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Rosetta Stone Vietnamese Personal Edition Level 1

5 stars (Rosetta Stone is the BEST!) - I tried other language software, tried to save a few bucks. It was not worth it. Rosetta stone works, it is sort of fun and before you know it you are learning the language in a way that stays with you. 4 stars (Which dialect of Vietnamese is taught?) - My disclaimer: This is not a review of the software's useability. I am extremely satisfied with the software's ability to teach me the content as intended by the publisher. However, if you are in the U.S. you may realize that a great majority of the Vietnamese population here is South Vietnamese. This is because during and after the Vietnam War, the majority of refugees was from the non-communist side (south). Therefore, if you encounter Vienamese speaking people in the U.S. there is a good chance that they will speak with a south Vietnamese dialect. Once you are done with the course, you will be able to speak moderate Vietnamese with a NORTHERN accent and dialect. The northern accent is quite different from southern (vastly more different than English with a southern vs. New York accent). Additionally, the vocabulary is 5-10% different. So you'll be able to get by, but if you go to Little Saigon in whatever city, don't be surprised if language is not exactly as expected. The U.S. population if Vietnamese ir primarily southern. Now, if you are going to Vietnam, and want to learn the language for travel purposes, this program is probably quite adequate. Just like anywhere else in the world you will find different accents and dialects in the region. Anyway - have fun learning Vietnamese - the software works. All the pro's and con's have been reviewed elsewhere - so I'm not going to be repetitive. 5 stars (Minh noi tieng viet!) - The Rosetta Stone products are great. I have bought Vietnamese level 1 and Japanese level 1 and 2. I consider vietnamese to be a much more difficult language to learn since it is a tonal language. This software helped me a lot and now I am ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Asian :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Vietnamese Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 -amp- 2 Personal Edition

4 stars (Very good if you are a somewhat advanced) - As most of the reviewers have mentioned, this course is not for the beginner, even though Rosetta Stone advertises it differently. It can be very useful to you under the following conditions: 1) You already have an understanding of Chinese grammar, so that the sometimes very complex sentences even in early lessons won't overwhelm you. In turn you will profit immensely from the amount of vocabulary you can learn in a short time. 2) You don't expect to get conversational proficiency. Rosetta Stone teaches you to describe pictures, something which is done in many real-life language courses I have visited. One could say it is just a concentrated form of this particular exercise. That said, it will enhance your ability to describe and to link words to objects and anchor that link in your brain. For me that method works much better than vocab lists, even in a flash card form. Especially, I don't know a better way to learn modifiers, an essential part of Chinese grammar. 3) You always have a dictionary at hand to look up words because the programm does not give you any translations. 4) You don't expect it to teach you how to write Chinese characters. This is always something you have to do on your own, a computer cannot really help you. By changing between Pinyin and character script (traditional and simplified) in Rosetta you can learn how to recognize characters, but I think of it more of a vocabulary builder. Also, if much text is displayed, characters tend to get too small in order to be recognized. 5)You see it as one more tool in your collection of Chinese learning materials. In my opinion for Westerners Chinese can only be learned this way, you can't rely on a single book to provide everything. It gets 4 stars because of the price which I find outrageous. Given the fact that the Chinese version is merely an adaptation of the general Rosetta Stone system, it should go for no more than $150 both levels. So tr...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: Asian :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh :: Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 -amp- 2 Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone French Personal Edition Level 1

