Rosetta Stone V3: German, Level 1 & 2

Other products by Rosetta Stone

Product Features

• Rosetta Stone helps you understand everyday language through our proficiency-based listening and reading activities
• You will pronounce words correctly after practicing with our proprietary speech recognition and analysis tools
• In no time you will speak without a script, Rosetta Stone's Contextual Formation™ makes sure you have the confidence and the cues you need to get the words out on the spot
• With Rosetta Stone Milestone activities you quickly gain confidence to engage in real-life conversations
• Track your progress to reinforce your strengths and revisit needs with our Adaptive Recall™ Language feature

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000P08D04
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,083 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)

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  Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > German

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Why is Rosetta Stone the world's No. 1 language-learning software? Because it works.

Escape the endless tedium of translation, memorization, and grammar drills. Get the language you want, the skills you need and the success you deserve by learning a new language naturally--the same way you learned your first language.

	The complete immersion environment puts your native language-learning skills to work, eliminating your dependence on tedious translation and rote memorization.

	Images		Intuition
	In Rosetta Stone you learn the meaning of new language from clear, real-life images. In this activity you learn colors.		You advance using language you've learned and clues from new images. That's your intuition at work. Now that you know colors, you can easily grasp the meaning of the new words...
	Interactivity		Instruction
	Throughout Rosetta Stone, you constantly interact with the program to confirm your intuition. ...and then check what you've learned.		From beginning to end you build systematically toward your language-learning goals, for the most effective and enjoyable instruction anywhere. And finally, you get the fun of trying your new language in a real-life simulation. Speech recognition shows you exactly how you're doing.

You learned your first language without translation.
You learned your first language easily and naturally by connecting words to objects and events around you. With Rosetta Stone, learn a new language the same way: using native speakers and thousands of real-life images to help you think in the new language from the very beginning. Studies show that learning exclusively in the new language, without translation as a crutch, is crucial.

The exclusive Dynamic Immersion method reinforces your natural language-learning skills with award-winning instructional technology. Identify your learning goals, then choose customized courses that take you there.

The timeless immersion method, along with research-based techniques and new technologies, make Rosetta Stone the clear solution to your language-learning needs.

What will you be able to do?

Understand everyday language.
Through Rosetta Stone’s proficiency-based listening and reading activities, you'll learn quickly.

Pronounce words correctly.
After practicing with Rosetta Stone’s speech recognition and analysis tools, pronunciation will come easily.

Speak without a script.
Contextual Formation makes sure you have the confidence and cues you need to get the words out on the spot.

Spell and write accurately.
You'll build gradually from letters to words and sentences.

Engage in real-life conversations.
With Milestone activities, gain confidence using speech alone in simulated situations.

Retain what you learn.
The unique Adaptive Recall reinforces language so it sticks with you in the real world.

Product Description

With German Level 1&2 you build a foundation and navigate your surroundings. Learn fundamental vocabulary and essential language structure, from greetings and introductions to simple questions and their answers. Gain the confidence to talk about your en

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars REVIEW FOR ALL MAC OWNERS, November 5, 2007

By	T. Bailey - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

BACKGROUND
Using Rosetta Stone French (v.3) on a Mac iBook G4 (10.3.9). Using home school addition. Have used it for last 6 weeks.

SUMMARY
In spite of the cost, the awkward port from Windows and difficult network set up, it's still best of class for learning a foreign language.

REVIEW
Powerful, detailed and complicated: those are the adjectives I would use to describe this program. If you want to learn the language, then this program systemically teaches it to you. It keeps record of your progress, gives tests and records your grades. It treats you as if you are a student in a classroom. Additional workbook, study guide and included microphone headset supplement the visual and audio CD disk. But having said all this, there are some things I wish as a Mac user that I would have known.

The set-up of the program is SO non-intuitive and non-mac like. This includes installation of the application and its MANY helper files needed to run in the background with the main program disk. In my former life, I was an Apple System engineer, so I am no stranger to the Mac and networks setups. But even this installation caused me to eventually have to call Rosetta's technical support for instruction. This is partially due to my complicated home network set up (I've got multiple Macs with multiple (non-Mac) Routers that work as Access Points and bridges), and partially because of the complexity of installation of the program itself. This is definitely NOT a "drag-and-drop", or "double click to un- compress" or even "double click and follow the step by step instruction" type of experience. It is "multi-step, enter by hand, enter in data and information" type of installation process.

