Rosetta Stone V2: Spanish (Latin America) Level 1-2 - Old Version

by Fairfield Language Technologies

Product Features

• Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it to native speakers to help improve pronunciation
• Get a full tutorial in speaking and syntax skills
• With this award-winning method used by NASA and the Peace Corps, you'll learn the way children do -- by associating words and phrases with the world around you
• This powerful 2-CD set of learning tools adapts to your personal needs and imparts a strong foundation in a new language
• Participate in over 200 lessons where you'll interact with fluent Spanish speakers to build speaking & vocabulary skills

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000077DD8
• Item model number: 226-12
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 14, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,145 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #64 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Spanish & Portuguese

Product Description

Amazon.com

Looking for an effective way to get lasting language skills? Rosetta Stone's unique learning approach is designed to get you there, with faster results and a deeper understanding and mastery of the language. With Rosetta Stone, you will learn Spanish the way you learned your own native language, without translation or memorization.

Develop your skills in four key areas...

Reading. View larger.

Speaking. View larger.

Writing. View larger.

Listening. View larger.

Native speakers, real-life images, speech recognition and fully interactive software teach you like you learned your first language--naturally. The Rosetta Stone Spanish Level 1 and 2 (Latin America) set combines the content found in Level 1 and Level 2 to take you from no knowledge of the language to advanced proficiency--in one easy purchase.

Rosetta Stone is self-contained and intuitive to use. There are no complicated lists to memorize or handbooks to read. With Dynamic Immersion, you can start learning immediately. Join NASA, Fortune 500 executives, U.S. diplomats and millions of learners worldwide in discovering the fastest way to learn Spanish.

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

The Dynamic Immersion method reconnects people to the language skills they used successfully to master their first language. With Rosetta Stone, you start from a position of strength--your own strength. First, Rosetta Stone allows you to learn through context. The software presents a carefully chosen selection of four images and asks you to select the image that matches the written text and the voices of native speakers. Building on the knowledge you've already gained and your intuitive grasp of the meaning of each picture, you make a choice. There's absolutely no translation or memorization to hold you back, so you start making progress immediately.

Next, Rosetta Stone offers immediate reinforcement. The very second you complete a task, the software provides feedback. Speak a word and our unique voiceprint technology automatically rates your pronunciation. Connect an image with a phrase and you'll immediately learn if your choice was correct. Complete a set of exercises and you'll instantly know how well you did. With Rosetta Stone, you always know where you stand. Recognizing that dynamic immersion is a continuous process, Rosetta Stone also employs a systematic sequence that gradually incorporates new words, phrases, and more complex grammar as it reinforces existing learning. As a result, your understanding of your new language grows naturally.

Levels 1 and 2 includes more than 8,000 real-life images and phrases in 210 lessons, as well and an average of 450 hours of instruction depending on your learning style. Rosetta Stone also incorporates a balanced curriculum including listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as speech recognition for accent perfection. The program's systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills, and there are previews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials.

Rosetta Stone's lessons will quickly get you up to speed on a wide range of language topics, including directions; affirmative and negative verb forms; food, eating, and drinking; family relationships; direct objects; telling time; shapes, colors and locations; greetings and conversations; travel, transportation, and transactions; shopping and dining; and much, much more.

Product Description

Rosetta Stone Spanish Level I & II opens up a new world to you by teaching you how to communicate with a new culture! With thsi set of powerful educational tools, you'll develop your language skills & begin communicating with people throughout the Americas! Reviews and testing features help identify weak points and work harder on them Comes with illustrated User's Guides and Curriculum Text books Ages 6 & up.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

553 of 575 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I needed the Rosetta Stone in high school!, January 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Spanish (Latin America) Level 1-2 - Old Version (CD-ROM)

This is an amazing product! I have to preface my comments by stating my biases-I think the best way to learn a language is through immersion lessons in that country (this is how I learned Czech). If that's not possible, then the next best way is with intensive lessons with a great teacher (I don't have a Spanish tutor yet, but I'm going to get one). But for those of us who want to study Spanish on our own every day (I do one lesson a day, which takes me about two hours), the Rosetta Stone is awesome. I've never used any other language software, so I don't know if there are other great programs on the market that are this good, but I doubt it.

Why is this product so awesome? It's intuitive, fun (isn't that half the battle in learning a language?), interactive, and comprehensive. I'd describe the method as similar to the Berlitz language school method in that you start the lesson and great looking pictures come up on the screen with the words that match each picture (the obvious difference being that the Rosetta Stone does this with great graphics on your PC versus a Berlitz teacher using a picture book). Then the words are spoken so you intuitively learn by making these connections (you need a good headset).

After you learn the words the lesson goes through the same words, but in 4 different exercises (Listening, Reading, Speaking, & Writing). Over time the words build up to phrases and then to sentences. I really like the creative way the lessons teach each activity while repeating the words/phrases you're learning in a way that's not boring.

The other thing I'd say is these lessons are fun, which means I'm highly motivated to keep learning (I actually look forward to doing my lessons every day!). I wish the Rosetta Stone had a Czech version when I learned that language because it would've changed my experience from being a grind to being enjoyable.