5 stars (Fantastic Program) - I have been meaning to learn French for quite some time and have picked up some books and audio tapes but got quickly frustrated and discouraged. However, after ordering this software I am starting to think that I may actually be able to learn French. As a little background I have never been good at languages and I was not very good at my foreign languages in school (could barely speak a word). I am an absolute beginner at French an was very nervous that my past performance in learning languages would prevent me from learning French. I was also a little nervous when I read some of the other reviews that said this might not be the best program for beginners, but I ordered it in the hopes that I could at least try something new. I am extremely happy with my purchase. The proram walks you through French in a very intuitive manner, and though there aren't any explanations it starts you out so slowly that you are easily able to figure out the meanings of what you are seeing on the screen. There is something to be said for learning a language by recognition and repetition rather than learning the grammer rules first. I do use my grammer book occasionally (I bought it before this) but only to satisfy my curiosity about certain thins like feminine and masculine articles, and singular and plural nouns... Honestly this is a fantastic program that teaches you how to speak and hear French with amazing success. You do learn the grammer rules, but you figure them out for yourself by comparing phrases and by building on earlier lessons. It really is similar to the way a child learns to talk (without ever having to know what a past participle is). Bottom line - fantastic proram and I would have no problems suggeting it to anyone. Even if they know nothing about French and have struggled with other languages. 3 stars (Rosetta Stone; Not best for everyone) - I'm aware that Rosetta Stone is highly regarded in pedagogic circles. However, I hav...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: French :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh :: Rosetta Stone French Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Hebrew Personal Edition Level 1

5 stars (Works great as a Review) - I studied Hebrew in college for 2 years, so I cannot comment on using this software as the primary way to learn Hebrew. I bought this program because I wanted to review Hebrew and improve my understanding of the language. I found it did just that. It works very well when used as a review for somebody who has already taken some Hebrew classes and is familiar with Hebrew grammar. I can understand Hebrew better than I did in college. I also picked up some new vocabulary. The downside is that you have to repeat drills for each lesson. However, it tends to sink in ratherly naturally after a while. There really is no easy way to learn a foreign language, but I think using this program on a continuous basis does help (at least in improving understanding). This program would greatly complement a beginning Hebrew class if grammar lessons were developed around the software's curriculum. 5 stars (great for learning to understand by hearing and seeing) - I began studying hebrew 2 years ago, but with only occasional classes, I found that I understood very little in conversation. This software helped me begin to do that. It has 8 'chapters', each with 11 or 12 'lessons'. The vocabulary starts out easy and slowly becomes more difficult. At the end, the vocabulary is probably intermediate level. Within each lesson is 10 sets of 4 pictures. A statement is said aloud (there is also an option for reading only), and you click on the appropriate picture. It seems rather simplistic, but it really helps in understanding the language and associating the words and phrases with the actions being depicted. Overall, excellent. My big regret is that they do not have a level II. 5 stars (Learn Hebrew easily!) - I teach a special education program in a Hebrew day school. I use this program to introduce my students to Hebrew language. It works! Even if a child cannot yet read, he or she can still learn the language by connecting the words th...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Great Deals (Outlet store) :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macint :: Rosetta Stone Hebrew Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Spanish Spain Levels I - II Personal Edition

4 stars (Good for the Technically Challenged ) - What I like about this software is that it does not come with too many "gadgets." At my age, I am "technically challenged." So this software worked out fine for me with my limited computer skills. I also like the fact that this software covers Castilian Spanish. It is probably the only course available that exclusively covers Castilian Spanish in such depth since Pimsleur and Learning Like Crazy only offer Latin American Spanish courses. The downside of this software is that you will not learn much Spanish grammar with it. If you want to learn the rules and mechanisms required to combine words and form sentences in Spanish, you will have to buy a good Spanish grammar book. For that I strongly recommend Spanish Grammar for Independent Learners by Avigail Azoulay, Arie Vicente. It is more expensive than other Spanish grammar books but it is well worth the money. ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Portuguese :: Spanish Espanol :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: :: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Spain) Levels I - II Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone Dutch Personal Edition Level 1

