Customer Reviews

Rosetta Stone V3: Japanese Level 1-2 Set with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION]

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version 3 of Rosetta Stone Japanese is hugely improved over version 2. I always thought that v2 was a decent product to reinforce learning through other methods, and for building vocabular. However, I would never have recommended v2 as a primary tool for learning the Japanese language. This is because v2 had some big drawbacks. For one, there were no explanations of anything whatsoever. You were presented with a picture and the phrase, both spoken and written, and you had to match the picture to the phrase. After a while, you simply memorize which picture goes to which phrase, and sometimes you're not really sure what exactly in the picture is being referred to. Is it the skateboard? The skateboarder? The verb skateboarding? I'm still not sure to the answer to that question, even after searching the internet to try to find out.

Another drawback of version 2 is that the grammar of the language is not explained, and the Japanese language is structured in ways that is often difficult for westerners to grasp.

V3 has improved greatly in both these areas, although they have not completly been solved. There are still no explanations or definitions or anything like that, so you are still expected to grasp it intuitively. However, they have added more variety and interactivity to the lessons. This makes it easier to intuitivly grasp these principles. For instance, in v2, you were given a phrase that contained both a question, and the answer to the question, and you were given a picture that goes with the phrase. You simply had to remember which picture went with the phrase, and the next time you were presented with the phrase, just recall which picture went with it before. In v3 the phrase given might ask a question, and you would have to select the correct answer yourself, requiring you to actually think about what is being said instead of recalling a memorized answer.

I first used Rosetta Stone about 11 years ago to learn Dutch after I'd emigrated to the Netherlands. It was a good kick-start then, but the bad thing was that I'd worked my way through an entire level in about two evenings (or so it seemed) and I felt a little cheated for my $85 (on sale).

So this time I was planning for a trip to Japan and had a generous offer as a birthday present to get a Rosetta Stone and I thought it would be perfect. I thought I'd better get levels one and two, as I had a month to go. I almost got halfway through level one before I left, doing about seven hours a week-- It's VASTLY improved over what it was originally, you will get a lot out of it. At least from the perspective of understanding. I never did get spontaneous speech out of myself, but that may have as much to do with me as anything.

Here's the nitty-gritty: What I did helped me a huge amount in understanding things that were going on around me, helped me to be able to recognize Japanese characters and generally helped me feel less... lost. I even was able to read a few subway stops (not that you need to read them in Tokyo, everything's in Roman characters as well in most places), but it was nice and I felt empowered. I really wish I had had time to finish both levels before I went.

In general, the program will teach you in an intuitive way, you learn the language not through memorization and translation, but through actually doing and hearing and it's great for that. You really have to relax and make mistakes (that's what it's all about!) and flow with it. In that, you learn a language as an innate part of yourself, not as a series of translated codes. Rosetta Stone is the only thing I've used that does that, with the exception of an experimental program I used a long time ago (to learn Dutch, in which I am now fluent) that was essentially the same thing; look at the picture and hear it described. After dozens and dozens of different pictures your understanding of sounds becomes more and more refined and meaningful.

This program is expensive. No doubt. But if you really want to learn, it's worth it. If you just want to get a few words under your belt, you can go a lot more cheaply. Get a driving CD or something. And if you really want to learn Japanese, you'll need this PLUS a book on Hiragana and Katakana so you can learn the characters. Those, I'm afraid, you'll have to memorize.

It's fun, though...

I used to be a big fan of Rosetta Stone....for about 2 lessons, and then the boredom would take over, and the lack of explanatory notes just mired me in a swamp of confusion.

The problem with Japanese, and learning Japanese, is the amount of protocol involved in speaking the language. Also, it isn't the best thing for Japanese to introduce the boy - girl man-woman patterns to the neophyte. Here is what it becomes in romaji:

Girl and Boy: Onnonoko to otokonoko....go ahead....try saying it.
Woman and man onnohito to otokohito....just try. Give it a chance.

No. The best way I am learning, is to learn the absolutely necessary polite phrases first, and introduce grammar bit by bit, and increase your vocabulary...always and always...remember, politeness is everything in Japanese

I also had a problem with Rosetta Stone's Arabic program....one of the words is dog, and dogs are taboo in Muslim culture...also, Rosetta Stone has unrelated sexes intermingling, also a taboo.

In addition...too damn expensive. You are better off compiling good materials. If your library has Rosetta Stone, and many do, ours does, check it out before you buy it. You won't regret the free spin, but you might regret the price you wind up paying for it, without knowing about it completely.

