Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is great but too expensive

I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because I think some of the vocabulary you have to learn wasn't well chosen, for example the parts about cowboys and also there are some tools I don't even know the names of in English. Also you learn numbers kind of haphazardly. The vocabulary is repeated in subsequent lessons instead of being all new in each lesson. I guess that is ok but since you can review the old lessons anyway if I were buying this I would want as much as I could get for the money. The lessons are easy, most of the lessons are beginning, not intermediate, with short sentences or just words. But occasionally you come across some harder lessons.
This is good if what you need is listening and speaking practice. You can always get a grammar book at the library. I am currently trying the online version and so far I like it just fine. I wouldn't mind having my own copy but it is a little too expensive for me.

The ONLY worthwhile language learning software.
The Rosetta Stone series of language instruction software is "Pimsleur" level of effectiveness and unfortunately, Pimsleur level cost as well.

The programs work on a total immersion basis, with no English used at all. There are several types of drills, ones where you hear a word or sentence and pick it out of a group of pictures, another where you read the text of the word and pick out the pictures, etc. There are also typing drills in your language to help you spell (without having to download special fonts), pronounciation drills that allow you to hear a word, speak it to your computer and hear your voice in comparison to the native speaker played back to you.

This is the first program of it's type I've found where this feature actually works!

I own both German and Russian 1 and 2. There is a LOT to learn here, especially if you do all the types of drills for each lesson. You learn grammar from inference, such as word endings when the subject is "in" something rather than "on" or "under" it. You see the same endings used, compare them with the pictures and you start to recognize patterns.

But one of the best things about this software is the user interface. Since it's an immersion program, there's no English used and by it's very nature needs to be intuitive. This is how it should be done. I've used other types of language software that had a klunky, confusing interface with features that didn't work, etc. None of that is the case with the Rosetta Stone software.

On another note, I switched to Mac about nine months ago and Fairfield Language Technologies sent me out a new Mac OS X systems disc for free, no questions asked. At this price level you'd think this would be commonplace, but it's not. Adobe allowed me to change from PC to OS X when I upgraded from Photoshop 6 to 7, but Macromedia wouldn't and expected me to buy all new software (I didn't). So kudos to FLT for their stellar customer service!

Is it too expensive? I'd say yes, but this is a serious language learning tool for serious self students, and it's a lot cheaper than classes at the U. The axiom is true with both this and the Pimsleur method tapes; you get what you pay for. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good vocabulary builder and refresher, not for serious study
I am actually reviewing the online version from Rosetta Stone Online, which makes the full Level I and II versions available by subscription.

Each section consists of a series of Listening, Reading/Listening, Speaking, and Reading exercises. The full version of this software consists of 19 units of 10-12 sections each.

In each exercise, you are given a series of activities consisting of a choice of four pictures and/or pieces of text and/or spoken dialogues (depending on which type of activity it is), and you must choose the correct picture/text/dialogue from the cues.

The exercises are very simple, suitable for children or for quick reviews. If you are new to Arabic, or refreshing your skills after a long period of disuse, the repetition will be useful in building your vocabulary (back) up. You are fed bits of grammar incrementally with each new unit. You start with simply identifying various people and objects, and then add a few adjectives, and then add a few verbs so you are recognizing simple sentences such as "The boy drinks some milk" or "The bird flies" or "This car is not red, it is white," etc. Each unit adds more pieces of grammar and more vocabulary, building up to more complex sentences, different verb tenses, and so on.

However, that is as far as it can take you. Diligently practicing all the exercises should expand your vocabulary and give you basic grammatical skills in Arabic. It will not bring you to the point of being able to carry on a meaningful conversation (unless your conversations are confined to describing objects and pointing at various people and animals and stating what they are doing), nor will it enable you to, say, read a newspaper.

For self-study, this software makes a good supplement to more robust texts and tapes. Don't expect it to bring you up to full proficiency. If you want to do more than recognize simple sentences and learn a lot of "everyday vocabulary," Rosetta Stone is insufficient. However, I do recommend it for the crucial repetition and "training your ear" that every language student needs, especially those doing self-study, if you are at a low to moderate proficiency level.