I should mention there are a couple of things that annoy me about the software (in the Writing exercise there's not an Auto-scroll function for 2 of the parts, so you have to click on the next picture to advance; also, there's not an easy way to tell what exercises you've completed in the lesson, so I have to write down what I've finished when I take breaks). Although I'd like to see these improvements made, they are relatively trivial compared to the overall brilliance of this product.

But back to the positives, I've also noticed how mentally exhausted I've been since I started using this program. I had the same feeling the first couple of weeks when I started learning Czech intensively, so this is a good sign my brain is really being stretched by this software.

Lastly, the Rosetta Stone is very interactive because you have to click on the correct pictures/text or type in the correct spelling as you do the exercises. So, it's easy to stay engaged as you're learning, versus feeling being bored by reading some grammar lesson from a textbook or wasting your time making dull flash cards.

Based on the excellent progress I've had so far, I'm going to buy either the Italian or French versions from Rosetta Stone next, since for the first time in my life I'm having a blast learning a language and I'm progressing faster than I thought was possible.

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fastest Way to Learn, December 26, 2006

By 

J. Pace (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Spanish (Latin America) Level 1-2 - Old Version (CD-ROM)

I have read most all of these reviews and even responded to one of them, and I am very disappointed. I am not a teacher or professor or over educated. I am a normal person attempting to learn a second language. I have been using it through AKO (Army knowledge Online) so I don't have to deal with the price.

Everyone that is complaining about learning perfect grammar through the software is looking at this all wrong. This program helps you learn Spanish the same way you learned English. I am sure when you were one year old you were not searching for correct grammar, and I am also sure you parents talked to you in complete sentences. The program does the same thing. You learn by listening to the words and phrases and using you brain to see what is going on in the picture. Then associate the sounds you head with the pictures. I highly recommend this software.

Once again as far as the Grammar I read about 20 negative reviews citing no verb conjugation or grammar help. I am first to admit that I have not fully mastered all of the rules of English grammar, but I have been able to communicate effectively my whole life. And by the looks of some of your reviews a lot of you have not obtained perfect English grammar either.

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good - but you will need additional study material, January 18, 2006

By 

Mr. G. Patterson (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V2: Spanish (Latin America) Level 1-2 - Old Version (CD-ROM)

This language course is very different to the traditional method of teaching languages - but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Most other courses (and language classes) would begin by teaching simple phrases such as "Hello", "Goodbye" "What is your name?", "How old are you?" etc. Then you would learn grammar rules, lists of verbs and nouns etc. Rosetta Stone does not do this. Indeed, you will not any of the above phrases until well into the course!

This course does away with the conventional method of memorising grammar rules, verbs etc, and attemts to teach you a language without having to do any of this. This is done by following through thousands of picture lessons, which include flashcards, speaking and writing - in order to 'intuitively' learn Spanish. As there is a fair bit of repitition throughout the course you will actually find that following through these exercises is enough to 'unconciously' absorb the language. Indeed, I have come across no quicker way of learning a language. Make no mistake - this course works!

The course starts of with simple objects and phrases, then slowly builds up to more complex sentences, phrases, and extracts of conversation. It aims to mimic the way you first learned English as a child. For this reason there is no conversational Spanish until well into the course. This means that you will really need to complete the course before you are able to converse in Spanish - it is not an effective tool for quickly learning Spanish phrases before going on holiday.

Good points:-
1. Much more fun than conventional courses, as there is no concious memorisation or drills. The course really keeps your attention, and you feel motivated to move to the next lesson.

2. Very effective for quickly learning new vocabulary

3. The software is very user friendly, well presented and easy to use

4. No 'formal' teaching, or translation. You learn everything 'intuitively'

Bad points:-
1. No good for quickly learning a bit of Spanish (e.g. before going on holiday). You need to complete the course! Simple phrases are not taught until well into the course.
Examples:
i) You are not taught how to say your name or how old you are until 30% of the way through the course.
ii) You are not taught how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" until you have worked through 60% of the course!

2. There is not a huge amount of conversational Spanish in the course, and no conversational practice, so you will additional study material before you are able to converse well in the language.

3. The course is VERY expensive

4. Because most of the course involves describing what is happening in pictures, most of the descriptions need to be in the Present Progressive tense, e.g. "The boy is eating", "I am sitting down". This creates a problem for this course when it comes to Spanish because the Present Progressive tense is not used much in Spanish - it is mainly used to describe processes or to emphasize that something is happening RIGHT NOW. Due to the nature of this course MOST of the present tense verbs are of this form, wheras is other Spanish courses there are normally only a handfull of Present Progressive examples IN THE WHOLE COURSE!

What is puzzling though, is that in Spanish the Simple Present tense is normally used in place of the Present Progressive (just like in Fresnch, as there is no Present Progressive in French). For this reason I would have expected the Simple Present to be the main tense taught as it is in Rosetta Stone French (or at least a combination of the two) - but this is not the case. Even the Level 3 Spanish course makes extensive use of the Present Progressive tense, which is slightly puzzling.

Despite it's faults, I would still highly recommended this course because it allows you to learn Spanish very quickly and with little effort. However, you will also need additional study material from elsewhere.

If you have any dougts I would recommend first installing the demo version from the RosettaStone.com website.