Foreign language learning software

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My 14 year old has requested some kind of program to help him learn Arabic this summer. He’s signed up for Arabic 1 this fall, but is hoping that something like Rosetta Stone will give him a headstart. I am concerned, however, that it will boring.</p>

<p>He’ll be spending a lot of time on public transportation this summer, so I like the idea of something that has a smart phone app. Does anyone have any experience with Rosetta Stone? I tried it to improve my Spanish for work and found it mind dulling, but some of that might have been that I know enough Spanish that I was spending a lot of time on lessons that I already knew most of.</p>

<p>Anyone have any good experience with Rosetta Stone? Is there another program we should be considering?</p>

2

<p>Pimsleur (all audio). Your public library should have it.</p>

3

<p>My local library offers online language learning through Mango Languages. I see Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Levantine), and Arabic (MSA) listed.</p>

<p>If your local public library doesn’t have what you need, try signing up for your county library system. They often have a different, not to mention larger set of online resources.</p>

4

<p>Whoops. I use Mango’s mobile app to learn away from home, but I see that it doesn’t support their Arabic courses at this time. Sorry!</p>

5

<p>DW has been very happy with Rosetta Stone learning a minor European language. Not cheap, though.</p>

6

<p>I am 15 and have Rosetta stone and I think that it is amazing. I have taken Spanish for one year and with Rosetta stone I learned more in 3 days than I did in 1 year. It does take a while though. I have been using it for 6 months and I am only on level 2 out of 5…</p>

7

<p>Get some advice from the Arabic teacher about this one. Your son needs to be working on the variety that will be used in class. Arabic varies greatly from one country to the next - the varieties differ as much from each other as the various Romance languages to from each other. Some spoken forms are as close as Spanish and Portuguese, but others differ enough so as to be mutually unintelligble.</p>

8

<p>Agree that getting advice from the Arabic teacher is wise, but as far as I know most academic Arabic instruction in the U.S. is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). D1 is fluent in MSA and Egyptian Arabic. From what she says, almost all Arabic speakers can understand Egyptian Arabic because the Egyptian media (TV and movies) have been popular all over the Arabic world. She also says that a Moroccan will not be able to understand a Syrian speaking colloquial Arabic and vice versa.</p>

9

<p>I would check this tool. Howard knows how to pick winners.</p>

<p>[Learn</a> Arabic Online for Free with Livemocha](<a href=“Official Rosetta Stone® - Language Learning - Learn a Language”>Official Rosetta Stone® - Language Learning - Learn a Language)</p>

10

<p>I recommend Noorart, they have a great collection of learning materials for all ages.
[Learn</a> Arabic - Noorart](<a href=“http://www.noorart.com/learn-arabic]Learn”>http://www.noorart.com/learn-arabic)</p>