It is important to note that the text is entirely in Arabic script. You must be able to read Arabic before you can practice anything but the listening exercises. (Get a good book on Arabic script and learn it -- it's not that difficult, a serious student should be able to read the script fairly proficiently within a week.) Also, there are no English translations at all. This is not a bad thing -- the way the information is presented, you are expected to pick up the meaning as you go along, and if you practice the exercises seriously, you will. Just be aware that this software is based on the Audio-Lingual method, so you will find no glossaries or explanations of grammar.

Liked it but it needs a lot of patience and head scratching.
I bought the Rosetta Stone Explorer Arabic course and got through it with some difficulty (but it was fun for the most part).

I have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and have studied the language and writing so I knew a little bit already. I found that several times it was difficult to determine the gender or ages of the people in the pictures. I also found that the small display (at least half the size of my laptop screen made it more difficult to see the pictures especially if the arabic script is on top of it. It would be helpful also if the Arabic script were larger. I would have liked to see a translation of the Arabic words into English as a way to clear up any confusion that does arise often. It would have been ok to rely primarily on the method that Rosetta Stone uses as long as you can look up the words in question. It would have been really super to be able to point and click on the Arabic script or on the specific images in the picture to get a translation.

It takes a lot of concentration to look at the pictures and try to associate the spoken or printed arabic words to just what is meant to be conveyed in the pictures. Often you have to go back and forth between two or more different pictures to see what is common to the Arabic words being spoken/written. The words are written only in Arabic script and unless you know that Arabic is written from right to left and know what the characters represent you can forget about associating the printed word to any meaning.

Finally, despite the relatively high price for the more advanced Level 1 and Level 2 courses I did enjoy the "Explorers" course and will probably buy them anyway. But first, I want to buy the Transparent Language Arabic course which is considerably cheaper. I also bought the Transparent Languages "101 Languages of the World" course which is the inexpensive intoduction to Transparent Languages more expensive and more in depth course which is much cheaper than Rosetta Stone. It also has immediate translations and a lot of other teaching methods that I find very good.

Good with other resources, but can't stand on its own
I've been using a number of different language software programs as research for a thesis. I've enjoyed using the Rosetta Stone software to study German, Arabic and Japanese. I have lived in Japan and I had studied Japanese for a number of years before I came across this software. It was my first time studying German and Arabic.

My biggest problem with Rosetta Stone software comes from the complete lack of any explanation of the basics of the target language. The theory here is that you will learn the language as a child does by seeing pictures, hearing the words and making the connection. This idea in practice can be a lot of fun and you should be able to pick up some vocabulary and sentence structures in a very short time (as long as the language uses an English alphabet). However, without a few basic pointers on the writing systems of languages like Japanese and Arabic, good luck figuring anything out. For example, if you did not know that Arabic is written and read from right to left with the letters joined together as in cursive English, you stand little hope of ever being able to break words and phrases down into the 28 Arabic alphabet's characters. It wasn't until I went to another source outside the Rosetta Stone software that I realised my massive error in trying to decipher the most basic script. This could have easily been avoided had the software offered a few pages of explanation, or even just the alphabet itself spelled out with English letter approximate equivalents and an arrow pointing from right to left. And Japanese? The same problem times 3 (the number of written character styles in Japanese) and just as confusing.

Final review then? The Rosetta Stone software by itself can be quite useful as long as you are after listening and speaking skills only AND you don't think you'll ever need to see and read the word as you hear it. However, if you were hoping to learn reading and writing in a target language that uses a writing system other than the English alphabet, be prepared to go hunting for additional resources as a primer before you start banging your head against this Stone. After an hour or so of basic tutorial from an Arabic alphabet website, I got back on track with Rosetta, but I was quite annoyed that I ever had to make that extra journey in the first place. A company should not try to claim that its software is an all encompassing program if it falls so far short of just that from the get go. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

This comprehensive program provides up to 550 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists or drills. Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson, and there are automated tutorials throughout the program. Graphical speech recognition displays your voiceprint and compares it with the native speaker to help improve your pronunciation. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

great for learning to understand by hearing and seeing
I began studying hebrew 2 years ago, but with only occasional classes, I found that I understood very little in conversation. This software helped me begin to do that. It has 8 'chapters', each with 11 or 12 'lessons'. The vocabulary starts out easy and slowly becomes more difficult. At the end, the vocabulary is probably intermediate level.