4 stars (a fun way to learn some Dutch) - This is a clever use of a computer. The attempt is to put you in a "virtual" Dutch-speaking environment. To fully utilize the product, you'll need a mouse, keyboard, speakers, and microphone. There are about 3,200 images (many duplicates) shown in groups of 4. You select either mode-A, -B, -C, -D, -E. For mode-A, a native speaker says a phrase or sentence in Dutch, which you also see written on the screen, and you move your mouse into the one of the 4 pictures to which you think the statement applies. You click the mouse and get immediate feedback on whether you're right or wrong. For mode-B, you hear the native speaker's statement but get no writing on the screen (practice in aural comprehension). For C, you get the writing but no speaker (practice in reading comprehension). For D (you'll love this), you get the native speaker, and you repeat what he or she says into your microphone, and you get immediate pictorial feedback on the screen as to how closely your pronunciation matches that of the native speaker. For E, you get the native speaker and no writing, and you get to type in Dutch what he or she says using your keyboard, and you get immediate feedback on whether you're correct. It's clever and a lot of fun if you enjoy studying languages. But ... there's no accompanying book to speak of, just a list of the 3,200 statements without translation provided. Before buying this product, I had previously spent several months studying Dutch grammar (see my poignant review of "Colloquial Dutch" by Donaldson, a fine book by the way). Hence I already knew the rudiments and had a context in which to place those 3,200 statements and make sense of them. I had the fine Dutch-English dictionary published by Routledge, "201 Dutch Verbs" by Stern, and "Colloquial Dutch" by my computer to refer to. I found this course a painless way to review grammar, supplement my vocabulary, and learn to say some useful things by rote. I...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Dutch Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Turkish Personal Edition Level 1

3 stars (Quasi-Immersion Works Fairly Well) - The Rosetta Stone method teaches you language the way you learned it as a child - by associating words to visuals. There are no translations in the program, so you really have to do the mental work to understand what is being presented to you. In that way it's a great program. For me, one of the drawbacks is that the same visuals and phrases are repeated over and over within a lesson. This has the effect of reducing lessons to a Concentration game, where you are remembering which words go with which picture, rather than actually absorbing why you are saying what you are saying, or how what you are saying works as a structured language. I find I have to force myself to be more deliberate when completing the exercises. Another drawback is that after completing fifteen lessons there still has not been any exercise where I have been asked to construct a phrase on my own. As such, the program is good for building reading, listening comprehension, and pronunciation skills, but not for speaking. The most fascinating aspect of the course is how different Turkish is from Romance and Germanic languages. Really the only things they have in common are the Roman alphabet and some cognates. Turkish manages to feel ancient while still living. Consider this: the word for man is "adam". Overall I would say this product is by far the most disciplined teaching tool I have seen for Turkish. It is equal to a semester of language instruction in terms of the number of lessons and the time required to complete them all. And for this reason alone I would say that the price is right. 5 stars (Turkish Rosetta Stone) - After my first lesson I was able to understand and speak more than over a years worth of personal training. I first learned of the product from an airline publication and was "bargain" hunting for the same product. Amazon saved me almost 50% off what the airline publication was charging!!! The lesons are complete and...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Turkish Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Russian Level 1 -amp- 2 Personal Edition

4 stars (A useful and fun programme) - After studying Russian, by myself, for about six months, I found that although my knowledge of the grammar and the vocabulary had progressed, my speaking and listening skills remained poor. I decided to buy Rosetta Stone Russian in order to learn how Russian words and sentences sounded. The programme was easy to install and easy to use. Best of all, I really enjoyed using it. The programme begins by showing four pictures and a word. The task is to pick the picture corresponding to the word. It is possible to choose whether the word is spoken or written, or both spoken and written. Gradually as you progress you meet simple phrases and eventually sentences and whole paragraphs. This method works really well as you are continually tested, while the whole learning experience feels more like a game than studying. While the listening and reading elements of the programme work well, I found it was less successful with regard to speaking and writing. The speaking part of the programme involves attempting to imitate a native speaker. The programme compares the sound you make with what the sound should be. I generally found it almost impossible to imitate the Russian speaker in such a way that the programme considered I had done so successfully. I therefore found this aspect of the programme more frustrating than useful. The writing part of the programme unfortunately requires using a very fiddly onscreen keyboard, which makes the whole process very slow and tedious. The key thing anyway with writing Russian is learning how to form the letters by hand and no computer programme can teach you to do this. I would suggest that someone beginning to use this programme should at least already know the Russian alphabet and ideally some of the grammar. Moreover to complete some of the exercises a dictionary is essential. There is no doubt that working through all the exercises is very useful. I found the programme especially good at helping ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Cyrillic :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macinto :: Rosetta Stone Russian Level 1 -amp- 2 Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone Polish Personal Edition Level 1

