Rosetta Stone Personal Edition contains everything you need to give the voice inside of you a new language. The method used recreates the natural way you learned your first language, revealing skills that you already have. This approach has won numerous awards, and has been adopted by countless organizations, schools and millions of users around the world. Join the language revolution today. Only with Rosetta Stone. The comprehensive language-learning solution that fits your life. Learn Naturally
Learn your next language the same way you learned your first language. Dynamic Immersion empowers you to see, hear and comprehend without translating or memorizing. You already have this ability. Rosetta Stone simply unlocks it. Engage Interactively
Get feedback to move forward. You learn best by doing, and you'll apply what you've learned to get to the next step. Rosetta Stone adapts to your individual needs and skills, because you drive the program with your progress. Speak Confidently
Start speaking immediately. From the very first lesson, you'll speak. You'll begin with essential basics, which form the building blocks of the language. Soon you'll create new sentences on your own, using words you've learned. Have Fun
Best of all, Rosetta Stone is addictive. With every entertaining activity, you'll feel success. You'll want to use Rosetta Stone to have that next moment, that next breakthrough. So you'll keep using it, and you'll learn more! That's language-learning success.
That's Rosetta Stone. No translation or memorization required. The most effective way to learn a new language is to be surrounded by it. When you were an infant, your parents taught you this way, by intuitively associating words with images. That's the ultimate language lab, but most language-learning programs completely ignore this. Think about all of the ways you've tried to learn a language: classes at school, tapes and cassettes, even software that uses your native language as a base for your next one. What do they all have in common? Translation and memorization. 
Instead of taking a "direct flight" from your brain to your new language, translation and memorization connects you to your old language. You always have to "fly" from your brain, to your native tongue ... and then translate what you've memorized to communicate. That might work for a few words, but what happens when you get to a sentence or phrase? When you have to change tenses? You're going to make a lot of "connecting flights." That's why those other methods are so frustrating ... and why they fail. Enter Dynamic Immersion.
This method encourages you to think like a baby. You'll pair words with vivid, real-life images and make connections between things you know and the new language. Soon, you'll be thinking in a new language, stringing words together into phrases that you create. Innovative technology.
Rosetta Stone places this Dynamic Immersion method at the core of a suite of software that works with you to develop your skills. The simple, intuitive interface helps to keep you engaged in the solution, while advanced speech recognition technology makes certain that you're speaking correctly and accurately. Best of all, Rosetta Stone never leaves you behind. You'll only move forward when you're ready, when you've become comfortable and confident. Communicate and connect with the world: Level 1, 2 & 3 Set.
Rosetta Stone Level 1, 2 & 3 Set will take you on a journey from the basics to a whole new level of sophistication. You'll build a foundation of fundamental vocabulary and essential language structure. You'll quickly gain the confidence to engage in social interactions. Say "hello" and "goodbye," arrange travel, order food, go shopping and more! From there, you'll share your ideas and opinions, express feelings and talk about your life, your interests and more. You'll discover a voice. In a new language. Audio Companion
With Audio Companion, you'll enhance the Rosetta Stone experience wherever you go. You'll learn new skills on the computer, and then reinforce what you've learned with Audio Companion. Simply play the CDs on a stereo or download them to a MP3 Player. Each Audio Companion activity corresponds to a lesson in the Rosetta Stone software, so you can turn your travel time into productive language-learning time. Inside the box, you'll find: - Version 3 Personal Edition CD-ROM software for Levels 1, 2 & 3 (Windows/Mac)
- Headset microphone
- User's guide
- Audio Companion, a multiple-CD set to play or download to your MP3 player
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 They suckered the US Army into buying this? |
| Review Date: May 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: James Cameron, Vicenza, Italy |
As a member of the US Army, I have access to all of the language learning software offered by Rosetta Stone at no cost to me. I feel obligated to share my opinion with the rest of the public before they invest $500 into this product.
There is absolutely no way you can learn a foreign language by solely using this software. There is nothing included that breaks down the rules of the language being studied. Nothing on conjugation, exceptions, gender, colloquial expressions, idioms etc. I guess they thought the fundamentals were optional. There are just pictures associated with sentences which the user has to match; nothing more.
I already speak fluent German, having taken 2 years of it in college, serving to tours in Germany, and having had non English-speaking German girlfriends. I was recently reassigned to Italy, causing me to dig out the resources to learn another language. My frustration with Rosetta Stone left me feeling compelled to share my thoughts. For $500 this should be a complete comprehensive program, which it is not.
I feel that the people who sing the praise of this software are those who have never learned another language. The program does a good job of giving you a sense of accomplishment when in reality it still leaves you lacking the skills necessary to venture out on your own. It will leave the gullible and ignorant feeling like they are getting their money's worth. I challenge anyone to find one person who went from zero to fluency exclusively using this program.