I have been wanting to learn Japanese for about 7 years now and I had barely gotten anywhere, particularly because of my lack of structure and the fact that I wanted to learn too many things at once, which gets you no where. I knew a very low amount of vocabulary before using Rosette Stone (mainly thanks to my former anime/manga obsession and various phrases that just about every major anime/manga fan should know), as well as had mastered reading hiragana and katakana (two out of three of the Japanese writing systems, for those who don't know).

I had originally received Rosette Stone Japanese levels 1 & 2 as a gift from my mother for Christmas. I do believe I started it that day and managed to only get past the first lesson in Unit 1 before I became bored and went off to go do something else. I didn't start using the program again until about a year later (reinstalled on a new computer). I had only gotten up to lesson 2 of Unit 1 before I was enrolled into a Japanese course for my school which used the very same program.

The program itself seems a bit fun at first. It's simple and easy. Of course, as you use the program, the repetition, the same four voices, and the rehashed pictures all become boring. Tiresome. Even frustrating! The lessons are too short, yet they're too long (in the sense that the speakers speak, you answer, then they repeat. It appears as if the lessons drag on for hours). Some of the pictures used do not help to figure out the meaning, causing massive confusion to what the word means. And if you don't look it up, you may never know.

The speech aspect (speaking into a microphone) is horrible and frustrating, as sometimes it will claim that you are wrong when you pronounce the words, yet if you do it once or twice more in the same way, they will tell you that you are correct (despite they said that you were wrong the first time). Then sometimes you will be DRASTICALLY off from the actual sentence you're suppose to say, but they tell you that you are correct. These mishaps become increasingly frustrating during the Milestone quizzes (the end-of-unit test), which consist entirely of speaking. And please do note I have used a variety of microphones on the program and the program reacts the same way to them all.

The so-called "writing" portion for Rosette Stone Japanese is possible the worst way to teach someone how to write a language, especially a character-based one. You are required to type out the words in the English alphabet which does nothing but help memorize the readings of characters (if Rosette Stone is set to kana(hiragana/katakana) or kanji in the first place - otherwise, it's pretty useless). If you're looking how to write Japanese, you will have to use sources outside of Rosette Stone to learn them.

Rosette Stone does not do a good job at teaching grammar, otherwise known as particles, which has to be one of the most complicated things in the Japanese language. Yes, you can pick up some of the uses while reading the sentences. However, particles themselves are a huge "gray area" so to speak, where you might think one particle might be used in a particular place, however it may end up as another one (such as "wa" VS "ga" - "wa" is a topic marker while "ga" is a subject marker. More or less the same and it might be difficult to figure out which one to use). Rosette Stone does absolutely nothing to help guide you into the right direction of using particles

Rosette Stone seems to ignore a few things that a native speaker might do, such as drop the subject when it is obvious. I mean, really, when someone asks you which skirt you like better, do you really have to say "I like the [skirt colour] skirt"? Why can't it just be "The [skirt colour] skirt" or something?!

Honestly, Rosette Stone is only good for building up vocabulary. Even then, if you have a selective memory, a bad memory, have the tendency to get bored with something that moves rather slow, or all three, it might not do much. The only reason why I even remember a few of the words I learned was because I either wrote them over and over again while thinking of the meaning or they popped up in one of my Japanese editions of a Pokémon game and I had racked my brain for the meaning.

If you are a casual learner of the language, this program might not be too bad of an idea (just a bit overpriced). If you're really only concerned about speaking a few basic phrases and listening to understand, then this program is bound to be more useful (or rather quicker) than a simple phrase book you can get at bookstores.

HOWEVER!

If you are a SERIOUS LEARNER of the language, do NOT get Rosette Stone Japanese! Depending on how you learn best, take a class, read a book, self-study. There's TONS of helpful Internet sources out there that could help you out like crazy and be far more effective than Rosette Stone. There's tons of books, CDs, and more as well! So again, if you are planning to seriously study the language, do NOT buy Rosette Stone. The program will be of little benefit to you.

I hope someone finds this review helpful and decides not to purchase this program if they are a serious learner or plan on buying this for a serious learner.

I purchased this for my then 13 year old 8th grader who is now in the 9th grade. She is making progresss slowly. This is not an everyday activity for her. However, she does understand the Japanese cartoones she watches. When we go to a Jaanese resturant she reads the Japanese portion of the menu. She is not willing to speak with a family friend who is Japanese because she feels she does not know enough. I can't fault her because she does this on her own and maintains a high B average in school. She has ordered other Japanse language tools. She talks about taking Japanese in college. So, I think she is still interested.

I expected that this product would be amazing. I was presented with a malfunctioning headet which renders the product useless and no recourse. If you can help me I would appreciate it. This was a gift and has caused a lot of upset for the young lady I bought it for who loves all things Japanese.