Does Rosetta Stone really work??
i have tried many different ways to learn spanish and will be taking a course next year, maybe what i want to know is does loretta stone really work ? the tv always is saying how amazing it is and i don't have time to waste, i would like to learn spanish as soon as possible. what works the best?
Loretta Stone vs. Another brand. if loretta stone doesn't work as good as they claim then what does work??
Thanks
from
wanting to learn
14 Answers
I used VisualLink spanish progam to start a couple of years ago. It was good for beginning. Then I used Michel Thomas CDs which I really like and continue to use. I have Rosetta and find it somewhat boring however, it is effective because it is so repetitive. Now I am in my third semester of Spanish at a community college--taught by a native Argentine--and I am learning much more quickly. (I was able to skip the second semester with the help of a LOT of self-study using materials from this site and from numerous grammer books.) I also us Lomas TV to help with getting better at hearing it spoken naturally and for building vocabulary. Next year I hope to take a few weeks and do an immersion course somewhere in Mexico or Latin America. I find that READING helps a lot too. And finally, I am helping a native speaker learn English (ESL) and he helps me some with Spanish. This is a long-winded way of saying, use multiple resources. No one resource will magically work alone, in my opinion. Time and commitment are also required.
Hi Spanishgirl, I've tried a few of the programs out there.. and Rosetta Stone gave me the feeling that Marianne so aptly described. They have a huge marketing budget, and suck people in all the time.
Their approach is flawed, the program is boring (and cheap, they do the same stuff for every language), and you don't even get the basics when it comes to learning grammar. My advice is to try something else.
The two programs I used a few years ago was "Spanish with Michel Thomas" and "Pimsleur Spanish". The first one uses a good approach with regards to grammar, though you'll see the shortcomings after a while, but it's still a nice intro - and the second one I still recommend to anyone, but buy a basic grammar book as an additional tool.
Good luck 
I would recommend you utilize as many resources as you can find.
This, time, and enthusiasm are the advice given by many multilingual people (over 10 languages) on how to learn languages.
Nevertheless, I'd ask Heidita for advice, as she is much better at speaking foreign languages than I am.
Hi Spanishgirl9
I have not tried Rosetta Stone, but I have tried Pimsleur and Berlitz.
I really enjoyed Pimsleur and found that it helped with my listening ability.
I think that they both can be useful tools but will not, in themselves, get you where you want to go with the language. Having a good Spanish-Spanish dictionary and thesaurus as well as a good Spanish-Spanish grammar book is also probably a good bet, and echoing what Lazarus has already said, to really get the most out of learning, you are going to have to find someone (a native speaker) to talk with and listen to.
I would recommend you utilize as many resources as you can find.
Good Luck with your study goals
Yes,It is really working.I absolutely love the Rosetta Stone language learning software. Currrently I am learning Spanish as I travel to Mexico and South America frequently. I cannot wait for next Rosetta Stone purchase. I want to learn Italian. Thank you Rosetta Stone. I got the software at http://www.perfectrosettastone.info/german.html
My wife bought me Rosetta Stone for Christmas . 
. I've gotten more out of Berlitz listening to it in my pickup. I've gotten more out of this web site than both of them combined so that sums up my opinion.
Agree Rosetta Stone is all marketing. If people knew that it was only a flashcard based method that teaches vocabulary but NO conversational skills, the company would go bankrupt. It's really worthless if you don't already know the basics of the language. Try Pimsleur, which is really the best method for a beginner. Michel Thomas comes close but learning a non-native accent is a disadvantage imo. Your ear gets used to hearing a foreign speaker speaking the language so when you actually encounter a real native speaker, it gets really confusing. That's my experience anyway. But yeah, Rosetta gets the big thumbs down.
I'm using Rosetta Stone and I like it alot. It is just one of the many resources that I'm using to learn Spanish. The only negative I have with Rosetta Stone is the cost.
People learn in different ways (kinestic, audio, visual...), based on my learning style Rosetta Stone works pretty well. I'd recommend it to people.
Go through the lessons at this website. Each lesson has a video and several flashcard/listen exercises. The exercises seem very like Rosetta Stone's course (from what I could tell by looking at the jacket on the software).
yes rosetta stone really works it is the best computer teacher for spanish online and on the cds to order if you order them it will be kindof expensive for it or if you buy it at a store but trust me its all worth it and also there is the funny video series that you can order to learn spanish its called quak its also very well to order all of the spanish teachers i know have quak and rosetta stone and we mostly learn out of that
"Spanish with Michel Thomas" is amazing at getting you to start creating sentences almost immediately BUT there is no book with it; it is all listening and repeating. He also does French, Italian and German.
You can go to their website and try the demo for free,of course I think its in Russian. Its an immersion program,but I actually love spanishdict! i dont think it will make you fluent
Do you refer to Rosetta Stone?
Like any other of these methods, it might work more or less... but it will never be a substitute for a proper teacher and living in a place where the target language is spoken, so don't expect a miracle.
In the following thread a poster was asking about the differences in Rosetta Stone and the Berlitz program.