Within each lesson is 10 sets of 4 pictures. A statement is said aloud (there is also an option for reading only), and you click on the appropriate picture. It seems rather simplistic, but it really helps in understanding the language and associating the words and phrases with the actions being depicted.

Overall, excellent. My big regret is that they do not have a level II.

Learn Hebrew easily!
I teach a special education program in a Hebrew day school. I use this program to introduce my students to Hebrew language. It works! Even if a child cannot yet read, he or she can still learn the language by connecting the words they hear with the pictures. They can then use this program to see how these same words are written. I have some students who can study a unit and take the test in the program and get 100% on the reading test first time. The test of matching pictures to the heard words takes a little longer. I also have some students who excel the other way: they find pictures easier, the reading is more difficult. This program enables my students to improve all aspects of their language skills.
P.S. Before I bought the program, I tried the sampler CD, and learned some Welsh myself. This is a language that has always intrigued me - and if I could learn Welsh from Rosetta Stone, I felt that my students could definitely learn Hebrew using it.
Again, it's not the most exciting game, but if you want to learn Hebrew, this is a great way to do it. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Buy this right now!
I was interested in learning Latin, and my high school only offers Spanish and French. I resolved to learn it on my own, and this product was invaluable. It was amazing how fast I picked up Latin! Within a couple of weeks of study, the language seemed to flow off my tongue. Buying this product is the single most important step you can take to learning Latin. My only criticism is that there isn't a Latin II product to continue my studies. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Learn Thai the Correct Way
This learning series really helped me learn how to listen to the different annotations and accents of the Thai langauge. The speakers are native Thais including men and women. The CD-Rom is very interactive using different learning methods for each lesson. The lessons include listening, reading, and speaking. The exercises are composed of 4 pictures which the narrator describes and you choose the appropriate activity. None of the lessons include an English translation which can be a bit confusing.
Overall this is a great buy for learning how to speak Thai correctly. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The ONLY worthwhile language learning software!
The Rosetta Stone series of language instruction software is "Pimsleur" level of effectiveness and unfortunately, Pimsleur level cost as well.

The programs work on a total immersion basis, with no English used at all. There are several types of drills, ones where you hear a word or sentence and pick it out of a group of pictures, another where you read the text of the word and pick out the pictures, etc. There are also typing drills in your language to help you spell (without having to download special fonts), pronounciation drills that allow you to hear a word, speak it to your computer and hear your voice in comparison to the native speaker played back to you.

This is the first program of it's type I've found where this feature actually works!

I own both German and Russian 1 and 2. There is a LOT to learn here, especially if you do all the types of drills for each lesson. You learn grammar from inference, such as word endings when the subject is "in" something rather than "on" or "under" it. You see the same endings used, compare them with the pictures and you start to recognize patterns.

But one of the best things about this software is the user interface. Since it's an immersion program, there's no English used and by it's very nature needs to be intuitive. This is how it should be done. I've used other types of language software that had a klunky, confusing interface with features that didn't work, etc. None of that is the case with the Rosetta Stone software.

On another note, I switched to Mac about nine months ago and Fairfield Language Technologies sent me out a new Mac OS X systems disc for free, no questions asked. At this price level you'd think this would be commonplace, but it's not. Adobe allowed me to change from PC to OS X when I upgraded from Photoshop 6 to 7, but Macromedia wouldn't and expected me to buy all new software (I didn't). So kudos to FLT for their stellar customer service!

Is it too expensive? I'd say yes, but this is a serious language learning tool for serious self students, and it's a lot cheaper than classes at the U. The axiom is true with both this and the Pimsleur method tapes; you get what you pay for.

Great! Help me so much!
It is a great way to learn or review. It makes you learn by seeing a picture and than remembering what it means. It works very well, I used this product at school and it's worked beautifully for me. I had been trouble remembering the pronocation or the spelling of the words, I used this for a couple of times a week. And it helped wonderfully for me.

First its in sections with listening, reading, and translating by pictures or them telling you. The great thing is you can repeat it as many times as you want or you can just click the little icon on the right of the screen and see the answers so your not clueless.

