Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Rosetta Stone has been around for at least fourteen years, and I remember an early version in my middle school Spanish classes. I had previously studied Japanese for two semesters in high school and five courses at a four-year university (I have a Japanese minor). I never had a chance to practice my Japanese outside of class, so six years after graduation, I was looking for a way to review what I'd previously learned. Rosetta Stone Version 3 has made leaps and bounds from those early versions that were criticized for their lack of interactivity, and includes such features as voice recognition (with visual pronunciation feedback) and audio companion CDs which can be uploaded as language podcasts for easy practice during commuting, etc. The stock photographs are high-resolution and colorful, and there are native speakers modeling pronunciation (with slowed-down exaggerated pronunciation available for most screens).
Rosetta Stone works on the theory that learning a second language can be approached via the same methods we used to learn our first language as infants: visual association (beginning with color words and simple objects such as liquids and fruits), intuition (fill in the blank based on previous models), and repetition.
Not everyone learns in the same way. Certain learners are visual: they have to SEE it to learn it. Rosetta Stone excels in this area, with its bright, clear photographs. Others are auditory, having to HEAR examples. There are very clear, native-speaker modeled digital recordings here, another plus. Some learners are kinesthetic: they have to use their hands or move in order to learn; Rosetta Stone is not as successful at addressing these learners, although some activities involve matching (via clicking) and typing. Despite the emphasis on "interactivity," Rosetta Stone's method still relies on the audiolingual method, where learners largely learn language by repeating pronunciation and grammar drills. Such repetition throughout the many exercises quickly grew redundant : match the pictures. Repeat about forty times. Move on to the next unit. Match the pictures. Repeat.
First, the good: Rosetta Stone features an extremely easy-to-use interface, with lesson tracking for completed lessons (complete with dates completed). The high-quality photographs are easy to discern, and using Krashen's i+1 theory (challenge the learner above and beyond their comfort level by utilizing context, accomplished in Rosetta Stone through the visual prompts contained in photographs). The voice recognition can be finicky even when set on "normal," but generally does a good job of eliciting accurate pronunciation. Rosetta Stone is split into three levels for each language (available separately), with each level containing four units covering everyday themes such as food, health, activities, friends, and dining out. Each level contains a core unit, as well as additional speaking, reading, writing and listening practice.
The grammar presentation is lacking in explicit grammar instruction; this is a huge issue with languages that are significantly different from English, such as Japanese with its subject-object-verb word order (think Yoda-speak: Children, apples (they) eat) and particles, and counters (there are different suffixes for counting animals, people, birds, buildings, etc.), and honorific speech, for example, and you'll find yourself longing for a more traditional textbook to explain the finer points.
Also problematic are languages that use alphabets that are different from English; in the case of Japanese, there are *three* unique alphabets used: hiragana (for words of Japanese origin), katakana (for loanwords), and kanji (Chinese characters). Rosetta Stone offers four options: Romaji (presenting Japanese words in Roman script), hiragana only, kanji only, and kanji with furigana (small hiragana above Chinese characters so that you can sound out words, since each kanji symbol can have several pronunciations). There are no writing/reading exercises that address the kanji readings (onyomi and kunyomi; Chinese/Japanese pronunciations), stroke order, or kanji combinations; when you type answers, you do so using your (English) keyboard, so Rosetta Stone may not be as helpful for kanji (although a separate lesson on the hiragana alphabet is provided).
Perhaps the biggest shortcoming for me was the lack of *culture* embedded in the lessons; you're learning the language, sure, but the stock photos feature people of different ethnicities and regional costumes that often have nothing to do with the language being studied (a bearded, brightly decorated Indian man saying "Sayonara" felt out of place). Although some traditional Japanese foods such as rice and tea are mentioned, I didn't find any mention of traditional Japanese foods such as kaiseki. The same applies for traditional Japanese dress (kimono), hot springs and ryokan hotels; if you want more information, you'll have to read up elsewhere (I originally studied Japanese using the Yookoso! Invitation to Contemporary Japanese Student Edition with Online Learning Center Bind-In Card and Genki 1: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 1 series along with Kanji Cards, Vol. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) and Kanji Cards, Vol. 2 (Tuttle Flash Cards)).
Also, even though Rosetta Stone allows you to work on correcting your pronunciation, there are no real allowances for spontaneous conversation, an important step in truly becoming fluent in a language. Spontaneous conversation allows you to test out language hypotheses and to express creativity at more advanced levels; in Rosetta Stone, you're merely parroting back what the model has instructed you. In the later Milestone lessons, you're expected to recall material that was studied across the previous four units.
One last point to consider is that Rosetta Stone requires a fairly large investment of time and money. Each unit takes a minimum of several hours to complete, more if you do all the optional pronunciation exercises and if you don't skip the activities. This is not something that you can pick up a weekend before your trip to Japan, so don't expect be fluent in basic Japanese in any short amount of time. Also, the cost for the complete sets (Levels 1, 2 and 3) is close to $500; you might also consider enrolling in a language class at your community college for that price. However, if you're interested in a less-commonly-taught language such as Pashto, Irish, Indonesian or Welsh, Rosetta Stone presents a valid option. Rosetta Stone comes with the software (bundled together for all three levels), three separate Audio Companion CD sets (one for each level), and a headset with microphone. It would probably be very effective for children, since they are hardwired to pick up languages until early adolescence, but as an adult learner I found the activities to be too repetitive to hold my continued interest, and the lack of explicit grammar discussion (and the omission of Japanese culture) was also a disappointment. That's not to say that Rosetta Stone isn't effective, but it may not be the optimal language learning tool for everyone. Even so, it's one of the most impressive attempts at dynamic language learning on the market, and deserves a trial.
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Product Description:
Foreign language learning with Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) 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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