<p>D is looking at studying in Florence next year, and requires a year of Italian. She’s just begun. She has 4 years of Spanish under her belt, so visually the words make sense to her (that’s a good step in the right direction).</p>
<p>Question…we’ve heard about Rosetta Stone language learning, and did the test drive on the web. Eh. I think they could’ve done a far better job to try to sell a $250 program. </p>
<p>Here’s the question…has anyone (or their offspring) been successful using Rosetta Sone? Has anyone actually purchased and used it?</p>
<p>Perhaps you could try a version from your local library before purchasing your own copy? Our library has a fairly extensive collection of programs on CD and tape for learning a language.</p>
<p>I have a good friend who speaks 4 languages fluently. She wanted to learn some Italian quickly before a trip, and she signed up for rosettastone for 2 months. She told me that she learned a great deal, and she recommended it highly when I was looking for Chinese lessons for my son.</p>
<p>I have used Rosetta Stone for intermediate french and beginning spanish, although I never got through the whole program in either case. You have to be very self-motivated in my opinion to learn a language that way…sometimes it just felt really repetitive for me, but I guess that’s how you learn a language.<br>
Is your D actually taking Italian classes? I think actual language classes are more helpful and engaging, but if for some reason she is unable to take Italian classes, then Rosetta Stone might be a good option if she’s motivated enough to learn at the computer.</p>
<p>oops, I think I had too much coffee-didn’t mean to push the submit button.
I tried Rosetta Stone for beginning Mandarin and found it too repetitive and irrelevant. Who cares if “the boy is under the plane” or “the girl is on the table” over and over. I ended up taking classes and I now use the Rosetta Stone to help with my awful pronunciation.
The best resource I have found (for Mandarin) and may be available for Italian, are free podcasts. There are a number of wonderful courses with 10 to 20 minute podcasts I download through the itunes store and put on my ipod. The topics are useful, some are fun and they are always engaging. Really force me to listen and I can do that while waiting for the train, the toaster-you name it. This could work very well for you daughter and if she has an ipod is free.</p>
<p>If you just want to speak the language (reading or writing is not part of their programs), Pimsleur is great. BUT for someone who already is fluent in Spanish, the Italian tapes (CDs) may be too slow. You can get the first few CDs with 10 or so lessons for very little $ but the full package will cost more.</p>
<p>My son used Rosetta Stone last year in preparation for a summer trip to Turkey. I think we purchased the 3 month plan. It gave him a solid enough foundation to jump start his learning of Turkish and I think he generally found it worthwile, although he did complain that because the program does not really explain grammatical aspects of the language, Turkish grammar remained kind of mysterious to him. I would think, however, that if your D is already fluent in Spanish and she wants to learn Italian, that this would not be such an issue.</p>
<p>Yes, my D is in an immersive class. No English once they walk through the door. Twice weekly, nearly 2 hrs each time. I suspect she’ll learn quite a bit.</p>
<p>And I will check the library & have her check her branch in Manhattan. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that at all (it’s often the second place I look, after the web).</p>
<p>Podcasts…great idea! I know as a kid I had to learn Portugese (my family moved to Brazil) and watching TV was a near immediate learning situation for me.</p>
<p>She’ll probably get by on Spanish. On several visits to Italy, I observed H and friends speaking Spatalian (or was it Itanish?) putting “i’s” and “o’s” on the end of Spanish words. It worked pretty well, and was quite amusing
Usually the Italians would roll their eyes and say, “Just speak English. . .”</p>
<p>I’m not sure if Rosetta Stone would be a high enough level for your D. See if your public library has it on-line for free (ours does–and this is a small town). It might help with pronunciation if nothing else.</p>
<p>For Portuguese, I used the following: Pimsleur (CD), Individual Teacher (Brazilian), Rosetta Stone.</p>
<p>CD: Great because uploadable to Ipod. Bad, because limited.
Individual Teacher: Good, but quality varies greatly and very expensive over the long run
Rosetta Stone: Seems to provide the best overall value, though I have found it takes a lot of motivation to sit in front of a computer vs. having CDs on my IPod. Rosetta Stone comes at different levels and one can certainly find a level advanced enough in Italian.</p>
<p>I would say CDs and Rosetta Stone are for learning to speak and hear the language and that you don’t want to use that kind of system for grammatical learning. Grammar can be handled in the classroom.</p>
<p>For learning Portuguese, additionally, I married a Brazilian. Would I recommend that your daughter marry an Italian? Well, she may in fact come back from Italy with the Italian love of her life, but that could be a good thing and also it’s a risk you just have to take, no? And in this case, chances are her Italian would be greatly improved.</p>
