/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1763688]

I've seen you guys talk about language, and I'm not sure where else I can take this, so...

Does Rosetta Stone actually work? I remember we had a *big* thread about it once and there were a whole bunch of links, but then I never heard you guys talk about it again.

The only thing I've heard about Rosetta Stone outside of here, however, is that it isn't that good. I remember a few years back I was having a discussion about it with my Geometry teacher and he said that it's good to use if you want to learn a language you already kind of knew once (like if you took Italian in high school, it was a good program to help reintroduce you to the language and what not), but that it wasn't very good if you wanted to learn a totally new language that you never took any formal training with.

[Anonymous No.1763690]

It sucks dude. I illegally downloaded like 22 language packs, and it sucks. The interface is terrible, there is no support, and the course material is extremely disorganized.

[Anonymous No.1763692]

>>1763690
Really? That sucks. What was the main language you were trying to learn?

[Anonymous No.1763697]

>>1763692
Francais

[Anonymous No.1763699]

>>1763697
Ah.

Is there anyone else here who's used it? I'd like at least one more opinion before I make a decision.

[Anonymous No.1763700]

I'll have to watch this thread; I've been thinking about buying Rosetta Stone to start learning a second foreign language. I've been thinking of getting levels 1-5 in French for myself, and of course it costs a shitload. Wouldn't want to waste $450.

[Anonymous No.1763705]

>>1763700
You do know that you can pirate it, right? If you really don't want to waste money, that might be a better decision.

[Anonymous No.1763707]

>>1763700
>Pays for software

[Anonymous No.1763715]

>>1763705
Please reveal to me your secrets on how this is done!

[Anonymous No.1763716]

>>1763715
Torrents.

[Anonymous No.1764033]

>>1763705

The only problem with that is that you can't find Latin on the latest one anywhere. Have to reswort to using Resetta 3.

[Anonymous No.1764161]

Can you tell me where I might find these torrents?

[Anonymous No.1764171]

Rosetta Stone seems to operate on the theory that language is best learned by total immersion. It's weird at first, but they step you up pretty quickly from learning "boy" and "girl" to "a boy in an airplane" or "a girl on a horse". There's a lot of repetition.

I'm not sure you'd become totally fluent in a language by using the software alone, but you could surely get to the point where you could operate comfortably in a foreign nation. People would just think you were weird for talking about boys in airplanes all the time.

[Anonymous No.1764172]

>>1764161

download this
http://www.utorrent.com/

then go here
http://isohunt.com/

then go to the comments for help and instruction.
Good luck.

[Virginia W00F !!GThm5VqxqDi No.1764177]

I like Rosetta Stone to some degree, and I appreciate the way in which the language is presented, but the thing is that it doesn't teach you key/ useful phrases to begin with. It is fun to use though. IT MAKES LEARNING FUUUUUUUNNN!!!!!!

I used it for Korean.

[Anonymous No.1764191]

>>1764177
Yeah it's pretty terrible for vocabulary. It'll only teach you about 1200 words total

[Anonymous No.1764405]

>>1764191

Vocabulary is something best left to after you have the structure of a language down. You didn't learn english by mastering all the big words first. You took to them once you knew all the proper grammar. Same goes for other languages.

[Toker No.1764420]

Utterly boring. too patronising to be effective. Great for children perhaps?

[Anonymous No.1764426]

>>1764405
This would be fine if Rosetta Stone weren't terrible for grammar too

[Anonymous No.1764438]

Rosetta Stone is kind of helpful for reading but not that great for speech, which is really the most important part.

For speech I've really enjoyed Pimsleur's audio lessons. I've just started giving it a try though.

[Anonymous No.1764458]

it seems like everyone has varying opinions on what rosetta stone is good for and what it isn't good for.

[Anonymous No.1764474]

If you're learning a language that isn't too exotic just get a graded reader to start off with. Faster and less gimmicky than rosetta stone. It's an especially good way to go if you're mostly interested in reading over writing/speaking (obviously you will get a hang of these, it'll just be slower).

[Anonymous No.1764511]

It's shitty. Pirated it to learn French; the total immersion thing, while seemingly a good idea, sucks because there's no one to explain things you don't get. I ended up having to look up the exact definitions of many words, google the difference between formal and informal addresses, and learned next to nothing of grammar/syntax/conjugation.

[Anonymous No.1764512]

>>1764438

I recommend Pimsleur as well. Stuck with it for a year now and the spaced repetition is working like a charm. Obviously if you're really serious you'll want to get a dictionary and grammar guide and spend a few months living somewhere where you can speak the language every day.

[Anonymous No.1764528]

>>1764474
Thing is, the language I want to learn is pretty exotic.

And, for now (since I don't have money to do the total immersion thing yet and live somewhere that speaks the language), reading is more important than the speaking

[Anonymous No.1764572]

>>1764511
same here

i'm in the us army, rosetta stone is free for us. my backup plan was to join the ffl if i ever got kicked out of the army, so i checked out the program. ten hours later i didn't learn much more than i did in the first hour

rosetta stone is shitty because it doesn't teach you anything beyond "the boy likes to swim" and other nonsense, it doesn't even teach basic grammar, just rote memorization

a single google search brings up the million reasons why rosetta stone is shit and suggestions for better software, so this thread is unnecessary, sage