If one could say that there were 10 levels of learning before achieving fluency, then this product would be good at taking you through level 3 to 6.
Had this product been listed at $50 rather than ten times that amount, I wouldn't have felt the need to warn the buyer. I feel that the $500 price tag has people thinking, "If it costs that much, it must be the best".
Buy this product only if you already have a good foundation of the language structure and are just looking to review pronunciation and sentence structure.
To the program's credit, It does give you valuable exposure to a language and I feel it would be a good supplement to a comprehensive learning program. |
Not The Best Way to Learn!
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| Review Date: September 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: S. Reps, Connecticut, USA |
I was very excited to get this product "Spanish (Latin America) Versions 1,2,3" with the Audio Companion.
The software is surprisingly unsophisticated, especially for the exorbitant cost. The verb tenses are not explained which is of course very important in Spanish. Yes, it's supposed to mimic how we all learned our first language, but the problem is, I'm obviously not 18 months old and really can't learn like that. Another problem is that within the lessons, there are no distracters. For instance: The user is presented with three phrases and three pictures and is required to match them up. One picture of a man, one of a woman and one of a boy all engaged in some kind of activity. The problem is that I can easily recognize the word 'hombre' for 'man,' so that's the obvious choice. Therefore I can choose the right answer without understanding anything about the phrase itself. There needs to be other similar phrases as a distraction so the user is forced to decipher the meaning without just picking the obvious choice.
WARNING: The "Audio Companion" is completely useless! It's just the soundtrack to the lessons (no translation). How am I to know what the speaker is saying without any point of reference!?
WARNING: DO NOT rely on this product exclusively to learn a language. You'll need to constantly refer to a translation website and (even better) a friend who's fluent in the language you're learning. Example: A picture of a child at the piano and the parents behind him. The phrase associated with it is, "Los padres están escuchando." "The parents are listening." But I had to get it translated because I didn't know if the verb meant watching, listening, teaching, etc. There has to be a way to reveal the translation within the program.
OK... I am learning, but that's because I'm using Rosetta Stone only as a baseline. I am also using homemade flashcards, books and dictionaries, translation websites, patient friends who are native Spanish speakers and other free services.
WARNING: R.S. has this product locked up so tight that it becomes detremental to its use. R.S. allows 2 'seats,' meaning it can only be installed on 2 computers. If a user uninstalls it with the intention to reinstall on another computer and does not first go through the 'deactivation process,' it's tremendously difficult to have it reinstalled anywhere else. The uninstall process does not warn users to deactivate first. I guarantee you will spend many days on the phone with tech support to straighten it out!
WARNING: R.S. tech support is not available on the weekends when I assume most people will be using the product.
Sorry Rosetta Stone... Not worth $500!!! |
BEWARE of this Company's Policies
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| Review Date: December 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: W. E. Henderson, Denver, CO |
| BEWARE! If you buy this product you can never resell it. Never return it. Never upgrade it. You better love it. Because you're stuck with it. I purchased version 2 a year ago and wanted to upgrade to 3 so I thought I'd sell my version 2. Rosetta Stone cancelled my eBay auction and threatened LEGAL action for attempting to resell an original legitimate in the box version of their product. They will only let you return it for 6 months and ONLY if you bought it directly from them (sorry Amazon) and there are NO upgrades. Basically, I'm out $500. Though I would never ever consider buying another Rosetta Stone product, where the customer is always wrong. BEWARE of this company. |
a VAST improvement over version 2
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| Review Date: July 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Jane Harper, Carbondale, IL USA |
A few years back I bought Rosetta Stone v.2 (for a different language than Spanish) and found it very difficult to work with. The activities had no real order to them, there was very little guidance for users, the voice recognition function was horrible, and the photographs were all of upper middle class westerners. I saw the reviews of the Spanish versions in which teachers and native speakers complained about the emphasis on progressive tenses ("I am _____ing") instead of the present, which is ubiquitous in Spanish and often used to stand in for both past and future.
I had two years of Spanish in high school (FORTY years ago), but as a health care provider I continue to encounter many Spanish-speaking patients and I'm getting tired of having to use an interpreter, so I decided to dust off the Spanish I used to know and get serious about becoming bilingual. I saw that Rosetta Stone had completely reworked their system and gave it a try.
I'm TREMENDOUSLY impressed with the changes!!
They do still use too much progressive tense (or have so far, I've only worked through the first of the three levels), but the photographs are very culturally diverse and the help files and accompanying documentation are MUCH better than for version 2. I'd also heard that version 2 was a nightmare on a Mac (and I've just switched from Windows), but I'm happy to report that version 3 runs like a dream on my little MacBook.
