Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone V2: Swedish Level 1 [OLD VERSION]

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

 

 

I am currently living in the Skåne region of Sweden and am using this program to help improve my Swedish. This program gives a good foundation for spoken and written Swedish - when accompanied by daily practice (newspapers, radio, books, etc...) and exposure to the spoken language.

PROS:
The Rosetta Stone method is painfully simple. The speaker reads a phrase and you click on a matching picture. There is a lot of repitition which makes it easy to retain the information you learn. There is quite a lot of vocabulary introduced, but not so quickly that it gets frustrating.

CONS:
The cost of this program is outrageous. I could take private Swedish Courses with a professional Swedish language instructor for this price. Luckily I was able to borrow a copy from the City Library, or else I would not have used this program.

I have tried my share of Swedish tapes and software over the past few years. This is the first software I have come across that is easy to use and intuitive. Also nice is that fact that it isn't just geared towards tourists going for a short trip.

I agree with the previous review that the cost is quite high -- Amazon has the lowest price that I have found and it's still $175. Luckily my local library offers free online access to Rosetta Stone -- I just log in over the internet from my home. Check with the libraries in your area -- it seems more and more of them have purchased this software on a subscription basis.

P.S. There is also an "introductory" version called Rosetta Stone Explorer that has 22 lessons instead of 99 that sells for around $40. Just wanted folks to be aware of the shorter "trial" version.

Great, total emersion language learning software. Forget the Pimsler discs and buy this one (Pimsler is not that bad, actually, but it just isn't enough bang for the buck). I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 due to the fact that a Level II version does not yet exist. If you buy Swedish Level I, be sure to contact the Rosetta Stone company and request that they continue on with a Level II version. When they eventually receive enough requests, they will build it.

I purchased the item but unfortunatly it was very much overprices, the informations provided and amount of knowledge provided should not cost 250$, ( INCLUDING MAIL FEES TO SWEDEN)
I expected much more especially the ( interactive language part !!), some games are much more interactive though!!
Thank you

This is by far the best language software program that has ever been made. Now the price is extremely fair. I actually paid $195 for the product from a kiosk in the local area. The reason I was willing to pay full price for the product was a couple reasons. First the online subscription has issues and doesn't always seem to run smoothly. Second, I received a great demonstration of the product from the sales associate at a local kiosk. Third, Amazon only gives me 30 days to evaluate the product. If I am not satisfied with the purchase, I have to pay a 20% restocking fee. I want to be able to use the program without having to worry about being online at the same time. And finally if you buy directly from a kiosk, you get 6 months to evaluate the product. There is no restocking fee with a purchase made at a local kiosk.

Most reviewers note that this software is overpriced. It is. That said, I wouldn't mind paying the extra money if I got a great product AND great service. I haven't. Although one will pay nearly $200.00 USD for this product, once you have the CD there is no way to make a backup copy of it. Fairfield Language Technologies, the publisher of this software - has put a level of protection on their CDs that prevents you from saving them to your hard drive. This protection further prevents you from making a backup copy of the program on another CD. If you want to take this program with you as you travel, you have to take the original disk. I took my Swedish language CD on a recent trip to Sweden, where it became damaged and unusable in transit. As I had no backup, I was out of luck. I contacted Fairfield to see about a replacement. Fairfield responded quickly to my email and directed me to fax them a copy of my original receipt and they would send a replacement CD. Oh, that is they would send it after I paid an additional $29.95 plus tax for a program I had already paid $175.00 for! I find this to be completely unacceptable given the price they charge for the product coupled with the fact that one can neither save it on a computer nor make a backup copy of the disk. Although I've bit the bullet in buying two different versions of this product (Swedish and Polish), I will not be buying any further versions, but will rather look for access at my local library. The cost just isn't worth it. Hope this helps.

Note: My rating of two stars is based entirely on the cost over value. I would rate the effectiveness of this product with at best 4-stars.