It seperated by units, like one unit would be food or going to the supermarket another unit could be what you do on the weekends like 'I like to sit home and read'. It helps you have conversations with the people and even helps you by testing you at the end of each unit. (And it has many many units ranging from just listening and reading or listening and seeing the picture and repeating it.)

The flaw is that if you are a beginner it would be a Little challenging since it speaks to you a bit faster, hard to understand most of the words. But it makes up for it with some units by viewing the sentance from above.

It's a great program, above much others.

Excellent program with a few drawbacks
This program is a fun and fast way to start recognizing Russian words and sentences. You learn by hearing and seeing written cues along with photographs that represent various concepts. Click on the correct photograph and get a rewarding sound and move forward. It is intuitive, and you will find that you recognize a great deal very quickly.

There are a few drawbacks to the program, however. Because the program teaches using photographs, it is difficult to show that "I" am doing something or "you" are doing something. Most of the sentences, therefore, are in the third person. This is a challenge when you go to speak to someone and find that most of your conversation would be in the first and second person.

The other drawback is that there is no explanation of the grammar, and no translation of new vocabulary. I use this program with a Russian/English dictionary at my side. I understand that the point is that you learn the word for a concept rather than a translation, which is a better way to learn. On the other hand, it is not always clear what the photograph is trying to convey. For example, a photograph of a 1950s vintage green car has a word you have learned to be car, and an adjective. I had no idea what it was getting at until I looked up the adjective to see that it meant "old." Occasionally you might get an answer wrong because you mistook the action in the photo not because you didn't understand the grammar. It's not a major problem, but you do feel a bit cheated when it happens!

Also, it would be useful to have a function that would allow you to look up a grammatical rule behind new vocabulary so that you could not only hear that a certain ending is being added, but have an explanation of why it is being added.

Overall, however, I would recommend this program for its ease of use. It makes you feel that you're making progress very quickly, which helps get you past some of the discouragement you can sometimes face with a text book full of declensions.

I'd recommend using it with a good Russian/English dictionary and the book Master The Basics Russian which has good grammar charts.

You will really learn.. more than you realize...
I've edited my original review since I've used this software for over a year now... see below...

From my original review: you don't have to be a "rocket scientist" to learn with this product. It actually makes learning FUN, and you don't even realize you are learning as you are using it... and yet I find after using it, the retention of the things I've learned is excellent. It has a very intuitive interface, and you are given examples such as "The boy runs" and then shown a picture of a woman dancing, a man walking, a boy running, and a dog jumping... simply select the right picture... or shown a picture and you select the right phrase that goes with that picture... a chime or applause or "winning sound" indicates a right choice, a buzzer or a sigh sounds if you are wrong... you can choose which sound you want to hear, or let the program select the right/wrong sounds at random... Well, before you know it, you are actually learning using pictures and ideas... the same way you learned your own language way back when...

Update a year later and three trips to Russia, a 4th one planned:

Since I first bought this product I've made 3 trips to Russia and made many Russian friends. They have all complimented me on how well I pronounce my spoken Russian. Also, I'll say that while this program did not make me ~fluent~ in Russian, it certainly gave me many words to use that helped me out in every day situations. And I did not even realize how MUCH of this software I was absorbing, until I was actually there IN Russia and speaking with Russians, and then the "images" associated with the sounds and the words and the dialogs in this program were just ~there~ for me.

Yes, I've also found it is handy to have a pocket dictionary handy (on occasion) to look up some of the words when you first encounter them.

However I totally disagree about needing grammatical syntax. That is the LAST thing you want to involve yourself in when you are first exposing yourself to a new language.

Yes, once you begin to know a language, it's definitely important, but if I hadn't gotten the "head start" on learning how to speak and how to read and how to pronounce Russian, as I did with this product, then I wouldn't have made the progress I did.

I notice that one other person prefers the Learning Russian Now! product instead of the Rosetta Stone.

I bought that product too, and as a pure BEGINNER, that product was way over and beyond my abilities at the time. It was way too much to deal with as a beginner learning Russian and just totally frustrated me to the max.

This product will give you a good sound basis to advance your Russian language skills from.

Without having used this product first, a more complex or complicated product, such as one that introduces grammatical rules or complex series of dialogs, would have been way over my head, and would have only frustrated me.

