# Rosetta Stone - 10% Off until 12/31 - Anyone used them to learn a language?



## Semper Fidelis (Dec 26, 2007)

Rosetta Stone Offer

I've been thinking about buying the three series thing to learn Spanish. Does anyone have any experience with these. I tried it out in a mall once and it seemed really impressive as an interactive way to learn a language.


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## etexas (Dec 26, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> Rosetta Stone Offer
> 
> I've been thinking about buying the three series thing to learn Spanish. Does anyone have any experience with these. I tried it out in a mall once and it seemed really impressive as an interactive way to learn a language.



I am from Texas and neither my wife or I know Spanish , I have thought about this, so I would like feedback on this myself.


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## Richard King (Dec 26, 2007)

Rich, 

I may be mistaken but I think as an active member of the military you can get Rosetta Stone free, if not I am sure there is a big discount.

I have heard great things about Rosetta Stone and I will someday invest in it to learn Spanish.


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## Covenant Joel (Dec 26, 2007)

I've used it a little to learn some Hebrew and Arabic. I'd say it's helpful for learning vocabulary. It is really more oriented towards spoken language than written. You won't really learn any grammar rules, but it will definitely really help you learn how to listen to the language and speak accurately. But I haven't made it into the advanced levels yet, so I can't comment too extensively.

On another note, since you're military, you might be able to access all of the Rosetta Stone software for free. The Army ELearning Program gives access to all active Army Soldiers. But I believe that if you are in another branch, you can get access to it by getting an Army guy to sponsor you. Just something you might want to look into. (usarmy.rosettastone.com)


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## Pergamum (Dec 26, 2007)

Rosetta Stone is absolutely the best computerized language learning system out there.



One note however: It is a rare individual that can learn anything beyond the very basics of a language with a book or computer program. 


I am thoroughly baptist when it comes to language learning - one must immerse themselves. 

Live among the target speakers, have a daily session with target speakers and then use it primarily in your community. Most lanugages can be learned this way to the level of survival in 2 months, basics in 4 months and fairly capable after a year and maybe fluent in several years.

So, Rosetta Stone is the best supplement to your language learning (that you do WITH A REAL PERSON). I.e. is is a supplement, not a substitute. 

Again: for real language learning success, your main effort would involve conversational interactions with target speakers.


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## Pergamum (Dec 26, 2007)

Yes Joel is right to point out - Rosetta Stone is geared towards spoken languages.


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## VictorBravo (Dec 26, 2007)

Pergamum said:


> Rosetta Stone is absolutely the best computerized language learning system out there.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I agree. I spent 4 years studying French in college and was proficient at reading and marginally proficient at conversation. 3 weeks in France and people thought I was native Swiss (fluent but with a little accent).

Later I learned conversational Arabic in about 2 months with focused study and hanging out with Egyptians and Iraqis. Learning to read it took a bit longer, but if you have any experience with foreign grammar (even Latin or Greek), I think you can learn even faster. It's all about learning the function of parts of speech, matching sounds with words, and building vocabulary.


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## Semper Fidelis (Dec 26, 2007)

Covenant Joel said:


> I've used it a little to learn some Hebrew and Arabic. I'd say it's helpful for learning vocabulary. It is really more oriented towards spoken language than written. You won't really learn any grammar rules, but it will definitely really help you learn how to listen to the language and speak accurately. But I haven't made it into the advanced levels yet, so I can't comment too extensively.
> 
> On another note, since you're military, you might be able to access all of the Rosetta Stone software for free. The Army ELearning Program gives access to all active Army Soldiers. But I believe that if you are in another branch, you can get access to it by getting an Army guy to sponsor you. Just something you might want to look into. (usarmy.rosettastone.com)



Wow! You're right. I have a Defense Knowledge Online account and just found the spot.

Outstanding!

Incidentally, I'm interested in learning to speak it primarily. I'll use SoloFe - Calvinistas Conversando and Ruben to square away my grammar over time. My biggest problem is figuring out how to type accented characters.


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## Semper Fidelis (Dec 26, 2007)

Man! Looks like it's only free if you're in the Army. Bummer.


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## Davidius (Dec 27, 2007)

My dad recently retired from the Army Reserves and I was able to use Rosetta Stone through his account for some time. Although I didn't use it to learn any language from the ground up, I did use it to supplement classroom instruction when I was taking Dutch and thought it was great. A friend and I also spent about 20 minutes one day doing basic Tagalog and were able to form a few sentences by the end of it.


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## ChristopherPaul (Apr 10, 2008)

Anyone tried the Rosetta Stone Homeschool, the foreign language curriculum?

If the entire family wants to learn a language, which program is best? The homeschool or the "regular" version you see sold in airports and malls?

Also, anyone know if there is a major difference (or if there is a difference at all) between the online subscriptions versus the traditional product?


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## Ivan (Apr 10, 2008)

Semper Fidelis said:


> Man! Looks like it's only free if you're in the Army. Bummer.



Well, that's just not right.


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## Augusta (Apr 10, 2008)

Hey David, is there a Rosetta stone for speaking Latin?? I could ding around with it over the summer. I need to work on my speaking and just the grammar.


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## Davidius (Apr 10, 2008)

Augusta said:


> Hey David, is there a Rosetta stone for speaking Latin?? I could ding around with it over the summer. I need to work on my speaking and just the grammar.



There most certainly is! 

Homeschool version

Personal version


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## SolaGratia (Apr 10, 2008)

Why not learn spanish (French, Italian, Chinese, etc.) for free via itunes podcast.


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## Davidius (Apr 10, 2008)

SolaGratia said:


> Why not learn spanish (French, Italian, Chinese, etc.) for free via itunes podcast.



Which podcast?


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## SolaGratia (Apr 10, 2008)

Go to itunes store, type in "Spanish Podcast", Find Podcast category and click on "See All" and you will find about 30 different "Free" podcast teaching you Spanish.

You can do the same with other languages, and other subjects like wine, geography, history , religion, psychology, etc.


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## Arch2k (Apr 11, 2008)

My place of employement is giving a year subscription to every interested engineer. I look forward to trying it, although I haven't decided what language yet (spanish?).


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