Rosetta Stone V3: Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1 with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION]

by Rosetta Stone

Product Features

• Rosetta Stone teaches you a new language naturally, by getting you to think, live and breathe the language
• Innovative solutions get you speaking new words, right from the start
• Rosetta Stone moves forward only when you're ready--you drive the pace, you set the schedule
• With Rosetta Stone, you'll discover a foundation of key vocabulary that you'll use to build into a whole new language
• Audio Companion lets you take the Rosetta Stone experience anywhere: in the car, at the gym, or on-the-go

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001AFEBGI
• Item model number: 20215
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 9, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,291 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #29 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Asian

Product Description

Amazon.com

Rosetta Stone Personal Edition contains everything you need to give the voice inside of you a new language. The method used recreates the natural way you learned your first language, revealing skills that you already have. This approach has won numerous awards, and has been adopted by countless organizations, schools and millions of users around the world. Join the language revolution today. Only with Rosetta Stone.

The comprehensive language-learning solution that fits your life.

Learn Naturally
Learn your next language the same way you learned your first language. Dynamic Immersion empowers you to see, hear and comprehend without translating or memorizing. You already have this ability. Rosetta Stone simply unlocks it.

Engage Interactively
Get feedback to move forward. You learn best by doing, and you'll apply what you've learned to get to the next step. Rosetta Stone adapts to your individual needs and skills, because you drive the program with your progress.

Speak Confidently
Start speaking immediately. From the very first lesson, you'll speak. You'll begin with essential basics, which form the building blocks of the language. Soon you'll create new sentences on your own, using words you've learned.

Have Fun
Best of all, Rosetta Stone is addictive. With every entertaining activity, you'll feel success. You'll want to use Rosetta Stone to have that next moment, that next breakthrough. So you'll keep using it, and you'll learn more!

That's language-learning success.
That's Rosetta Stone.

No translation or memorization required.

The most effective way to learn a new language is to be surrounded by it. When you were an infant, your parents taught you this way, by intuitively associating words with images. That's the ultimate language lab, but most language-learning programs completely ignore this.

Think about all of the ways you've tried to learn a language: classes at school, tapes and cassettes, even software that uses your native language as a base for your next one. What do they all have in common? Translation and memorization.

Instead of taking a "direct flight" from your brain to your new language, translation and memorization connects you to your old language. You always have to "fly" from your brain, to your native tongue ... and then translate what you've memorized to communicate.

That might work for a few words, but what happens when you get to a sentence or phrase? When you have to change tenses? You're going to make a lot of "connecting flights." That's why those other methods are so frustrating ... and why they fail.

Enter Dynamic Immersion.
This method encourages you to think like a baby. You'll pair words with vivid, real-life images and make connections between things you know and the new language. Soon, you'll be thinking in a new language, stringing words together into phrases that you create.

Innovative technology.
Rosetta Stone places this Dynamic Immersion method at the core of a suite of software that works with you to develop your skills. The simple, intuitive interface helps to keep you engaged in the solution, while advanced speech recognition technology makes certain that you're speaking correctly and accurately. Best of all, Rosetta Stone never leaves you behind. You'll only move forward when you're ready, when you've become comfortable and confident.

Discover the building blocks of a new language: Level 1.
Your journey begins with a foundation of fundamental vocabulary and language structure that you'll need to begin to think, live and breathe in your new language. Rosetta Stone's solution will give you the confidence to master basic conversational skills. You'll be able to introduce yourself, say "Hello" and "Goodbye," ask and answer simple questions, go shopping and so much more.

Audio Companion
With Audio Companion, you'll enhance the Rosetta Stone experience wherever you go. You'll learn new skills on the computer, and then reinforce what you've learned with Audio Companion. Simply play the CDs on a stereo or download them to a MP3 Player. Each Audio Companion activity corresponds to a lesson in the Rosetta Stone software, so you can turn your travel time into productive language-learning time.

Inside the box, you'll find:

• Version 3 Personal Edition CD-ROM software for Level 1 (Windows/Mac)
• Headset microphone
• User's guide
• Audio Companion, a multiple-CD set to play or download to your MP3 player

Product Description

Foreign language learning with Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 with Audio Companion includes everything you need to begin learning a new language—from grammar and vocabulary to basic sentence structure. It’s the foundation upon which your language-learning journey begins. Gain the confidence to master basic conversational skills, including greetings and introductions, simple questions and answers, shopping and much more. Now Rosetta Stone with Audio Companion allows the learner to take Rosetta Stone anywhere: in the car, the gym or on-the-go! What is Audio Companion? Audio Companion CDs are activities that correspond to the Rosetta Stone CD-ROM software lessons. The learner can listen to Audio Companion and practice what they’ve been learning on the computer, turning travel time into productive language learning time. Audio Companion lets the student access the power of Rosetta Stone lessons whenever and wherever they want, they can play the CD’s on a stereo, or download them to a MP3 player. It empowers the student and helps reinforce the lessons in any busy lifestyle!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, May 10, 2009

By 

John A. Parke (Marietta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V3: Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1 with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I bought this product with great expectations. I have been trying off and on for years to learn to be mildly conversant in Mandarin Chinese. I completed two semesters of college level Chinese, but that has been some time ago. My interest rekindled by the Rosetta Stone ads persuaded me to try the product.