My advice? If you are beginning from Square One learning Russian, start with this product and then move up to more complex products only after you've achieved BASIC skills and abilities in Russian.

And Rosetta Stone will give you those in a fascinating, addictive, FUN environment. A year later and it's STILL fun and I've learned many things going back over the earlier lessons I thought I had down cold. You learn more grammar and syntax than you are even ~aware~ of learning, and that's another reason why this product is so good! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Minh noi tieng viet!
The Rosetta Stone products are great. I have bought Vietnamese level 1 and Japanese level 1 and 2. I consider vietnamese to be a much more difficult language to learn since it is a tonal language.
This software helped me a lot and now I am even able to chat on the internet with vietnamese people. However, don't think that this software is all you need to learn the language. Since there are no translations(it is only based on pictures, sounds and text in vietnamese) I had to use several dictionaries to help me through the lessons. In this page is a nice and free dictionary for ...And I also recommend a dictionary such as The Rough Guide Vietnamese dictionary where at the beginning is a reference to the basics of the language. This is where you might want to start before studying the lessons in the RS Vietnamese I.

Great product
This is a great way of learning a language and I highly recommend it. It works for me and I have fun doing so.
Remember that this is a software program and you have to sit at your computer. The small booklet that comes with it only contains the text of the course in its original language, there is no translation of the text. I suggest you also buy a dictionary (I bought Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary which I like).
If you are sure you want Level 1 then do NOT buy the Explorer. The Explorer contains a subset of Level 1. Unfortunately I was mislead because most people who bought Level 1 also bought the Explorer. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The addition of the curriculum text manual is great!
I bought the Arabic Level 1 edition soon after using the "Explorer" version. To my great relief, Level 1 includes a 200 page text which provides all the written Arabic screen prompts used throughout the program, in two formats no less, modern standard without the short vowels as well as fully-vowelled. This really beats trying to copy down everything by hand for study notes. As the lack of this text was the only shortcoming I found with Explorer, I am now a very happy camper. The other reviewer comments on Level 1 are right on the money as far as I am concerned.

It can be done!
Tell most souls spawn from an academic mileu that you want to learn Arabic on your own and you'll get a wry smile and a patronizing mental-pat on the head. Ignore the nay-sayers! As the above reviewer mentioned, this program is a vital tool for Arabic self-study. Along with it, I recommend purchasing "Alif Baa" along with the Cd's to learn the script. Also pick up Wehr's dictionary along with the 'Oxford English to Arabic' dictionary. Around lesson 4.05 of the Rosetta program, you've reached the point where you're ready for some supplementary material. So far, your approach to the language has been passive, and if you have a desire to write in the language, as well as understand long strands of verbal narrative, you'll need more material. I recommend Vol. 1-2 of Al-Kitaab [the 'red' book] along with the accompanying Cd's. Also, if you have a thirst for grammer and more traditional structure, try "Elementary Modern Standard Arabic" [the orange book] Vols. 1-2. You can also purchase a marvelous software program entitled "Emsa Companion" that is critical for those covering the material on their own [see creativeworks.byu.edu/HRC/arabic.html]. Learning a colloquial dialect can also be fun--and critical if you need to find a toilet while touring the Middle East. Try 'Levantine Arabic for Non-natives' (see the reviews before buying.) There's so much more, but I grow weary of the keyboard. Master this material and you'll be well on your way. It may sound expensive, but it's far cheaper than a couple of semester of school. Adieu

Excellent addition to other study materials!
I've just started to learn Arabic in August of this year and have done a lot of looking around for materials to help me. I've read all the reviews on the Rosetta Stone software and have begun using this product. My opinion:

This is a fun tool to help you acquire vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and see how the language works. Some people don't like the fact that there are no English translations anywhere, but I actually enjoy the total immersion because it becomes a puzzle for me to figure out. It keeps me studying longer than if I was just looking at a bunch of flash cards. And since there aren't many Arabic speakers in my neck of the woods, the speech recognition part is indispensible.

Yes, sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what meaning the picture is conveying. That's when I pull out a dictionary and look the word up to confirm my guess as to the meaning. And it's not going to teach you phrases you need for travel, either. I have a pocket phrasebook and a Pimsleur CD for that.

