Rosetta Stone Language Software Review

Having messed around in my French, German and Spanish classes at school, no matter how much my mum said languages would be so important later in life, I just was too busy trying to be cool to care. Now that I am all grown up (sort of) I really wish I had paid attention. For the past 5 years I have been planning to take up Spanish for pending trips to Spain and Latin America. Yet studying anything to do with language post the education system always seems frightening and my brain is not the sponge it once was.

A Fun Hobby

How it Works

My visions of being talked at by some language professional through monotonous videos were shattered by the presentation of a user friendly portal and series of simple exercises. The way Rosetta Stone works is in precisely the same way you learnt your first language. The program makes use of what Rosetta Stone have branded ‘Dynamic Immersion’. By eliminating translation and grammar explanations from language learning, ‘Dynamic Immersion’ activates your own natural language-learning ability. You begin to think in your new language from the very start. You interact constantly with the program, connecting words with images to confirm their meaning.

Testing Pronunciation

My one fear regarding learning a new language is that when I visit my country of choice no native will understand my pronunciation. With Rosetta Stone this problem is solved. There is a great ‘speak back’ tool that allows you to test your pronunciation against that of the computer. You can even see an audio wave on the screen which provides a visual comparison of your tone with the native speaker.

Absorbing the New Language

It isn’t until you finish using the program that you realize how much you have absorbed. I found myself seeing things during my daily routine and remembering the word in Spanish. Image associated learning is clearly very powerful.

Basic and Advanced Learning

Unlike going to a language teacher the Rosetta Stone software obviously requires self dedication. This in itself has disadvantages, but then the fun aspect of the program does make you go back for more, unlike a Saturday lesson which would certainly become a chore. The well structured levels of difficulty and on screen tests make Rosetta Stone ideal for those who need to do some fast learning before a trip, or for those interested in taking the language to another level. One thing that attracts me to this software is the fact that unlike a teacher I can carry Rosetta Stone with me on my laptop wherever I go, and I have been using it almost daily during my current travels around Latin America.

In Summary

There are some drawbacks with Rosetta Stone. I’m currently half way through the second level of the Spanish program (there are three levels), I’ve invested many hours to get to this point, and I am able to consistently score 90%+ across the tests. Yet I feel that something is missing. With the program not giving any kind of deeper explanation of language, I believe that its use alone is not enough to become confident with a new language. With what I’ve learnt through using Rosetta Stone I’m not confident constructing many sentences in Spanish, and having spent so many hours of time with the program I believe it would be more effective used along-side a more traditional language learning tool. However, once I have finished all the lessons I will gladly amend this review if I feel that Rosetta Stone is in fact a complete program.

Although I don’t believe it is quite enough for grammar, I can’t think of any better way to learn new vocabulary than with Rosetta stone. Within hours I was fairly confident with the words for dozens of everyday items, numbers, days of the week etc.

All in all I really enjoy using Rosetta Stone, it honestly makes learning a language fun. A sense of elation is felt every time you take a test and hear the ‘correct choice’ sound effect chime on your screen. It’s certainly a slick program, very easy to use, with fun and interesting images. For those that simply can’t bear the thought of being schooled again, or simply don’t have the time, Rosetta Stone is ideal.

4/5