Rosetta Stone Polish Personal Edition Level 1 ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Polish Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Korean Personal Edition Level 1

2 stars (Product is awful) - Two main flaws which caused me to return the product: 1) Interface is shoddy at best. I was never able to start a drill lesson in the middle by skipping pages. If I returned to a prior lesson, I had to click on answers in order to advance, instead of being able to move forward as the interface supposedly should work. 2) Much more importantly, there were grammar mistakes in the product. My wife is native Korean. During the first lesson, the product tries to teach you the words/concept of "above" and "underneath". My wife and 4 of her friends who are also native Koreans all listened to the drill and they all said that the phraseology would never ever be spoken by a Korean. They said that the phrasehology was actually incorrect. Other than that, while I echo the other comments about the navigation being unclear, I did think that the drills would help one learn vocabulary words. 2 stars (Marginal Interface and Hard copy Materials) - This program completely lacks a structured approach to learning the Hangul alphabet and completely lacks the ability to teach ANY Hangul using the keyboard. Some of their other programs have this ability, but not the Korean one. Also, the teaching approach is completely by example using photos with no explanation of sentence structure, culture, etc. If you wanted to use it and repeat the lessons over and over and over you could probably learn the material, but the overall interface on the thing is lacking. 5 stars (I'm having a blast...) - I bought this software because my nephew is adopted from South Korea. He doesn't know Korean, but I know someday he'll grow up to probably have some interest in his heritage, and I thought it would be a cool thing if I knew a little Korean by that time. I worried about blowing such a wad of cash on this software, but I took a risk, and I've been very happy with what I got. I'm still in the first "unit," so I have a long long way to go before I can actually speak or ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Asian :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Korean Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone German Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

5 stars (Learn German the Easy Way) - This program is awesome! I went to the Rosetta Stone website to use the trial and actually learned quite a bit from it. The main selling points for me were that NASA, Navy SEALS, US Ambassadors, etc... use this program to learn foreign languages. I have actually learned quite a bit in just the first 3 units. I know the product is pricey, but it was cheaper on Amazon.com than it was from Rosetta Stone. Anyway, I think it rocks! 5 stars (Great learning tool) - This is a great learning tool for adults. Incorporates speech, writing, and of course memory skills. Just like using flash cards. Great interactive software. 4 stars (Excellent for learning languages before going abroad.) - The Rosetta Stone software was used by NASA Astronauts to learn Russian, and is currently used by the US Department of State. This is up to snuff. It has everything you could want, provided that you have the microphone, time, speakers, and keyboard. (duh). Does it have everything you need? Well, this is definetely a much better approach to learning foreign languages than to just memorize a foreign dictionary. You learn propper pronounciations, but don't exactly learn everything you could learn from an experienced, personal, instructor, such as culture, etiquite, and such. Highly reccommended, and well worth the money. ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: German :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh :: Rosetta Stone German Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone Hindi Personal Edition Level 1