The first course shows you a series of pictures with captions in Chinese along with a spoken description in Mandarin of what you are seeing. Later you are shown four pictures simultaneously on one screen with a query in Mandarin as to what you are seeing. The problem for me was that it was not always clear in the single photo series as to what I was seeing. For instance there is a picture of a chef cooking in a wok. Was this depicting cooking, a chef, a restaurant, or something else? There is no English subtitle or "cheat sheet" to help. When the quiz portion showed various pictures with a spoken query it was very hard for me to answer, because I wasn't sure as to what I had seen in the first place.

I don't think I would have made it through the first three lessons had I not had previous experience with Mandarin Chinese. By the end of the third lesson, I was so frustrated; I couldn't continue and returned the product.

There is one feature that I thought was good, but also appears in other software products of this ilk. Since Mandarin is a tonal language, the software matches your tones to the correct tone and alerts you as to whether you are correct or not. For Chinese this is a must have feature.

Some people may benefit from this product if they are more visually attuned to what they are seeing. It reminds me of the icons used by many software products; many make no sense to me but seem obvious to others (which is why flyovers were invented).

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rosetta Stone Chinese Rocks!!, November 6, 2008

By 

Avid Reader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V3: Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1 with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

This is a terrific way to learn a new language-- its absolutely amazing! I purchased Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 ( with Audio Companion) to learn the basics before a trip. The software arrived last Friday, I installed it on Sunday PM, and started the lessons immediately after that. What I liked best:
1) the 'rosetta stone' process uses pictures, text, and native speakers to teach you the language. There is no translation from say English to Chinese- that's not how it's done. They start out with pictures and text, they give you an example ( picture, text, and native speaker saying the phrase), then you match the text to other examples.
2) It's FUN!! why else would I repeat the first section of the first lesson 3 times!
3) you can progress at your own pace
4) you can check your progress at any time during a lesson
5) you can listen to the phrase as many times as you need to before making your choice in the lesson
Points to consider:
1) Initially, it does seem to progress a bit too fast- the phrases get longer and longer. In later lessons, those same phrases come up again, so the fact that you saw them before ( and heard them before) makes the later lessons easier.
2) As the other reviewer indicates, they do, at one point present you with a picture of a glass of water, a cup of tea, and a glass of juice-- the purpose of the lesson is to be able to get the right word with the right item. When you match the right word with the correct item, the program gives you positive feedback. Until you do that, it could be confusing.
3) sometimes the differences ( in the language) are so slight, that I had to do that page of the lesson more than once to get the concept. There is one screen where they show 4 pictures ( one of 3 girls, one of 1 girl, one of 1 boy, and one of 3 boys).. while it's clear from the earlier screens what they are doing ( eating, reading, drinking, or reading the paper), I didn't immediately pick up on the difference in the phrase to indicate that it was one girl doing something, or three girls doing something, so I didn't make the right choice the first time through on the lesson. Then again, I guess that's why it's a 'learning experience' and why you get to practice!
4) the headset that comes with it can be a little touchy-- you'll need to adjust it-- they tell you how to do that as part of the install.

I'm to the point in the lesson where the phrases are written in chinese ( rather than written phonetically)-- my scores on this section are higher than the scores when the phrases were presented phonetically- and it's LOTS of fun.
While the software package is expensive, you can install it on up to 2 machines ( Windows or Mac), with up to 5 individual users per machine. So if you have several people who want to learn the language, it would be a good value. Based on my experience with the Chinese language software, I'll order other language packages from Rosetta Stone. It's a great product-- they definitely have the right concept and methodology for how to teach a language!

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fairly satisfied, August 8, 2008

By 

Eduardo Ramirez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosetta Stone V3: Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1 with Audio Companion [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I purchased the software solely to encourage my children to learn a different language. Unfortunately, it quickly jumps into large words that are difficult to grasp. In addition, the pictures have no English translation. For instance, the picture in reference is a glass of water in Chinese translation. Is the translation referring to a glass of water, a glass, or just water? Next to this picture is another picture with a glass of tomato juice. Different picture, same translation.
The fact that there is no English translation, has one guessing the meaning of the translation .
The software might work best for someone has taken a course or two.