Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone V3: German Level 1-3 Set with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

UPDATE 23 March 2009

*SERIOUS WARNING* Rosetta Stone's customer support is awful. They will hassle you like no other software company I have ever dealt with in 16 years of computing. Should you have a system crash or two, good luck trying to reactivate. Their product activation policy (2x) is preposterous. Same machine, same IP address, same e-mail, same phone number, couldn't care less. Can you imagine if you're on the road?

For the money they charge, they should bend over backwards to work with you. I would not buy this software based on this "policy". How sad and stupid. Be very careful or you'll have a $500.00 useless Yellow Box.
*SERIOUS WARNING*

There is a lot to be said for the Rosetta Stone method of picture recognition. Also, it is set up very intuitively requiring minimum computer skills on your part to engage. I was able to get it running on both a Vista x64 desktop & a Vista x32 notebook for test purposes.

The instructions are clear and easy to follow. You have a main program disc and then the level 1, 2, 3 discs as you progress. There is nothing confusing about the process. Registration is not required. However, for activation and update of downloads I strongly suggest an Internet connection be available. Immediately upon install there were updates waiting for me. Should you not be connected, there is a toll-free phone number to call that will enable you to activate and unlock all features.

My 82 year old mother was able to negotiate and understand the program as was my 10 year old nephew. Neither one was interested at first but they admitted to having fun with it.

The quality and production values of both the software and packaging are first rate with one personal annoyance. Given the dependency on images that Rosetta Stone utilizes I would have preferred more specific Germanic cultural associations and quite frankly, less multiculturalism. The picture of a couple eating soft boiled eggs from egg cups...very German; the picture of women in robes walking across the desert with bowls on their heads...not so German. This diversity is unnecessary as far as immersion is concerned, though I assume it saves on production costs since one size seems to fit all languages, however I want to learn German, not Esperanto!

That said, this is an excellent language program, especially for the beginner. It's fun and lively. Having lived in Berlin for a year (back when there was a wall) I find the accents used by the actors to be clear and precise. And the the speech recognition very forgiving. This is a good thing because there is nothing worse than impeding progress over pronunciation. Proper pronunciation comes eventually. If you are having problems with pronunciation there are a couple of things you can do. There is a slider bar in the setup to adjust the strictness of the speech recognition engine. Also, you can click on the items causing issues and there is a more intense pronunciation sub lesson complete with graph and syllable breakdown.

I like the visual associations because you are figuring things out for yourself and really building on what you know to learn something new. It's a subtle process...but it works...at least so far. German grammar has always driven me nuts but somehow this program has really polished my grammar. I only wish I had had this software when I was in Berlin. But then there were no PCs either!

The included USB microphone, while a bit flimsy and sans volume control, is none the less accurate, lightweight and perfectly up to the task. And since it's USB it makes connecting a whole lot easier. Great for a notebook.

This package also comes with the audio discs for when you're on the road or in your hotel room and need a jolt of subliminal/revisional learning without the computer. Plays in a CD or MP3.

I will have to save my pennies for the Spain-Euro-Spanish version because if this is any indication it will be superb as well.

I've become interested in going to Germany and although I know that English is spoken there, I'd like to be able to go off the beaten path and immerse myself in the culture. I'd also like to be able to understand the conversations of people around me. This is why I really was interested in Rosetta Stone versus a quick and dirty travel language CD.

This product allows you to customize it to your goals (read, write, listen, speak) through a very simple startup screen (which can be setup for different users) and then it automatically builds the lessons for you.

I find the lessons to be enjoyable and very useful. The speech recognition aspect is awesome. It lets you even customize how precise you want the software to grade your pronunciation.

Aside from the computer aspect, this product provides a whole set of CDs that complement the main software. This is great for reinforcing your learnings when you aren't in front of the computer.

The downsides of the product do NOT outweigh the upsides in my opinion. However, I should list a few for you. 1) It is pricey. 2) It doesn't allow you to run it on more than one computer (you can move it to a new computer, but you have to uninstall it from the first computer). 3) The included headset is a bit flimsy.

Bottom Line: If you are wanting to learn the language, excel when presented with multiple ways to learn it (visual, auditory, and written), and want to do it at your own pace, I really think this is a great option and can recommend it. If you are only wanting to pick up the bare minimums for surviving travel in Germnay and are on a budget, find another product that focuses on getting you into the basic phrases you'll need. Overall, a great product.