4 stars (More fun than class) - I've been using this software for a few months now. I think it's well designed and through repetition and association works much better than learning from a book. I am terrible at learning languages but I surprise myself by actually remembering words and phrases when I'm not actually using the software. If you want to get anything out of the reading part you need to learn Devanagari script, which I did pretty easily using the Teach Yourself Hindi Script book. I think it would useless for this aspect if you didn't (as another review says). But if you do know the script, it really helps a lot with reading skills. Writing is another story and I try to write down the words elsewhere. One thing I'm not sure about is if they ever get into conversation. So far I'm on the 3rd unit out of 10 so they may later on, but so far I haven't learned how to say anything about myself like "My name is..." It also doesn't force you to come up with phrases on your own. It focuses on basic vocabulary and different tenses and relationships between objects. This is usually not much fun to learn and they do a pretty good job with it. The lessons are a good length to go through a little bit each night without being too overwhelming. You really need to speak the lines out loud though or otherwise you're not going to get the pronounciation. It helps to have a Hindi speaker handy of course although this is probably not possible for most. Also keep a dictionary around for words that aren't clear. You won't have to look at it too often though as long as you concentrate on the pictures. 5 stars (Immersive and extremely effective) - The immersive approach to building vocabulary and listening skills -- basically showing you pictures and making you associate them with spoken phrases -- is fun and works beautifully. The first time you walk through a lesson, you feel as if you're guessing and you get about 45% right ... but the second time through you're at 80%, and ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Asian :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Hindi Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Russian Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

4 stars (A useful and fun programme) - After studying Russian, by myself, for about six months, I found that although my knowledge of the grammar and the vocabulary had progressed, my speaking and listening skills remained poor. I decided to buy Rosetta Stone Russian in order to learn how Russian words and sentences sounded. The programme was easy to install and easy to use. Best of all, I really enjoyed using it. The programme begins by showing four pictures and a word. The task is to pick the picture corresponding to the word. It is possible to choose whether the word is spoken or written, or both spoken and written. Gradually as you progress you meet simple phrases and eventually sentences and whole paragraphs. This method works really well as you are continually tested, while the whole learning experience feels more like a game than studying. While the listening and reading elements of the programme work well, I found it was less successful with regard to speaking and writing. The speaking part of the programme involves attempting to imitate a native speaker. The programme compares the sound you make with what the sound should be. I generally found it almost impossible to imitate the Russian speaker in such a way that the programme considered I had done so successfully. I therefore found this aspect of the programme more frustrating than useful. The writing part of the programme unfortunately requires using a very fiddly onscreen keyboard, which makes the whole process very slow and tedious. The key thing anyway with writing Russian is learning how to form the letters by hand and no computer programme can teach you to do this. I would suggest that someone beginning to use this programme should at least already know the Russian alphabet and ideally some of the grammar. Moreover to complete some of the exercises a dictionary is essential. There is no doubt that working through all the exercises is very useful. I found the programme especially good at helping ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Cyrillic :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macinto :: Rosetta Stone Russian Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone Chinese Personal Edition Level 1

5 stars (Delightful - I love it) - I was originally using Rosetta Stone's Chinese program through online subscription. I went several times through the entire program before I decided that monthly subscription was getting expensive and since I enjoyed going over this program very much I finally decided to purchase it. The online version has Chinese only written with pinyin and I was a little bit disappointed that it didn't have Chinese characters anywhere. When I received the package, I was thrilled and delighted to find that it had two books included and the books had all the material written both with Chinese characters and pinyin. This has taken my enjoyment of this program to a new level. I do need to add that I have purchased numerous other books and programs, so this is not the only one I have been using - and the other books and programs have helped me tremendously in using this one. Working with the entire Pimsleur program first has helped me tremendously in working with Rosetta Stone, as did many other books that deal with grammar and writing. Also, among different dictionaries, one of my favorites is Wenlin's electronic dictionary as well as NJStar program. Yes, getting all of these programs can get pricey, but they are all well-worth it, especially if you're learning Chinese on your own. They will serve you for a long time and will make the arduous process of learning Chinese a breeze, allowing you to progress easily and to enjoy the process. 5 stars (Great For Advanced Beginners - Intermediate Students) - I was originally using Rosetta Stone's Chinese program through online subscription. I went several times through the entire program before I decided that monthly subscription was getting expensive and since I enjoyed going over this program very much I finally decided to purchase it. The online version has Chinese only written with pinyin and I was a little bit disappointed that it didn't have Chinese characters anywhere. When I receive...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: Asian :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh :: Rosetta Stone Chinese Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Thai Personal Edition Level 1

