Rosetta Stone Spanish Explorer (Latin America) [OLD VERSION]

Other products by Fairfield Language Technologies

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002S9FG
• Item model number: 100-29
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 28, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,369 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)

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  Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Spanish & Portuguese

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

It is a credit to Fairfield Language Technologies that its Spanish Explorer is one of the best examples of language-learning software--period. If you are used to the old-fashioned but lamentably persistent grammar-translation method of learning languages, Spanish Explorer may surprise you because it involves no overt instruction in grammar or lists of vocabulary with English translations. Instead, it relies on very clever contextualization of Spanish words and structures with photographs so that you never realize you're learning grammar. We literally found ourselves speaking and understanding quite a bit of basic Spanish in about an hour.

Each graduated lesson works like this: First, you learn a new word by seeing a picture of, say, a dog. You then read the Spanish word for "dog" and hear it spoken: perro. After learning a whole set of words this way, you move into self-quizzing mode, where you see just a picture of a boy and have to choose the right word, either from spoken or written cues. This emphasis on listening comprehension is fantastic and is one of the components that sets the software apart, but there are also reading and writing exercises.

So how do they cover grammar? Eventually, for instance, you'll see perro under a picture of one dog and perros under a picture of two dogs. If you are a grammar guru, you might be able to figure out that certain singular nouns end in o; plural nouns end in os. However, the beauty is you don't have to be a grammar guru at all because the software doesn't expect you to state rules like that; it expects you only to associate a picture of more than one dog with perros instead of perro. Eventually, you get into longer phrases that cover verbs, adjectives, and prepositional phrases. It's amazingly effortless, especially so for children as young as 6.

Caveats: The CD-ROM includes both Mac OS and Windows versions. Your installation will include the first-level lessons of a couple dozen other languages for free, too, so you have to know that the Spanish word for "Spanish" is Español in order to select it from the list. Also, remember that software is no replacement for Spanish-speaking people, so take what you learn and use it in the world! --Erik Macki

Amazon.com Product Description

Unlike language learning programs that rely on text translation, The Rosetta Stone uses carefully selected pictures to clearly convey the meaning of each new spoken phrase. By invoking the mind's inherent ability to connect sound and meaning, learning occurs naturally and easily, the way you learned your first language as a child. With each new concept, your comprehension is verified with instantaneous feedback, confirming your progress. The program systematically integrates new vocabulary with new grammar in a natural, intuitive process as it builds on what you have mastered in the previous chapters. There is no other program that teaches and gives the feeling of success like The Rosetta Stone. (Ages 6 and older)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

285 of 287 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Excellent approach but Misleading Scope, April 18, 2001

By	Ben Jobes (Ithaca, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I want to give this product 5 stars for approach, and 1 star for scope and fair product representation. Please read the entire review.

This is probably the best approach I've encountered for language instruction. The organization of material is quite clever. After you learn a set of related words, these words are then used as reference points to help you learn the next set of words. The process is quite enjoyable and amazingly effective. You start with the most basic types of words... boy/girl/man/woman, primary colors, shapes, types of clothing, etc., expressed as simple phrases. You then work up to some full sentences.

BUT....

Here's the catch: The "Explorer" CD only contains the first 2 lessons from the company's 8-lesson Spanish Level I package (which you would have to buy separately). To complete the company's full Spanish program (and to reach material necessary for meaningful adult conversation), you would also need to buy the 8-lesson Level II package. If you decided to buy the entire 16-lesson "real" offering from the company's own web site, you would have to pay more per lesson than the Amazon price for this 2-lesson "loss-leader" product.

The Amazon review and product description are quite misleading. Through this purchase, alone, you will only be able to learn a subset of a 4-year-old's vocabulary and grammar.

220 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific introduction to Spanish, January 5, 2000

By A Customer

I bought this program for my 7-year-old neice and opened it up to "try it out". Well, I enjoyed it so much that I kept it myself and had to buy my neice another copy. The use of photographs and the spoken word make it easy and enjoyable to learn. Some people may be intimidated by the thought of a "total immersion" approach to language learning. But this program is not intimidating at all. It is engaging and fun. It feels like you are playing a game (and learning at the same time). It has inspired me to enroll in a local Spanish class. I also plan to purchase the entire Rosetta Stone Spanish series. (This program covers lessons 1-22 only.) You won't regret buying this program for your child (or yourself)!

92 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful interactive Spanish program, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This program makes a game of learning Spanish. Each lesson isdivided into several different exercises.

As an example, one ofthe exercises goes like this: you see four different photographs of people, animals or things displayed all at once and hear a spoken Spanish word. Then you have to guess which picture applies to the word that was spoken. Next, the same four photographs are shown, but a different word is spoken and it goes on until you have learned the word for all four items. The exercise continues until you have learned about about twenty or more words.

Another exercise shows you four written words and then you listen to a spoken word and guess which written word corresponds to the spoken word.

There are other exercises which vary the use of the spoken or written word along with the photographs. The combination of auditory and visual stimulus makes learning new vocabulary easy. Subsequent lessons move beyond single words to phrases and complete sentences, building on the vocabulary from the ealier lessons.

It is a total immersion course, but don't let that intimidate you. We all learned our first language via total immersion. (Baby sees the ball, hears the word "ball", then realizes that Mom is talking about that round thing she keeps rolling to baby...)

Children (elementary age on up) and adults alike will enjoy this delightful program.