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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Phenomenal language learning software
I am an American native speaker, was a Spanish major in college, lived in Madrid for about a year and a half and am (well, WAS) fluent in Spanish. I love Italy and have faked my way through Italian trips with my Spanish for years. And then my husband ordered Rosetta Stone. It's wonderful! I'd heard about it for years, but had no idea that this system was...
Published 14 months ago by Martha Grace Reese
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
you should read this
In preparation for our first trip to Italy this fall, my wife and I decided to invest $350 in the Rosetta Stone program. Its been five months now, and I have quit using it. My wife kept going, its like the bad movie that you keep watching...waiting for it to get better. The program basically shows you a picture, then you hear a word spoken in Italian and you repeat it...
Published 7 months ago by J. Mangiapane
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Phenomenal language learning software, January 5, 2009
I am an American native speaker, was a Spanish major in college, lived in Madrid for about a year and a half and am (well, WAS) fluent in Spanish. I love Italy and have faked my way through Italian trips with my Spanish for years. And then my husband ordered Rosetta Stone. It's wonderful! I'd heard about it for years, but had no idea that this system was so intuitively exciting. It's more fun than playing Freecell, or other addictive games on the computer!
The system (an immersion approach, with picture recognition and hearing native speakers) is so natural, I couldn't believe it. I've done about half the first level and I find myself out on a walk and making up fun-sounding little italian phrases and sentences in my head. The teaching system is logical, gradual, progressive, challenging, exciting, quickly paced, never boring, and plain fun. I love the tapes for the car. My husband and I are both using it and we both love it.
There are several negative reviews for the Rosetta Stone software (here and on the level 1&2 software), none of which I find substantial. The first here complains, in essence, that you can't steal the software and give it away to your friends! That's fine with me. It's licensed for one computer, but you can have lots of users using that one machine. If you're honest and respect intellectual property rights, that won't be an issue for you.
A second negative review asserts that there isn't much material for level one. First, if you want to buy more levels at the same time, you can get levels 2 & 3 for a reduced price. If you're pretty clear that you want to learn Italian, you might want to start with at least 2 levels. (Amazon has the other packaging options, too.) Second, I suppose you could zoom through all the lessons in level 1 in a couple of weeks, but it's possible that the person who went through the lessons very quickly is skimming over all sorts of built in layers. The software adjusts for increased subtlety in pronunciation & layered appropriation of grammatical structure. Review is critical to the learning process - learning language is like learning to play an instrument. The practice layers available on the software are impressive. This software is constructed as if it were written by Bach! There's a LOT here, even if you just buy the first level and not one of the packaged versions.
The final critique is that the set-up is difficult for MAC users. I have a two iMACS (and am a 25 year PC user who just switched, so I'm completely PC oriented) and have just installed it on one of my machines. The installation was easy, flawless and the software works beautifully. The person who complained had a very sophisticated system and had trouble with some of his intricate settings. I am an Apple neophyte and trust me, for those of us with plug-and-play systems, this is a plug-and-play program. MAC users - don't worry!
Final word: Get the software and start having fun. It's truly amazing stuff.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
you should read this, July 29, 2009
In preparation for our first trip to Italy this fall, my wife and I decided to invest $350 in the Rosetta Stone program. Its been five months now, and I have quit using it. My wife kept going, its like the bad movie that you keep watching...waiting for it to get better. The program basically shows you a picture, then you hear a word spoken in Italian and you repeat it. You're not exactly sure what you are saying as there is no translation shown, so you either assume or make lucky guesses. Not too bad when you are trying to learn words, but pretty frustrating when you move on to sentences. For all the hype, we were very dissapointed in the program so we thought we would take them up on their satisfaction guarantee and ask for a refund. That's when we learned the most valuable lesson of all...the guarantee only applies if you buy directly from Rosatta Stone. Had we known, we would have foregone the $40 savings from Amazon and wouldn't be writing this review right now. Even if the method worked, it is designed for someone who plans on living or working in Italy. Nothing in the vocabulary is designed for the tourist. You won't learn how to order food, ask where the restroom is, ask for directions, etc. You WILL be able to identify a running horse, a man in a car, or a child on a bicycle.
