I tried something similar when I reviewed Pimsleur in great detail. Pimsleur is only audio, so you would think their audio would be superior, but I actually prefer Rosetta Stone's audio. Apart from instructions like repeat, listen etc. The audio is based on what you would have gone through so far for that unit, so you should actually recognise everything.
I like this feature a lot. But even though it's an improvement on Pimsleur, I still found it a bit tedious after a few sessions. Actual native content such as a podcast would have been more helpful to recreate an immersive environment. But of course, it's all part of the greater whole of the program.
They aim to only present you with words you should know already. In this sense, the interconnectedness of the entire set of lessons, audio, etc. You won't be under much stress in this program to see or hear things you haven't come across before.
This makes it an enjoyable learning environment, although hardly a realistic one in my view. Rosetta Stone replied saying that the pace and structure is based on the Comprehensible Input Hypothesis of Stephen Krashen. His research made huge and important contributions to linguistics in the 20th century. I have issues with how far this research is being taken as being the basis of their entire learning technique. But, I have to admit that Rosetta Stone applies that approach in an effective way.
Recognisable input as a learning strategy is more enjoyable than the stressful situations you would encounter in immersive environments. But you learn quicker with that pressure and it's simply more realistic to how the world works.
Of course, many people would rather get eased into a language through a system like Rosetta Stone. It sounds fantastic. But after all the units, you would still not feel ready for the vast majority of conversations you are likely to have. If you compare it to easing yourself into cold water, the amount you would learn in the whole system is equal to dipping a toe in.
My preferred strategy for language learning is speaking from day one. You get the unpleasant part over with quicker since it's going to happen anyway. If you are a fan of Krashen's research then you will love Rosetta Stone. I agree with a lot of what Krashen says, but think that most people take it too far. The same is true for all the packages. One of my first questions to them, when we talked, was about the price tag.
Why does Rosetta Stone cost so much? From Rosetta Stone's perspective, the price tag does indeed make sense. It's the investment they put into it. Rosetta Stone has spent a fortune on linguistic research, cognitive scientists, PhDs, neuroscientists and more. This research is incorporated into every single aspect of the Rosetta Stone software. From the positive reinforcement of sound effects that I turned off right away , to the meticulously planned photos which I also had an issue with, described below.
Rosetta Stone has led a team of people from all such aspects of learning, all focused on producing a great language learning system. It would be logical to presume that it would lead to the best system in the world. But I disagree here. The research is tailored more to how can we make a product that sells well and is scalable. But it should be how can we ensure people definitely learn this language as efficiently as possible.
As you can imagine, Rosetta Stone disagrees with this. But the problem is all this scientific research has led to a sterile language learning experience. Another reason to justify the higher price is how much research has gone into developing their speech recognition from the ground up. When you speak, it analyses your recording and approves it or requests that you try again based on how you did. While I like the idea, since it gets you speaking to the program and gives you feedback, I found several problems with it.
One time, it registered a sneeze as a correct answer. But luckily, the reading exercises are spoken by natives. So you will learn more from listening to the pronunciation, anyway. You can also get a more detailed pronunciation guide for the alphabet within the help menu of the program. The teachers are friendly, patient, and very professional. When I looked at the time slots available, there were plenty of times without much wait.
I could have scheduled an appointment today, in a couple of hours if I wanted to. When I took this course a few years back, my first ever experience speaking Dutch was within the Rosetta Stone environment! My teacher was so patient and refused to switch to English consistent with the program philosophy.
But a wise decision for the learner's benefits. In my first two sessions, I found each session to be incredibly useful. This is all part of the master plan of the program, which is fair enough, but I would have preferred to just chat with the teacher. The justification I received for this is that the program teaches you particular vocabulary before the session. It would not make sense to ask you random questions since you wouldn't be prepared to answer them.
Again, that goes back to creating a stress-free environment, rather than a realistic one. Luckily they were patient with me if I went off on tangents, so you can be somewhat flexible if you have the right teacher. To me, this was the greatest justification of a higher price than the reasons listed above. You can hire teachers to get online lessons much cheaper elsewhere.
With these latter options, you pay a flat fee for each level of the program, and you get access to it forever. In high school, I took several years of French le langage de l'amour!
Starting out, I could say hello, goodbye, and count to 10, but that was it. There are four options to choose from, and each one has specially-tailored lessons that focuses on relevant content:. From there, I jumped into learning Spanish! At the very beginning, I started out matching vocabulary words with pictures or vice versa, and as I progressed through the first few sections, the program began introducing verb conjugations and prompting me to pronounce words, as well.
I was surprised at how quickly the program progressed. Within a few days, it had introduced a few dozen words and a wide range of verbs.
Rosetta Stone, on the other hand, rarely gives you the same exercises twice, and it seems to minimize use of the simple flashcard-style learning that many other programs rely heavily on.
In addition to grammar and vocabulary, Rosetta Stone has sections dedicated solely to pronunciation, speaking, and listening skills—both super important if you want to use the language in real life.
During the listening sections, there are a wide range of speakers who will read you words and phrases, helping to acclimate you to hearing the language in different voices. First of all, given the high price of this program, I found its design to be outdated. Cambly is the best platform I have found for learning how to speak English. However, Rosetta Stone will provide you with a fantastic foundation that will help you on your journey towards mastering the language.
Yes, Rosetta Stone is worth every cent you pay for it in The software has been around for almost 30 years, helping people worldwide learn new languages. Despite the many options that students have these days, Rosetta Stone still dominates the language-learning software market by providing plenty of value. Even though Duolingo has its strengths, Rosetta Stone is a much better option if you want to master the English language for the long term.
Rosetta Stone has several advantages in this regard. Among them, Rosetta Stone places a very strong emphasis on teaching you correct pronunciations with its patented speech recognition feature.
Besides that, innovative features like Phrasebook and Seek and Speak also help you learn how to apply the language in everyday situations. Rosetta Stone uses more pictures to help you learn new vocabulary whereas Duolingo just uses text. Pictures are a very important part of learning a language as most learners are visual and need to see a picture of something to remember it.
Rosetta stone also has a feature to change the difficulty of your pronunciation. It is also good if you are getting more advanced in a language and you want to test your progress and be stricter with your pronunciation.
Duolingo does not have this feature. Duolingo is great for moving quickly through vocabulary and grammar topics and of course, it is free. Some people love the gamification of Duolingo and enjoy earning points when they complete certain sections.
Both Duolingo and Rosetta stone should be used when you are starting to learn English or any other language. When you move to an intermediate level, you should have classes with Cambly or Italki to practice the language that you have learned. You can learn a new language with Rosetta Stone with an average of hours of learning.
Of course, that will also depend on other factors. Some people learn new languages much faster than others. Some also speed up their learning by immersing themselves in the language as much as possible. In addition to using Rosetta Stone, you could also practice with a native speaker to see if they understand you clearly and receive instant feedback and correct any mistakes you might make along the way.
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