Seaver

I am in my final year of college, and the only classes I have left are my foreign language (4th semester). However, I'm pretty horrible at foreign languages, no matter how much time allotted.

I saw the Rosetta Stone ad on TV, and was wondering if anyone had tried it. They claim to not use strict memorization, if this is true how does it work? I have also considered military intelligence, and while foreign languages are not required for all MOS's, it is in the majority of them (and the coolest ones).

I'm seriously considering putting down the money for it, however I would like some input from people who've tried it before if possible, thanks.

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ratbastid

Apparently it's excellent. I used to work for a guy who was good friends with the owner of the company that produces Rosetta Stone, who wrote the first version of it.

It uses immersive and associative learning techniques to, theoretically, teach you languages the same way a child learns them. Of course, your brain plasticity is much lower than that of a child, so the verdict is out on whether that's the best way to teach. Still, people rave about these products.

Mondak

Wow - that sounds right up my alley. I am near incapable of memorization and have to understand things to absorb them. Let us know how it goes. I would be interested to hear results as well.

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Plaid13

I believe they have a free demo cd you can get for free by calling or maybe download somewhere.

That being said i have tried it and im very impressed by it. if you have the time to do the lessions i do believe it would work and be easy. It does however take a fair amount of time. i think the first set of lessions was like 90 hours or something.

The way it works is they have someone that speaks the launage fluently and show you the matching picture of the word then later they show you 4 pictures and say the word or phrase and have you pick the matching picture. I messed around with the japanese one for like 20 min once about 5 months ago just out of bordom and i still remember the words and phrases enough to recognize them when i hear them. so it does work you just need the motivation to use it. I really wish schools would use this software. maybe then students here in the US might be able to speak more then just english. like almost every other country on the planet.

Im pretty sure if you go to torrentspy.com and search for rosetta stone they will have the free demo cd software that they send you free if you call them or whatever. At least you can try it that way to see if you like how it works.

Seaver

Awesome, thanks for the quick replies guys. I told my parents that's what I want for X-mas, so hopefully I'll get to review and relearn much of the language during the break. I'll pump out the money and give my opinions on it in a month or two.

__________________
"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

Coyote Hunter

I would like to know how it works for you to and good luck

MuadDib

I have a friend using it to learn hebrew and she swears by it.

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Slims

I use it occasionally for arabic. But I have had much more luck with Rapid Rote. Rossetta Stone is a great stand alone program or as a primary supplement to classroom instruction where you can get questions answered, but it takes a lot of time. I wouldn't use it if your language classes are well rounded and have specific homework and study assignements.

You will find yourself learning the language intuitively rather than in the rigidly structured way you need to know it in order to score well on your tests. Also, you won't be getting the same vocab through rossetta stone as that taught in class...it is hard to keep them synchronized.

I like rapid rote...it is essentially a flashcard program which is great for arabic because I can make my own lists with the specific vocabulary words I need to know. You get shown the word and you hear the phrase spoken, and the program does a pretty good job engaging you and forcing you to stay focused.

Good luck.

P.S. If you join the military you can download rossetta stone for free. Also, if your MOS requires fluency they will send you to DLI in Monterey California, though there are other language labs.

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Hain

Yeah biggest thread revival every, I know.

I was searching for a better way to learn languages, since I purchased Rosetta stone, and I can say it can go die. The way you learn is OK, but the way they go about it is absolutely ridiculous. I became fluent with situations, words, and phrases that have absolutely no value to me, and I could not take what I learned to apply it elsewhere. DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE. I know some better and cheaper ways that worked at first for me to learn certain things, but I could not keep up with it after a while.

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