Rosetta Stone Review

Have you always wanted to learn a new language? Did you study a language in high school or college- eons ago- and wish you could brush up on what you already know? Are you hoping to expand your marketability by learning to speak and read a language that prospective employers will find invaluable? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you need to try Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is a leader in the language learning software market. They advertise their product in magazines, on the internet, and on television as well. This software provides its users the fastest way to learn a language available on the market.

Thanks to Mom Fuse, I had the opportunity to review the Spanish- Latin America version- of Rosetta Stone. Once I agreed to the review, I informed my 11 year-old son that he would be reviewing the software with me.

We were not sent a CD set to review; rather, Rosetta Stone sent us one headset (a necessary component to this program) and a log-in key that provided us with a trial version of the software directly online.

Once we logged in, I saw that we were given the choice to review all of the languages that Rosetta Stone offers. As tempting as it was to try more than one, we made the decision to stick with Spanish and see how far into the program we could get.

(I have to admit, my son picked up on the program much faster than I did.)

From the Rosetta Stone Website:
Spanish Level 1, 2 and 3:
Begin by building a foundation of essential language skills in Spanish. Gain confidence and learn to share your ideas, opinions and feelings when you immerse yourself in Spanish with Rosetta Stone
This set will help you:

• Build your vocabulary and language abilities.
• Spell and write accurately.
• Speak without a script.
• Retain what you’ve learned.
• Read and understand your new language.
• Share ideas and opinions, express feelings and talk about everyday life.
• Sample topics include:
• The basics, such as age and family relations
• Questions, greetings, introductions
• Times of day, calendar terms, the weather
• Directions, locations, telling time
• Present, past and future tense
• Apologies and polite requests
• How to order at a restaurant and give and receive directions
• Emotions, opinions and ideas
• Political, media, business and religious terms

My Review:
This is an amazing program. My son and I found ourselves completely immersed in the learning of Spanish. I had my son go through everything with me, and though it took longer for us to complete the program (my fault, as I was the slower learner), we managed to do so, and enjoyed the process.

During the first part of the program we were presented with a series of images and a word is spoken with the accompanying text appearing on screen. We had to match the images with the words. When we had it right, we advanced, and when we didn’t, we continued to try until we did. We found that we moved very quickly through the first part of the program.

As we advanced through the program, the simple words became phrases and then sentences. We learned that there was a pattern to the program, and once we recognized the pattern, the learning became simpler for us.

It was exciting for both us in the early stages of the program when we pronounced the words and phrases correctly, but the best part of it was knowing that we were beginning to actually comprehend what we were reading. Through that comprehension, we were able to advance through the program successfully.

What this program does not provide is a set vocabulary list. You will not find the parts of speech broken down in such as way as you would expect if you were learning Spanish from a textbook. That is not the concept behind the Rosetta Stone learning software. The basis of this software is to learn by hearing, seeing and speaking in context.

I highly recommend Rosetta Stone. This program will enable you to learn a language in the comfort of your home, at your own pace, and in an enjoyable manner. You will learn the language. Guaranteed.