Of all the things that require dedication and persistence, the effort to learn a language has got to be somewhere in the top ten. Rosetta Stone (RS) is often regarded as the best in language software. We'll see . . .
This review covers German lessons 1-3 of the OS X version.

HITS:

1) Even in light of my criticism of RS, I think the software is worth the price. For one, there are not many language software programs that are OS X friendly. The ability to learn on your own time and at your own pace is a huge plus. Finally, there is a LOT of material here. Doing three "blocks" a day took me roughly 3 months to finish all 3 lessons.

2) RS tries different ways of getting one to use the language. But the method that works best is the one that RS was designed for in the first place--mixing and matching words with pictures. The READING, LISTENING, LISTENING AND READING, and VOCABULARY courses are great for learning new words at your own pace.

3) I found the REVIEW lessons useful in making sure that I didn't forget some vocabulary from a past lesson.

4) I had no install problems, only occasionally had bugs (screen freezes, etc.), and the user-interface is very intuitive.

MISSES:

1) SPEAKING and PRONUNCIATION. RS does not teach you the German alphabet. Instead, they have you learn different sounds in actual German words. I disagree with this method because what German I learned previously was mostly self-taught and I found that knowledge of the alphabet came in very handy when it came to proper pronunciation--not to mention the time I took my vision test at Brille Fielmann in Muenchen.
The Speaking portions are better, except when they expect you to repeat a quickly-spoken sentence that is not shown on-screen. If your short-term memorization skills are not up to snuff, you might have a hard time.

2) The voice recognition is terribly inconsistent. There were times I said a sentence EXACTLY as I have in Germany and was 100% understood by the locals, but the RS software insists I'm saying it wrong. There were times my occasional STUTTER got me tongue-tied and somehow I got the sentence RIGHT. You can change the "Speech Precision Level" but I found that even setting it to Easy didn't make matters better.

3) GRAMMAR. RS does a poor job of teaching Grammar. In fact, the only reason why I knew the answers to some of the slides was because of my previous knowledge of the Dative, split-verbs and other rules. RS only informs you that you got the question wrong, but it doesn't inform you at all WHY you got it wrong, why you would use the word "seit" instead of "vor" in the sentence.

4) WRITING. To give credit where credit is due, the ability to have your keyboard virtually become a GERMAN keyboard is way cool and earns many practicality points. However, the Writing lessons are very scarce (4 per Unit). When you do get to the Writing lessons, not even all the slides have anything to do with writing. So out of 7 slides, maybe you do some actual typing on 5 of them. What was most frustrating to me was this: You can stutter and butcher a spoken sentence and get it right, but God forbid that you forget to capitalize the "S" in "sie"--meaning you get the entire sentence WRONG--it doesn't matter if you spelled everything else correctly.
My last straw with the Writing lessons was this: You sometimes can't make out words in the sentence! Is the speaker saying "diese" or "dieser"??? Because the two sound awfully alike. And remember, if you forget just one letter, you get the whole thing wrong.

OVERALL: If you have never tried learning German I would pass on RS. Although it might help you learn a few basic sentences and vocabulary words, it will most likely frustrate you with the voice recognition, inconsistent grading standards and lack of grammatical explanation.
If you do already know some German, I DO recommend RS, but only as a SUPPLEMENT.
Finally, there are MANY ways you can learn German. Sign up for a German epal. Take other free online courses--they're out there! Listen to German music like Rammstein and Fanta Vier--their MFG song is great for testing out your alphabet skills!

Good luck with your learning!

My previous German language experience came from an eight week German reading course I took about 5 years ago. The emphasis was not on speaking, but rather to give us the basic tools in order to begin the process of deciphering German texts. I've had a few other language classes since then, establishing me if not as a thorough polyglot at least as a someone well versed in language training from a variety of different teaching styles, approaches, and contexts.

I've tried to keep up with a number of these languages I've studied, with various success, and with various software help. Mostly the inexpensive kind. I've picked up the Instant Immersion disks (a great, inexpensive, entirely un-thorough approach), the Learn to Speak series (about the same, though with a lot more content).

Recently, to learn German for my studies I looked at more thorough programs and two stood out. The Rosetta Stone series and the Tell Me More. I noticed Tell Me More was getting great reviews and was less than half the price. Being a little financially strapped I skipped the trend and bought Tell Me More. And I'm very glad I did. It's an effective program that has pushed me quite along in learning the language.

