Rosetta Stone V3: Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1-3 Set with Audio Companion Review

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(More customer reviews)I have fond memories of using Rosetta Stone software to learn German - they have a great interface and it really enhances the fun of learning a language.Unfortunately, after carefully working through all 3 levels of their Chinese software, I sadly have come to the conclusion that it is a very poor choice for learning Mandarin Chinese.There are three, interconnected reasons for this:

First, Rosetta Stone has made no effort to adapt their software to the Chinese language - they have merely slapped Chinese audio and text onto the same course they use to teach western languages.This problem manifests both as bothersome errors and missed opportunities.I will give a few examples:

a)Instead of using Chinese names and Chinese currency, the program uses transliterations of Western names and a grabbag of difference currencies.Thus it overwhelmes the learner with the long, convoluted transliterations of Western names, leaves them unaccustomed to Chinese names, and completely unable to confront the potentially confusing Chinese currency system (with both colloquial and formal names for the different types of money).

b)Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, with 4 tones (which determine the meaning of a sound) plus the neutral tone.A word said in the neutral tone is much softer and shorter than normal.Unfortunately, Rosetta Stone seems to have neglected to adapt their voice recognition software for this.It will often fail to register a correctly pronounced neutral tone word.The program actually is training people to pronounce the neutral tone incorrectly - too loud and too long.Further, the voice recognition system has trouble when the learner doesn't speak very slowly - a problem, since Chinese is spoken at a somewhat rapid rate.Both cause it to train bad habits into the learner.

c)The stock pictures, situations, and statements, do not at all reflect the cultural realities of Chinese language.For example, why is the learner constantly saying "xiexie" (thank you), when this is comparatively less common in China?How about teaching them to respond to complements by saying "nali nali" (where, where), a culturally appropriate response, even if strange to western ears?Why is everyone using credit cards everywhere - try relying on a credit card in China.Instead of just people buying "yao" (medicine), how about introducing the learner to the important distinction between "xiyao" (western medicine) and "zhongyao" (Chinese medicine), common terms they will confront?The program fails to give any cultural insight - and thus misses one of the most enjoyable, interesting, and useful parts of learning a language.

d)In learning Chinese, a very helpful reality is that the meaning of multisyllable words almost always has a logical relationship to the meanings of its syllables.For example, "Huo" means Fire, "Che" means Vehicle, and "huoche" literally FireVehicle, means train.This can be very helpful to the learning process - if one first learns the one syllable words, learning the combination is quick and easy.Rosetta Stone makes no effort to deviate from its stock lesson plan to take advantage of this, however.So, using our example, the learner is confronted with both "che" and "huoche" early, and isn't exposed to the meaning of "huo" until near the end of the 3rd level!

e)The "writing" exercises are absurd. You type in the pinyin (the alphabet spelling) and then are done.This is NOT writing Chinese.Writing Chinese is either drawing the character, or typing the pinyin and selecting the appropriate character from the list of characters that have this pinyin spelling, or the more complex typing methods.Most literate Chinese people are not going to be able to understand if you write them some pinyin, you need the characters.This is pure laziness on Rosetta Stone's part - they fail to incorporate what Google published free applications for!

Second, consistent with the above point, the "Roseetta Stone method" as they call it, is unsuited to learning a language as distant from English as Chinese is.The Chinese sounds represented by the consonants "sh" "s" and "x" are all going to sound alot like the English "s" to a learner, the "zh" and "j" are all going to sound like a "j", and on it goes through virtually the entire alphabet.Even if the learner eventually stumbles into being to hear the difference in normal speed speech (a big if), without some instruction he/she will never learn how to properly produce the differences.The fact is, we aren't kids anymore, and we bring the baggage of our native language with us.Ok for a Western language, perhaps, but dangerous for a far distant one like Chinese.We need to be expressly taught - "to produce the sh or zh sound, you need to have your tongue point up, while the x and j has your tongue against your lower teeth.Practice and you'll hear the difference, even if they sound somewhat alike."More subtle points also exist - Rosetta Stone is not going to stop you from pronouncing "kao" like the American way of saying the animal Cow, or that the Chinese "b", unlike the English one, is unvoiced, so you need to stop vibrating your vocal cords - that kind of refinement takes conscious effort and instruction.The same is even more true for learning the tones, and especially the "Tone Sanhi", the way they change in context, though this review is complex enough without me going into that.If you ever hope to sound better thana guy with a $10 dollar phrasebook trying to use English sounds to mangle the Chinese language, Rosetta Stone won't get you there (even if its overgenerous voice recognition gives you plenty of pleasant sounding "you are correct!" sound effects, that trick you into feeling like you're progressing).

Third, the software, despite being priced at many times what other programs are, actually barely introduces the language.Sure, diligently work through its 3 levels, and you'll learn a number of verbs, some names for food (incidentally, the kinds of foods common in the West, not generally Chinese dishes), and a few grammar particles.But you will remain completely incapable of functioning in China.Sure, they drill you in understanding that "xingqi" means week, but you'll be out of luck as soon as someone says the other word for week, "libai".They focus on "zheli" and "nali", but you will more often hear "Zher" and "Nar" in the North of China.They always say "na" meaning "that", but only once did I hear them say the just as commen "nei."They give the illusion of advanced vocabulary, by teaching you how to say pinetree, but in truth they neglect countless essential words, like "kuai", the colloquial expression for money.

At its price, this program should offer more than Chinese audio and text clumsily slapped on to a stock design.As is, you can get much, much more culturally adapted and in-depth programs for a small fraction of the price.In truth, the Foreign Service's old language tapes and workbooks for learning Chinese, available in the public domain with a google search, is a much better program, and is offered entirely free!Then take less than half the money you would have spent and buy some of the many excellent tools and books Amazon has - books on Chinese characters Reading & Writing Chinese: Simplified Character Edition, flashcards Chinese in a Flash Volume 2 (Tuttle Flash Cards) (Chinese Edition), some of the older programs from the Beijing Foreign Press Elementary Chinese Readers (Volume I), which have nice short stories and excelent instruction in how to make the sounds - and you'll have a much more effective learning program.For extra fun subscribe to ChinesePod, and get 1000s of dialogues, all culturally authentic to Chinese life, and you'll hear how language is actually used in China, and learn the all-important term for the street food vendors.All you'll miss is the pleasant bells and whistles of the Rosetta Stone interface, and the false promise that you can absorb a language as complex and foreign as Chinese as if it were a Western language.

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Product Description:
Foreign language learning with Rosetta Stone Chinese Levels 1, 2&3 you connect with the world around you.With level one you begin learning fundamental vocabulary and essential language structure, from greetings and introductions to simple questions and their answers. Gain the confidence and enter the intermediate level where you will be able to talk about your environment; give and get directions, tell time, dine out with self-reliance, shop and enjoy basic social interactions.Taking what you've learned in Levels 1 and 2, we help you reach an advanced level of competence.This competence allows you to connect with the world around you.You will learn to share your ideas and opinions, express your feelings and talk about everyday life; your work, current events 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!

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