4 stars (Learn Thai the Correct Way) - This learning series really helped me learn how to listen to the different annotations and accents of the Thai langauge. The speakers are native Thais including men and women. The CD-Rom is very interactive using different learning methods for each lesson. The lessons include listening, reading, and speaking. The exercises are composed of 4 pictures which the narrator describes and you choose the appropriate activity. None of the lessons include an English translation which can be a bit confusing. Overall this is a great buy for learning how to speak Thai correctly. ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Asian :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Thai Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Arabic Personal Edition Level 1

4 stars (Good Program - With Limitations) - The Good: Rosetta Stone is a very user-friendly, low-stress program that will teach you a lot of Arabic vocabularly over time. The format is very simple (a good and bad point)- You get four pictures on the screen and either a written or spoken phrase beneath. Match the phrase to the picture and you're on the way. Very good for association and vocabularly drilling, and pretty easy to use, so you can play with it throughout the day without having to devote a lot of time to "studying." Also, you would be surprised at how creative they can get with the "match the picture" format; all kinds of situations you wouldn't think possible. The Bad: First, the price. This would be a great $70 program, but the $170 tag is really pushing the envelope. Also, although this program is sold everywhere, the company seems to be pretty rigid on the price- always advertised as $195 but offered for some type of discount at $170. On the other hand, there are a lot of lessons in the program and they go pretty far into the language, so unless you are sure you are going to stick with it, this is a big investment to make and then give up after a few weeks. Next, this program cannot stand alone, especially in Arabic. For one thing, it does not teach Arabic script, you need that before you start (see Awde's book on the Arabic Alphabet as the best choice for that). Second, it does not teach grammar, just word association, and you should be aware that Rosetta Stone uses the exact same lessons for every language, they are not tailored to the pecularities of Arabic. You absolutely need an Arabic textbook to accompany this, or by lesson 4 you will be lost (Smart's Teach Yourself Arabic is the simplest and cheapest). Last, the voices used (unless they've changed them recently) are very strange. Some of the other languages are good, but the Arabic speakers sound like greeters at Disney World. If you've been to the Middle East, you will ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machintosh Apple :: :: Rosetta Stone Arabic Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Danish Personal Edition Level 1

4 stars (Good way to learn a language) - While I don't actually have the Level 1 software yet, I do have the 'explorer' version, and am looking into buying the level 1. So far I have really enjoyed it. Yes, it can be frustrating when you have no idea what types of words (genders, colors, etc) are being presented and you need to select the corresponding picture, however I have found myself actually thinking in Danish instead of in English (associating the pictures as I see them with the Danish words and not the English), a profound difference from high school and college level German classes that I have taken. I do believe that their approach does simulate the natural way you learn your first language and look forward to learning many languages through rosetta stone software! If you're uncertain I would certainly recommend the Explorer version software- I believe its under $10 on Amazon and should give you a good idea of what to expect! 2 stars (Ineffective method) - Before I start let me make it clear that I haven't purchased this item yet and I doubt that I will. Rather I wisely decided to check out the demo available on the Rosetta Stone website. In retrospect I'm glad I did so because I realized that this method is not for me. First of all, the lack of any English texts is very frustrating. Instead you're supposed to infer what each word means from the context and the pictures. It wouldn't be a problem if the pictures were clear and definite, but often they are blurry, distant and old-looking photographs that leave you in doubt about what they're talking about. For example I've lost count of the number of times I got "kvinden ---" wrong because the women look exactly like men. I also got "dreng" and "pige" mixed up because the boys either look and dress like girls and vice versa, or their faces and motion are blurred and I haven't a clue what is going on. This, coupled with the fact that every answer, right or wrong, is accompanied with a very annoying beep, ...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh Machint :: Rosetta Stone Danish Personal Edition Level 1

