one thing, it does not teach Arabic script, you need that before you start (see Awde's book on the Arabic Alphabet as the best choice for that). Second, it does not teach grammar, just word association, and you should be aware that Rosetta Stone uses the exact same lessons for every language, they are not tailored to the pecularities of Arabic. You absolutely need an Arabic textbook to accompany this, or by lesson 4 you will be lost (Smart's Teach Yourself Arabic is the simplest and cheapest). Last, the voices used (unless they've changed them recently) are very strange. Some of the other languages are good, but the Arabic speakers sound like greeters at Disney World. If you've been to the Middle East, you will recognize how silly they sound.
Bottom Line - if the price doesn't bother you and you use it to supplement existing Arabic study, this is a great program for drilling and vocabulary building.

I bought the Arabic Level 1 edition soon after using the "Explorer" version. To my great relief, Level 1 includes a 200 page text which provides all the written Arabic screen prompts used throughout the program, in two formats no less, modern standard without the short vowels as well as fully-vowelled. This really beats trying to copy down everything by hand for study notes. As the lack of this text was the only shortcoming I found with Explorer, I am now a very happy camper. The other reviewer comments on Level 1 are right on the money as far as I am concerned.

This program is, on the surface, attractive for learning Arabic as it uses a system of pictures and sounds to introduce basic concepts and words and is a change from drier textbooks. However, it suffers from forcing Arabic to follow a universal template mainly designed for the European languages. Concepts and structures that are simple in many European languages (e.g. numbers/plurals, etc.) are introduced early in the program. They are NOT simple in Arabic! Add to this the fact that the "plural" is often illustrated by two people, meaning that the dual has also to be introduced at an early stage, and you can begin to see the flaws. Having said all that, if you are following a classroom or self-teach course, you could amuse yourself and get some extra practice with this program.

I've always thought learning a new language would be impossible. I'm not disciplined enough to go over vocabulary lists over and over. The way Rosetta Stone's program is laid out has made it very easy to use. You just sit back and click. You'll be suprised at how fast you'll pick stuff up. It's almost as easy as watching TV. If you're lazy or a dummy,or both, and want to pick up a language; then I recommend you get this.

I find this program to be very poor. The concept of looking at pictures and hearing the words is good but the choice of vocabulary is poor. Why do I need to know the word elephant as a beginner? When I arrive in Egypt, I will want to say how are you, my name is etc. I will not need to say, "The girls jump". So far I (ana) has not been mentioned so I don't know how to conjugate any verb with I. I do not recommend this product.

I think that this program provides good SUPPLEMENTARY material. I join in with others in recommending Alif Baa as an introduction the characters and sounds, first. There are several challenging sounds in Arabic that may not stand out to the ears of someone who doesn't know what to listen for, but will make all the difference to a native speaker's ears. And being able to write well is a skill you can't develop on the computer.

Al-Kitaab (a continuation of the Alif Baa series) is absolutely crucial, I think, to provide a deeper grasp of the language and a better vocabulary. It's the best language textbook I've ever had, in fact the only good language textbook I've had, period. It comes with DVDs, and really guides you into the language in an engaging way.

What I don't understand is why Rosetta Stone insists on teaching a fully vocalized version of the language with all cases intact. Most of the case endings you learn are simply not spoke in most any setting, in Standard or in dialect, other than in recitations of the Q'uraan and in the most formal of speeches. It's just not practical for everyday communication at all, and will make it all the more difficult to comprehend native speakers who don't add what's really become an embellishment to the end of every word, the way Rosetta Stone does.

However, I still think this can be a strong tool for learning the language on a more intuitive level, something a textbook can't help you with. I DO recommend it with Alif Baa (before taking the Rosetta course) and Al-Kitaab. With these three materials, I'd say you're about as well off as you're gonna be without immersing yourself for several months in an Arabic-speaking country.

Good luck.

the software is very nice. It is easy to navigate and easy to use. The tough part is learning arabic. I am confident that I will eventually get to where I want to be with the help of rosetta stone software.