Does the Rosetta Stone really work as good as people say it does?
I hace to learn Spanish. It is very hard to learn,but I'm working really hard. It seems I can write it better than I speak it. I seam frozen when people test me on thee street when they hear I'm taking Spanish. I want to break out and just speak but I go blank.
7 Answers
There are several opinions on it here, good and bad. The best thing to do is use our search function, entering Rosetta Stone in the box-
In my opinion, the problem that you have is not one the Rosetta Stone can fix. It sounds like you need someone who is willing to let you practice Spanish conversations with them -- perhaps in a one-on-one situation. Rosetta Stone can only teach vocabulary and grammar and -- to a degree -- pronunciation, all of which you can learn for free all over the Internet.
On Saturdays, some of the members here at SpanishDict.com meet in the chat room, and from there go to something called a TokBox. If you have a microphone on your computer, you could participate in that. It is geared for people trying to learn how to speak Spanish or English (Heidita it is usually there and she is a native Spanish speaker). I believe they meet in the chat room around 5 PM central standard time and someone puts a link to the TokBox in the chat room...I haven't yet had a chance to participate because I don't get home from work until about 5 PM, and I always forget until later at night.
But I have the same problem. I get total stage fright.
I bought Rosetta Stone a few months ago and am over half way through Spanish 1 and I love it. I have so much more to learn but I have amazed at how much I have learned already. The way that Rosseta Stone teaches is a lot different than the way I learned in school. I highly recommend Rosetta Stone to anyone. I use this site in conjunction with Rosetta Stone and it really helps. I can create flashcards for all my vocabulary on Spanish dict and practice it all the time. I found that Rosetta Stone and Spanish dict have similar material at the same levels.
The amount of work versus results with Rosetta Stone is not very good. You have to review again and again, but it's really just rote reviewing of vocabulary and a few odd sentence. I recommend audio courses which are much better value. You can FSI for free on the net, the full thing (the older version) which is very comprehensive. Also Rocket Spanish is 99 dollars for the whole thing. I like Pimsleur the best, but it's a $1000 dollars for the whole thing.
It is my understanding that there is cheaper software on the market that does the same thing. Instant Immersion Spanish Levels 1,2 & 3 sells for about $40 on amazon and appears to be the same thing. It i was going to dish out the money needed for Rosetta Stone, I would get Tell Me More or Fluentz - they seem to be more geared to the way adults learn.
I took 6 years of Spanish in school- 7-12 grades and still freeze up when I need to speak it. I teach at a school where 80% of students are speaking Spanish at home. I bought RS level 2 and Level 3. I finished the first one and it certainly helped my pronouns and comprehension. I still don't speak well- students make fun of me which is not helpful. They correct my pronunciation- but I will always have an accent. So I am on the fence about RS- if you are going to an immersion situation- moving to a foreign country, then I think it would be good.
I am so excited that I finally purchased this program. It is better to learn a new language.i start study it with my kids.I feel so confident about learning Spanish through Rosetta Stone!I got this program software at good price,Link at: http://www.perfectrosettastone.info/