Still, there was a tickle in my brain. Is Rosetta Stone really better?

Now, with Rosetta Stone German and Tell Me More German in hand I have an answer.

And yes, Rosetta Stone is the better program.

In some ways.

Really, I'd have to say these are quite different programs, rather than one being substantially better.

Tell Me More is a like a class in a box. There is a mix of exercises that help to build vocabulary, sentence structure, writing, pronunciation, and other aspects. Each section has a large mix of short lessons that reinforce the learning without becoming dull or tedious. Save yourself taking language classes by using Tell Me More.

Rosetta Stone is a lot less like taking a class. It's more like finding yourself on an island with a group of people who all only speak another shared language. And if you want to learn how to thrive on this island, then you follow their patient, but focused, teaching. The lessons advance by building on previous lessons, adding grammar and vocabulary in small increments without being separate focus. Rosetta Stone goes for whole learning, approaching the language as a whole rather than in separate topics. Also, there is a tracking system so that after a certain amount of days a review lesson pops up that makes sure what was learned a couple of weeks ago is still there. Good confidence boost too.

This approach sticks, and it is effective.

My only quibble is I'm not sure it's quite worth the amount of money they are asking. Indeed, if money isn't an issue then by all means go with Rosetta Stone. There are qualities that do set it apart, and it helps a person feel much more involved in the language and less like taking a class. I see it also as a continued resource way beyond the initial run through, providing a consistent platform to keep the language sharp.

The island analogy is also appropriate because Rosetta Stone doesn't have nearly the same amount of cultural exposure that Tell Me More does. The Tell Me More program offers more German (as in the country) exposure, along with Austria and Switzerland.

Tell Me More also has a more potent vocabulary push, especially early on. Rosetta Stone takes a long while to build a foundation and with this can become pretty repetitive.

But, if money is an issue Tell Me More is comparable in quality, without being nearly as expensive.

That's not a slam against the product quality of Rosetta Stone at all. It really is an extraordinary software, and revolutionizes language learning.

In February 2009 I purchased the Rosetta Stone German Levels 1,2, & 3 in preparation for an overseas job in Zürich. I am 27 years old, and at the time I spoke no German. I worked through all the levels, thinking that by the time I got to the end I would be at least somewhat conversant, and ready to start my new job in an architecture firm. How naive! I was completely unprepared despite having bought this very expensive software, and upon arrival basically started learning German from zero (in a class). At this point I have lived in Switzerland for 14 months, and am now proficient enough that I can speak only German at home and work. However, I think that true fluency is still another six or eight months away. I understand now that learning a language, especially German, is REALLY HARD. I take classes, do a lot of homework, and ask people a lot of questions. This is the only way to really learn, and Rosetta Stone is NO substitute. This program will neither make you fluent nor even remotely conversant. This is because you don't get real communication practice, but just learn how to ape its built in recordings. Furthermore, its idiotic insistence on learning the 'natural' way (i.e. by refusing to explain the rules of grammar, forcing you to intuit them instead) only drags out the learning process. And despite its claims of 'immersion', in the end you are still sitting in your living room in the USA or some other English speaking country. It is no more immersive than watching Run Lola Run with the subtitles turned off. Immersion means living in the place where the language is spoken, not being suckered by Rosetta Stone's slick marketing (Adaptive recall, "TM"!). Don't buy this program. Get a 30 dollar one from Borders instead- I tried that too, and retained just as much.

I hope this review is useful to you. Take it from me- I know. And I want my 500 dollars back.

I actually live in Germany at the moment. I'm on my fourth year here, so you might say I'm immersed in the langauge. My confession is I don't speak German. How could this be you say? Well everyone likes to speak English to me. I have enough other interesting things to do with my time than sit through boring lessons at home.

I've never been good at the whole language thing. I guess that's how my brain is wired. Even after a few years immersed, I hear German all the time (mostly as background noise) but I might have a 2 year old level of understanding.

I've tried a few other audio and text language packages before but I'd usually fall asleep and not be interested. I know learning a language takes time and effort, but the medium has to be engaging.

This isn't a review about me, right? I figure there might be some other people out in the world like myself so I felt some context was necessary.

Cons:

Price - I'm sure there would have to be a better price where they would sell more of these.

Cheap headset - Ever stand up with your headphone on? These broke the first time I did that. Otherwise I was impressed my Mac (10.5) recognized them. It also doesn't have a volume control.

