<p>Anyone ever used it? Thoughts? Thinking of learning another language. English/Polish/Spanish so far.</p>
<p>I used it when I was a younger kid. I didn’t really get that into it, and I think it is good a teaching select vocabulary and only that. It wot get you fluent or anywhere near fluent in my opinion, and it’s also super expensive. I would go with other software or an online class.</p>
<p>Any software that you’d recommend?</p>
<p>Don’t know of any, sorry. Try googling consumer reviews.</p>
<p>Rosetta stone requires a whole lot of commitment; both to diligently work through the lessons and to pay a boatload of money for all of the levels.</p>
<p>its… okay… but it isn’t the best. My japanese class had to test it out for the school (because they only got lvl 1 and decided to have us test it), and it was basically repeating the same thing over and over.</p>
<p>Learning any language (other than your native one, of course) requires a lot of hard, often tedious WORK. There are no magic solutions, no matter how slickly packaged and creatively and misleadingly marketed. Rosetta Stone compounds the problem by charging an insane amount of money for the same basic thing that is available for far less from other sources.</p>
<p>I am a fan of Pimsleur for spoken fluency and Eurotalk for vocabulary buildup.</p>
<p>Byki (see website) is pretty good for vocabulary too, a lot of free stuff. </p>
<p>Pimsleur is not cheap, but often a library will have it.</p>
<p>Pay a teacher once a week too.</p>
<p>I once came upon an ad for Rosetta Stone and clicked on it and got a free Spanish lesson.</p>
<p>I’ve studied Spanish and French in schools, but was never able to use spoken Spanish because I couldn’t roll n and r. I’ve studied both in US and foreign schools. That one lesson with Rosetta Stone taught me how to roll the letters.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently using Rosetta Stone this summer to learn French in order to test out of French 1-2 when school starts this fall. She seems to like the program, though I have no idea how well it has worked for her. The proof will be in the pudding when she takes the assessment for the French class in a few weeks!</p>
<p>One other experience with Rosetta Stone: I myself have been taking German classes once a week for a few years at a local German club, and one of my fellow students, an older retired man, came every week to class but never seemed to really absorb much. Last September he came back to class MUCH improved – we all asked him what happened, and he said he ‘did’ Rosetta Stone over the summer. It sure worked for him!!</p>
<p>You might want to find out what your local public library (or regional network) offers before you spend a lot of money on something. Many libraries (probably most) have free computer-based programs available remotely, downloadable audio courses, and/or CDs/tapes/portable players (Pimsleur and others). </p>
<p>Our library used to offer Rosetta Stone, but they stopped selling to libraries a few years ago (some libraries may still have the CD-ROMs in their collection). We now have two other online options, available remotely with a library card:</p>
<p>Tell Me More &
Mango Languages</p>
<p>See here if Mango is available at a library near you:
[Mango</a> Languages | Library Locator](<a href=“http://www.mangolanguages.com/store/library_locator/]Mango”>http://www.mangolanguages.com/store/library_locator/)</p>
<p>Other library options include Byki and PowerSpeak Languages.</p>
<p>There are some free options, too: BBC Languages and LiveMocha.com are two of the biggest sites.</p>
<p>Pimsleur is audio-only (great for the car), and has courses that can take you to fluency. Some of the others are more vocabulary/travel oriented.</p>
<p>I was told today actually, by someone who runs a lot of language training in the federal government, that this software is not the best for learning the language, but it is more useful for keeping up some language skills that you already have.</p>
<p>just that person’s opinion, but he is heavily involved in language training.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to learn Spanish in my spare time for the last couple of years. I’ve tried many things and I find that the only program that really improves speaking ability is Pimsleur. No other program comes close. It’s also good because it’s portable - I can listen in the car, on walks, etc. It’s expensive, but you can usually find it at the library, as mentioned before. I also download free podcast lessons from Radio Lingua. Many programs (most free) will help with vocabulary and listening. It’s the speaking practice that’s hard to come by. I did not find Rosetta Stone anything special.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Rosetta Stone Spanish program–I did five levels in a 10 week “crash course.” Our community college offers all RS languages for $99 term. (As much as you want, and you can change languages mid-term, if you like). Some libraries might offer it, too–so check around. I got a lot more speaking practice with RS than I would in a classroom (because I had to answer every question–instead of hiding in the corner hoping the teacher would call on someone else.) Unfortunately it doesn’t really teach grammar (part of what makes it sort of painless and fun), so if you don’t “get” something and keep making the same mistake, that can be frustrating. I would recommend RS, but I wouldn’t pay full price.</p>
<p>I wonder if this site is advertising. After I commented yesterday, my other media sources spammed me with ads for Rosetta Stone.</p>