So, if you are seriously thinking about spending $350 of your valuable dollars I would suggest that you either find someone who has the software and try it first, or make sure you buy it directly from Rosetta Stone so you can excercise their guarantee if you desire. My suggestion would be to rent the first season of the Sopranos and spend your savings on wine in Italy. You'll learn more Italian and have a lot more fun.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome approach to learning a language, March 28, 2009
I've tried other computer programs for learning Italian with no success. The Rosetta Stone offers a unique and logical approach. I am actually learning the language with much better retention then ever before. It isn't a substitute for the classroom but more of an alternative for those, like me, who simply can't fit the rigid timetable of classroom learning into their day. If I have anything bad to say about it it would be concerning the Rosetta Stone's policy of only allowing the program to be activated in 2 computers. I would be able to use it more often if that wasn't a rule.
Ciao!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Rosetta Stone Italian Version 3, January 31, 2009
Have been wanting to speak Italian ever since I visited the country last year and planned on going back. Purchased Rosetta Stone Italian Version 3, Level 1 & 2 in December, 2008. Excellent product, makes learning a language fun and not boring. Can work at your own pace and go back to each session over and over if you want to. I especially like the voice recognition and listening to my own pronunciation. In the short time that I have used it, I can honestly say I have learned more than I ever expected. The only drawback is the audio companion which I will probably never use. Rosetta Stone should allow people to purchase their product with or without it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
The Obvious, January 28, 2009
Rosetta Stone turned out to be everything it claimed to be. I have just started Lesson 1, and I can already put together simple sentences in Italian. It's amazing, and it doesn't even feel like learning. It's more fun than work. Glad Amazon finally made it affordable for me, as I'm going to be bilingual very soon.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Worth the Expense, December 21, 2008
Rosetta Stone has a great tool for learning a language. It's easy and fun. There's also an Audio Companion disk that you can listen to when you are away from your computer. It's a nice refresher for the things you just learned. I was hesitant to purchase this because of the price, but I think it's worth it. Hearing the words is so much better than just learning by sight from a book.
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21 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
WARNING!, December 9, 2008
BEWARE! If you buy this product you can never resell it. Never return it. Never upgrade it. You better love it. Because you're stuck with it. I purchased version 2 a year ago and wanted to upgrade to 3 so I thought I'd sell my version 2. Rosetta Stone cancelled my eBay auction and threatened LEGAL action for attempting to resell an original legitimate in the box version of their product. They will only let you return it for 6 months and ONLY if you bought it directly from them (sorry Amazon) and there are NO upgrades. Basically, I'm out $500. Though I would never ever consider buying another Rosetta Stone product, where the customer is always wrong. BEWARE of this company.
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Learning Italian witout the classroom, March 2, 2010
My husband and I are going to Italy this year and thought it would be nice to be able to speak (somewhat) the language. We are enjoying the Rosetta Stone but have a few issues. The articles and pronouns are very confusing and so far we have learned nothing about them. Just when I think I have one or two figured out they seem to change. We are only on Level 1 lesson 4 but it is moving at a good pace and it also goes back to review what you have learned.
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More Fun than a Classroom, December 8, 2009
I'm only through the first two lessons, but I like the "immersion" that the software provides. At 64, I find that I'm inclined to repeat the pronunciations for each item several times to build up my confidence. I'm also trying to arrange a practice and review session with others in the family who are working on the same lesson. And I find myself trying to use what I'm learning when I'm driving or doing something around the house.
I think the lessons provide a good starting point and well-devised reiterative experience with speaking, listening, reading, and writing. For me, though, the best way to advance with language learning is to practice the lessons as much as I can with other speakers.
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1 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Given as a gift., January 11, 2009
Given as a gift. Don't reall know how to rate it, but the recipient was very glad to get it.
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