The new packaging includes a headset that attaches via a USB port, a welcome addition.
On the down side, I haven't been exactly thrilled with the "audio companion" so far; it adds nothing to what is presented in the lessons, but rather merely mimics them. The voice recognition still has trouble; consonants in Spanish tend to be very soft, and I have to pop my P's to get the software to recognize them.
All in all, though, I think it's a very worthwhile investment, and for less than most classroom programs cost.
Now, if they'd only give me some credit to upgrade my version 2 in that other language .... |
Good concept.
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| Review Date: July 23, 2008 |
| Reviewer: memoiai, USA |
I must admit that this review is written from a slightly biased point of view. I had studied Spanish for 5 years. But after a 4 year absence, and minimal practice in between, I decided to brush up on my skills. I can tell you right away that levels 1 and 2, for someone who may not have perfect grammar, or know every word in Spanish, are still very, very easy. Level 3 presents only minor problems, if any. This program will not, in my opinion, substitute in for 5 years of learning with a teacher, homework, tests, writing, reading, class, interaction with other students and native speakers, not by a long shot. However, it will bring you to a level where you will be able to express basic ideas, thoughts, and emotions and understand a native speaker who speaks slowly (not every word, but at least the general idea of what they're talking about). Don't expect to be engaged in a lively political debate with a native speaker after finishing this course though. After 5 years of study I can manage to do something like that, but I still don't feel like I know the language. As a native Spanish speaker once told me: "You know that you really understand a language when you can understand jokes that play on words, grammar, and other nuances." Please don't expect something like that from a software program, no matter how good it is.
Having said that, I'll comment on the overall presentation of the material and how the Rosetta Stone program works. I will admit, that memorization is absolutely not the way to learn any language. I was blessed to have a teacher who would give homework assignments and tell us to learn the grammar and vocabulary at home. But when we came to class, she demanded we talk, talk a lot, even if we made mistakes. You can't learn without making mistakes. She would say certain phrases, show certain pictures, and we'd comment, argue, and discuss, forcing ourselves to learn by experience and visualization, not by memorization. I tell you this only because other classmates had teachers who forced rote memorization of words, grammar, and tested them on paper, rather than out loud. Of course, the students did well on the tests. But not one of them can express a half way decent thought in Spanish after a 4 year leave from studying the language. Hence, I was very impressed by how this program works, it reminds me of my teacher.
You learn like a child. Which is good. Children have no concept of memorization. They see something, hear their parent say it, and repeat it, making a lot of mistakes, but eventually getting to the right point, finally understanding what word or phrase goes with what they see in front of them. The program builds on this concept most adults have forgotten. It present a picture (seeing), has a native speaker say a word or phrase (like your parents did), presents several options (like a child, you'd have to work around your environment), and you pick which is correct. Brilliant! The program continues to build on previous words like (red), to red jacket, to the man is wearing a red jacket, etc... phrases become longer and more complex. Emotions are brought into the picture, etc.
While I completely applaud Rosetta Stone's approach to learning the language, despite the fact that even if you "were" this program you wouldn't be able to talk like a native speaker (see first paragraph), I will point out some other cons. This program does move a little quick for a beginner; hence I recommend that you go over a given section very thoroughly before moving on. Don't expect to know a word or phrase that you feel comfortable with 10 minutes from now, we all forget things and then you'll be frustrated in the next section when a new phrase comes up using past concepts you just learned and just forgotten. And by reviewing thoroughly, I mean only one thing. Let's say this program has taught you a phrase. You know what it means, and you know how to pronounce it. Great. Now, go out there, and start using it. Speak it, feel it, use it in your everyday life. Until you make a new concept your own, you'll never remember it for the long-term. This is precisely why, after 4 years of barely speaking Spanish, I can still express my opinions freely, thanks to my teacher forcing us to speak and live the language instead of memorizing it. So, until you can use the phrases everyday, comfortably, don't move on (this is easier at first, but will get harder as the program progresses). Another word of advice: practice with at least one friend. Use the words and phrases you learned together when you go out. That's why this program can never substitute a class. This method will make learning much more fun, and you'll catch and correct each other's mistakes you wouldn't have otherwise because you would have been "convinced" you "got" what the program was trying to teach you. And if you're blessed to have a friend who is a native speaker, don't be shy about trying to talk to them in Spanish. I've noticed (being a foreigner myself), that people love it when they see you're trying to learn they're language, it's a huge compliment to them, and most are very eager to help you.
In summary: this is good starter program for someone NOT looking to become a very proficient speaker with this program alone, rather, it's for someone who wants to get extra practice, see if they like the language, or get a leg up before taking a real, live, class. Good luck! I give this program 4 stars, because it is good at what it tries to do, but you can't have it all in one little box! |
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