Immersion - As I've mentioned I don't seem to learn well this way. During the lessons when something new is presented I really have to try hard, it would be cool if there was something to click on to see some rules or something. I guess since I'm figuring it out I'll remember it better?

Audio CDs - Don't see me using these, as I tend to fall asleep.


Pros:

Not a lot of cons - Sure I'm complaining about the whole immersion thing, but you have to learn some way. The biggest one is the price.

Works on a Mac (intel, 10.5) - Not the native interface, but the interface works. I had to open up the manual to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious. I actually was, in the next point I discuss it!

Speech Analysis - This is what makes the product top notch. The voice software is very good at getting you to say the words exactly. There is a little button you can press that will open up another screen that allows you to analyze your voice and the speaker voice to get them to match up. This is a great way to lose my English accent!

Customize your "courses" - You can choose what you want to focus on (reading, speaking, grammar.. etc). I went with everything. I could see myself creating something later that focuses on speaking (as it is my major weakness).

Software's ability to move you along at a good pace - If you zip through things it seems to interject future coursework, if you are having a hard time it seems to re-do a few things. I worked through a 30 minute lesson doing pretty well. When it came to review time, I was really itching to be done so I raced through it. I did poorly and it made me do some extra lessons before I was able to "graduate"

Ability to override where the program is taking you - You can click on a button and see ALL the lessons (check marks by the ones you did), you can retake something or take something it decided to skip.

Fun way to learn - Lots of pretty pictures (not necessary all German related), interactive lessons that switch between matching words to pictures, matching sounds to pictures and speaking when presented with a picture. I seem to be able to go for about an hour before getting tired of it. No more falling sleep with my headphones while mumbling to myself.

Native speaking German as examples - Sound Northern German to me and not Bavarian.

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So I've been trying my newly learned German out. After the people get over their shock of me trying to speak, they are happy to help out with some pointers. Unlike English where there are many accents, I've found in Germany a slight non German accent seems to make the other people totally not understand. I feel the headset and the speech analysis software totally makes this package worth it.

The Rosetta Stone version 3 software with audio companion is really an excellent value, especially for the beginning learner. No software can do the hard work for you of training your brain to recognize sounds, training your tongue to make them, and learning an entirely new set of vocabulary. But Rosetta Stone tries to make this process fun, intuitive, and simple. When you are trying to do something as difficult as learning another language, you don't need other difficulties thrown in your path. Attending a traditional class--driving, reading books, studying flash cards, interacting with other people who know the language just as poorly as you do--in my opinion introduces many more difficulties into the language learning process and is the cause of many people's failure to advance. If this is you, I recommend Rosetta Stone, which will allow you to advance beyond beginner level in a language in the comfort of your own home, using your own computer and the provided headset and microphone. When compared with the cost of taking a traditional course along with drive time and cost of books, Rosetta Stone's value becomes apparent.

Rosetta Stone is fun. At times, it can feel like a video game. The program does a good job of continuously challenging both your vocabulary and your tongue (as you have to pronounce the words more or less accurately) without being so difficult as to be dishearteningly discouraging.

Rosetta Stone immediately immerses the learner in the world of the language trying to make you forget your mother tongue (in my case English) as much as possible as you learn. This is, as far as I can tell, the best way to make oneself truly fluent. It is the way that I learned Spanish (total immersion), and in my opinion Rosetta Stone does as good of a job of that in a computer setting as I could imagine using today's technology.

I recommend purchasing levels 1, 2, & 3 together in a set so that you can advance far enough to actually begin intelligent conversations with native speakers. Rosetta Stone will only be able to advance you to a point, getting you out of beginner status. But to move on from there to fluent, will most definitely require surrounding yourself with people who speak the target language. But I am aware of no better value than Rosetta Stone to make that transition into another culture and language possible. I am looking forward to taking the next step.

I do have word of caution from my experience regarding Windows Vista 64-bit software and Rosetta Stone's technical support. I was able to "successfully" install the software but unable to load any of the language modules into the software. After multiple calls (3+ hours) to technical support with a wide range of suggestions, I was finally told that Rosetta Stone is not supported on Vista 64 bit. This is somewhat frustrating and will likely be an issue more many purchasers of newer computers. I have read in reviews and blogs that some have been able to make it work, but I was unable to. I ended up having to install it on a secondary (and older) computer system. This was an inconvenience and something that I personally feel is an inexcusable oversight for high-end software. For lack of 64-bit support and the slowness of technical support to identify this issue, I have dropped my rating of the software from 5 stars to 4 stars.