That is what is most disappointing to me. This is a BAD PORT of a PC program. They did nothing to make the program conform to Apple program standards. This means there are many helper files (20 something??!!!) in various folders. There is a network component that HAS TO run in the background for the main language program to run. This means you have to always first launch this secondary program (or leaving it running all the time). If you run on a network (like I do), you have to assign the computer's IP address that the program is running on (can't use the default, non-network IP given by the setup program). If your computer ever is assigned a different IP address locally by your router (power goes out, etc), then you will have to make some changes or this network helper file will not launch, and therefore, the language program will not either.

Getting to the place to even begin to first use the program is a tedious and complicated process. Another helper program that keeps track of the students progress must also first be set up. The "teacher's" name, access settings, the "student's" name(s) and their access privileges must first be established. ALL THIS IS DONE AWKWARDLY AND IN AN IBM 90'S INTERFACE. Constant referring to the user guide is necessary. There is no way some one could figure out what to do by only looking at the screens.

And this is the main criticism of the program, this clunky interface, non-intuitive layout of material is the same throughout the entire presentation of the language program. The program's strengh--the detailed comprehensive, multi-media presentation of material--is also it's greatest weakness. It's hard to follow where you are, where to go, what stage you are in, how much further you have to go on any given unit, lesson or session. The implementation of more than one user account and switching between the two is counter intuitive as well.

My 16 year old daughter, is now working her way through the program and has used it enough now to understand how to advance though it. But it was a slow start. She is enjoying the program and is learning the language of her love, and I have no doubt this program is a great help, I just wish more effort and forethought was given to making it more elegant in its presentation. Basically this looks to me like a 90's program in desperate need of a face lift. While calling the toll-free tech support and talking with a couple of different individuals, you quickly come to understand these people don't fully understand the Mac. The first individual had to pass me on once he discovered my Mac issues. The second was very polite and patient and we finally got my set up to work. But it wasn't easy for them since I was on a Mac. And I bet if you call you will get the same two people, They are, after all, not a help desk, but a language learning software company.

CONCLUSION
OK, so that's it. I hope this review was helpful. I've tried to share my experience for other Mac users so they know more of what to expect before they buy the program. A program that has (from my research) no other comparison as far as best in class for learning a foreign language, but a program that--in it's implementation and presentation as far as on Macintosh computers is concerned--leaves a lot to me desired.

Tom

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Language Software, November 29, 2008

By	R. Ludwig (Novato, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought Rosetta Stone, Levels 1 and 2, to relearn German. I had lost a lot of my vocabulary and could no longer construct sentences. I've now gotten through one set of lessons. So ...

Starting out the program seems difficult to use. There is none of the traditional vocabulary lists, or translation you might expect. RS uses a total immerssion concept where all you get is the language. You learn vocabulary by associating pictures with words. You learn sentence construction from examples. So, right off you are presented with a picture and asked to match it to a word. Be sure to read the manual that comes with it before you start.

The German 1 course is gouped into 4 major groups, each of which is grouped into 4-6 lessons with each lesson composed of 10 to 45 segments. Each segment and lesson builds upon the previous ones and there are built in review points. Lessons are grouped into vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking. In some places you play a matching game to match a picture with the word. In other places you are asked to complete sentences. Elsewhere you have to pronounce the word or speak a sentence. The program has speech recognition built in and also has a speech analyzer to match your spoken word against that of a native speaker. I do not find that as useful.

The program defines a curriculum for you and takes you through that. It rates each of your lesson points and gives you a final score at the completion of each unit. You can return to any unit you wish to refresh or retry it. The program does seem to skip over some units; perhaps if it feels you already show mastery of that piece. You can, however, go back over those items by looking at the main menu instead of the course track.

There are several negatives on this software. It's expensive. It cannot be resold if you decide you no longer have a need for it. It's difficult to decide how much of the course to buy (German comes in 3 pieces. I got 1 and 2 thinking that would probably get me back to conversation. I may need to get part 3 later but that is a large investment). I find the need to recertify the microphone each time to be tedious. I also find that it annoying that it requires you to identify which user to use when there is only one user defined. And I find it annoying that it does not start where you left off (if you have multiple levels installed, it will ask which level to use even if you are the only user and you stopped at level 1, lesson 1 ... it does keep track of which unit you are on).

Bottom line, I think I am learning, so the software appears to do what it's supposed to do; teach you a language. If you can afford it, if you have the dedication to set aside regular time to use the software and to learn a language, then RS will likely work for you.

18 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a software note, December 27, 2007

By	bukhtan (Chicago, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This product is sold as licensed software. Users will NOT be able to load it onto more than one computer. This aspect of the product is not clear from the blurbing on the Rosetta Stone website. It is a "single-user" product.
Don't think that you can share this with friends, or that it is appropriate for a lending collection.