 

Rosetta Stone Greek Level I - II Personal Edition Set

Rosetta Stone Greek Level I & II Personal Edition Set...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Learn learning :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: :: Rosetta Stone Greek Level I - II Personal Edition Set

 

Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

4 stars (Very good if you are a somewhat advanced) - As most of the reviewers have mentioned, this course is not for the beginner, even though Rosetta Stone advertises it differently. It can be very useful to you under the following conditions: 1) You already have an understanding of Chinese grammar, so that the sometimes very complex sentences even in early lessons won't overwhelm you. In turn you will profit immensely from the amount of vocabulary you can learn in a short time. 2) You don't expect to get conversational proficiency. Rosetta Stone teaches you to describe pictures, something which is done in many real-life language courses I have visited. One could say it is just a concentrated form of this particular exercise. That said, it will enhance your ability to describe and to link words to objects and anchor that link in your brain. For me that method works much better than vocab lists, even in a flash card form. Especially, I don't know a better way to learn modifiers, an essential part of Chinese grammar. 3) You always have a dictionary at hand to look up words because the programm does not give you any translations. 4) You don't expect it to teach you how to write Chinese characters. This is always something you have to do on your own, a computer cannot really help you. By changing between Pinyin and character script (traditional and simplified) in Rosetta you can learn how to recognize characters, but I think of it more of a vocabulary builder. Also, if much text is displayed, characters tend to get too small in order to be recognized. 5)You see it as one more tool in your collection of Chinese learning materials. In my opinion for Westerners Chinese can only be learned this way, you can't rely on a single book to provide everything. It gets 4 stars because of the price which I find outrageous. Given the fact that the Chinese version is merely an adaptation of the general Rosetta Stone system, it should go for no more than $150 both levels. So tr...
Fairfield Language Technologies :: Kids (Children) :: Learn learning :: Asian :: Foreign Languages (Language) :: Reference :: Education (Educational) :: Computer software (programs) :: Mac Macintosh :: Rosetta Stone Chinese Level 1 - 2 Personal Edition

 

Rosetta Stone German Personal Edition Level 1

5 stars (The ONLY worthwhile language learning software!) - The Rosetta Stone series of language instruction software is "Pimsleur" level of effectiveness and unfortunately, Pimsleur level cost as well. The programs work on a total immersion basis, with no English used at all. There are several types of drills, ones where you hear a word or sentence and pick it out of a group of pictures, another where you read the text of the word and pick out the pictures, etc. There are also typing drills in your language to help you spell (without having to download special fonts), pronounciation drills that allow you to hear a word, speak it to your computer and hear your voice in comparison to the native speaker played back to you. This is the first program of it's type I've found where this feature actually works! I own both German and Russian 1 and 2. There is a LOT to learn here, especially if you do all the types of drills for each lesson. You learn grammar from inference, such as word endings when the subject is "in" something rather than "on" or "under" it. You see the same endings used, compare them with the pictures and you start to recognize patterns. But one of the best things about this software is the user interface. Since it's an immersion program, there's no English used and by it's very nature needs to be intuitive. This is how it should be done. I've used other types of language software that had a klunky, confusing interface with features that didn't work, etc. None of that is the case with the Rosetta Stone software. On another note, I switched to Mac about nine months ago and Fairfield Language Technologies sent me out a new Mac OS X systems disc for free, no questions asked. At this price level you'd think this would be commonplace, but it's not. Adobe allowed me to change from PC to OS X when I upgraded from Photoshop 6 to 7, but Macromedia wouldn't and expected me to buy all new software (I didn't). So kudos to FLT for their stellar customer service! Is...
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