Will using Rosetta Stone German allow you to say: "Ich bin erstaunt, dass ich fließend Deutsch sprechen, nachdem mit diesem Programm nur für ein paar Wochen gearbeitet habe" ('I am amazed that I am able to speak fluent German after using this program for only a few weeks')?

Probably not. It is, however, a very useful and well thought out program.

The Rosetta Stone line of language products all share the same basic design and interface. The key to the Rosetta Stone system is the presentation of word and action associations, influenced by context. This simulates the sort of cues that one would parse and process in speaking any language, even your own native language. Normally, you don't think about this as you speak your own language. But it's one of the hardest things to simulate outside of dealing with a second language in its own country and having the chance to deal with real life situations involving speakers of the second language.

Each screen is accompanied by a phrase, spoken out loud by a native speaker in the program, and four slightly different picture scenes that require you to pick the one that the sentence is referring to. Beginning at a very basic level -- such as "the boy is under the tree" (in whatever language) with four pictures of a boy next to, under, in the limbs of and cutting down the tree -- your proficiency improves as you move through these basic cues to more advanced and complex speaking and contexts. By the end of the program you are dealing with fairly complex situations, sentences and associations.

The program also allows you to repeat the phrase and, using the supplied microphone, match and score your own pronunciation against the supplied sample. You can also test your ability to properly write out a second language by spelling out and typing the phrase, although the work arounds for using a US English QWERTY keyboard with the special characters and distinct keyboard layouts used by different languages can be awkward. There are several variations on all the visual, verbal and textual tests.

The most important question one must answer when considering this product is: will it, as the advertising suggests, be a magic gateway to language learning that is all you need? The answers is: sort of.

First, this is an expensive product. Make no mistake, when you pay for a heavily advertised product like this that you are, in part, paying the cost of the extensive advertising that brought it to your attention and put you in a mind to buy it.

Second, although Rosetta Stone is an extremely well thought out and useful system for review, practice, improving reaction times to prompts in other languages, and gaining fluency through exposure to variable contexts, it is not a complete language course.

I have purchased a load of different language courses for languages that I have wanted to study on my own, and I can say, at least for me, that using at least two or more different packages that compliment, reinforce and overlap with each other is always better than trying to learn everything with only the logic and pattern of one single course. Besides, you really do need to learn grammar and other parts of the subject that cannot really be covered by, or communicated well by, a single program, even one as well thought out as Rosetta Stone.

At some point you really do have to crack a book and do some regular studying and learning, even though Rosetta Stone strongly implies that you can be speaking away in a second language with nothing more than some time in front of your laptop.

Conclusion: whatever language you are wanting to study, seriously consider Rosetta Stone. But also seriously consider buying a Pimsleur and a Living Language course to go along with it, and seriously contemplate the very un-Rosetta Stone-ish subject of studying verb conjugation rules, grammar, usage and verb tables.

All together you will stand a much better chance of gaining real fluency, and not just the ability to distinguish if the boy is in, under or besides he tree, or if all of the people, two of the people, the two men or the three women in the picture are eating steak or drinking wine. It's all good, but no one product or course can do it all.

You're really excited about that trip you're taking to a foreign country. You want to speak the language and talk to the natives. So you dive right into Rosetta Stone and in the very first lesson learn how to say "The boy is sitting on the airplane" and "the girls are jumping." And it doesn't get very much more conversational from here until well into the program.

Save your money, get Pimsleur or Fluenz, which both teach you really useful phrases from the beginning, such as "do you understand English?" Or Living Language, which I believe is out of print for some languages but you'll be able to find used.

Oh, by the way, you won't be able to resell your Rosetta Stone software once you're finished with it, so YOU ARE STUCK FOR THE WHOLE PRICE! FOREVER!

Rosetta Stone simply has no competition when it comes to teaching languages. There is nothing in comparison to the ease and simplicity that is built into this system. Flawless computer installation, easy to use. The interactive method is without peer. Using the headset and microphone, you are speaking German from lesson one! You are learning German the same way you learned English - conversationally. If you are interested in learning to speak German, this is the only way to go (other than moving to Germany and being adopted by a German family). Worth every penny!