Anyone use/d Rosetta Stone language software?

[AlbanyCartel]

I just signed up for a 6-month subscription for Arabic.

http://www.rosettastone.com/index/


Do you have any experience with it?
I've heard nothing but positive reviews about it, but they were mainly for languages such as Spanish or French, not completely contrasting languages(contrasting to English) such as Arabic or Mandarin.

[00accord44]

I have the free trial cd-rom sitting on my desk right now. I only tried one section of the trial disc so far but I do like it. As they say, its very intuitive because you don't learn through memorization. I want to get the complete Level 1-3 package for spanish and chinese and maybe the level 1-2 for french but the price is holding me back at the moment. But yes, I like the program and find it a better method than the spanish text books I have.

[alfonso2501]

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you planning on doing some independent contract work in Iraq? You’re the one with the CDL right?

[Andydg]

Could you explain how they work? I've heard the commercials on the radio but I've never read anything from a real person...just ads.

[AlbanyCartel]

Originally Posted by alfonso2501

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you planning on doing some independent contract work in Iraq? You’re the one with the CDL right?

Naw, learning it just for the hell of it.
Whats a CDL?

Originally Posted by andydg

Could you explain how they work? I've heard the commercials on the radio but I've never read anything from a real person...just ads.

There are many techniques, but the principle technique they use is called Dynamic Immersion. They basically cut out English and use imagery to directly link a foreign word to an object, action, or etc.

Normally, such as in formal language classes, they try to associate a object to an English word, then link the English word to the foreign word.
Its difficult to explain, but heres an explanation another person, using the software, gave me:

With the Immersion method:
= chien
You get a direct association between the object and the word.




Otherwise, with formal classroom methods:
= dog = chien
Your mind associates the object with "dog", then associates "dog"
with "chien".


Chien is French for dog.


I personally haven't started my lesson yet. I am still waiting for them to send
me this special microphone/headphone thing.

[alfonso2501]

Sorry, my bad. I mixed you up with someone else here! I thought you were the one who got their Commercial Drivers License a while back.

[00accord44]

^I believe you're thinking of WickedNYCowboy

I was wondering how the whole speaking portion of the software worked. So did you have to pay extra for the headphones/mic or is it included in the cost?

[AlbanyCartel]

Originally Posted by 00accord44

^I believe you're thinking of WickedNYCowboy

I was wondering how the whole speaking portion of the software worked. So did you have to pay extra for the headphones/mic or is it included in the cost?

The total was $159.95 for the 6-month subscription and the Rosetta Stone USB Headset/Microphone ("valued at $29.99")


Subtotal: $189.94
Discount: -$29.99
Shipping: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $159.95


Shipping was free for basic-ass Ground.

['97ventureowner]

I've seen those ads on CNN's Headline News in the past and it piqued my interest. Being the person who hates to pay the retail price on anything, i did some online research to see if there were any better prices. I checked eBay and found many different auctions for just about any language they carry. The prices were cheaper than the advertised retail for the ones in the commercials. In fact I just checked eBay, and quickly came across this auction:http://cgi.ebay.com/ROSETTA-STONE-AR...QQcmdZViewItem

[Andydg]

Originally Posted by AlbanyCartel

There are many techniques, but the principle technique they use is called Dynamic Immersion. They basically cut out English and use imagery to directly link a foreign word to an object, action, or etc.

Normally, such as in formal language classes, they try to associate a object to an English word, then link the English word to the foreign word.
Its difficult to explain, but heres an explanation another person, using the software, gave me:

Ooooh ok so it's like the way most all of us learned our first language...makes sense seeings how I picked that up pretty quickly.

[lamehonda]

I did some of the japanese lesson last night. I commited suicide shortly thereafter.

RIP David

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by lamehonda

I did some of the japanese lesson last night. I commited suicide shortly thereafter.

RIP David

I thought that only happened if you did the Chinese version AND were a toymaker.

[BLU CIVIC]

i checked out a beginners japanese cd set from the library...been like a month since i used it and still remember 70% of it...was easy...sure i could speak it better if i use it everyday

[Steel]

Cool. I always wanted to learn Russian.

Is it good at teaching you reading and writing when the characters are weird?

[BLU CIVIC]

i don't think those programs teach writing...i don't think...i think they just teach speaking