Also, I wouldn't recommend that a rank beginner start right off the bat with this. First learn the alphabet and how the script works, because this won't teach you those things. But once you get a little feel for those things, then this would be a fun addition to your program.

No book or tape or software product can ever replace talking with native speakers, but for those of us who can't get to native speakers, this is a darn good 2nd choice.

Highly recommended so long as you understand that it is one of several tools to use to learn the language.

Rosetta Stone works
I've always thought learning a new language would be impossible. I'm not disciplined enough to go over vocabulary lists over and over. The way Rosetta Stone's program is laid out has made it very easy to use. You just sit back and click. You'll be suprised at how fast you'll pick stuff up. It's almost as easy as watching TV. If you're lazy or a dummy,or both, and want to pick up a language; then I recommend you get this. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Features

• 92 immersion-style lessons for the serious language learner
• Over 3500 real-life color images and phrases
• Selected by the U.S. State Department, the Peace Corps, and NASA
• 250 hours of mastery instruction in comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing
• Previews, exercises, and tests accompany every lesson; automated tutorials throughout

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Features

• Learn body and hand positioning for grammar and fingerspelling
• Video lessons and explanations of ASL phrase syntax improve beginners' foundation in ASL
• Hands-on ASL dictionary packed with over 6,000 words - plus synonyms and written sign movement descriptions for each entry
• ASL Phrase Guide offers real-life communication -- over 600 phrases are introduced, with video demonstrations of each entry
• Complete reference guide provides overview of the scope & history of America's third most common language

Reviews (2)

Instant maybe. Immersion questionable.
My dad got this for me to supplement a Latin textbook I have been studying for my high school language course. It is quick and easily understandable. You get plenty of words and phrases, which is perfect for a traveler. If you want to learn the language for the sake of knowing it, not travel, however, you'd better get a book to supplement this. It doesn't teach about pluralization, verb conjugation, or other oddities that the language holds, such as, in Latin, the ending -m which implies a direct object. The Latin CD also does not use the dashes over the vowels (ie. â,ç,î,ô,û). Overall, I am very happy with the product and with the price of $39.99 (USD), but I am also quite glad I have my textbook (ECCE ROMANI) to go with it.

Okay for the price
I was hoping this set would contain the first CD or at least part of the first CD in the two-CD Instant Immersion programs, which would have been a great deal, and would have truly given you a good start in all these languages. However, this set only has very basic material for each language, and in fact is more like having a basic CD vocabulary and phrasebook for each language rather than a real mini-course or introduction, which for me is only marginally useful.

The vocabulary sections are divided up into 8 sections: first words, colors, food, numbers, shopping, countries, time, body. The ninth section is for phrases, and one advantage is that they are pronounced individually for you, which you can do for the individual words, too. There are two categories of games, easy and hard, and the program tracks your progress.

If you like to collect lots of phrase books with basic vocabulary, this might be fine for you, as you can at least learn some words and phrases that might be useful, but for me the major shortcoming is there is nothing on the grammar. I would rather invest the money in the 2-CD version of the half dozen languages I'm interested in, and then pay the extra for the 5 and 8 CD advanced Instant Immersion software when I'm ready to progress to the next stage of learning.

Still, for a reasonable price you get 33 languages, including all the main European ones plus things like Swahili, Korean, Finnish, Hindi, Tibetan, Vietnamese, and so on. So if you like to play around with exotic languages this might be the set for you, but you'll need to supplement it with a real language learning course if you're serious about really going anywhere with your studies.

I need to mention one drawback to the CD's, however. I have reasonably fast, 16x read and 48x write speed CD, and the program still runs fairly slowly, although I have a half gig of RAM and a 2.6 GHz system. It's mostly noticeable when using the pronunciation capability, but it spends a lot of time just seeking when you're jumping between sections. It's tolerable on my CD player, but if you have an older, slower one, be advised it's going to be slow.

One solution would be to get Tenebril software's Virtual Drive Manager program which will copy it to your hard disk so you can run it from there. I've tested it on about a dozen programs and it works on most of them. So it's not a sure thing but the program isn't that expensive and it does work for many things. Tenebril can be found on the web, where I bought it. I don't know if their software is carried by most computer stores or not. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This unconventional language-learning series offers games and quizzesthat make the learning process fun, relaxing, and, as such, more successful.Ideal for beginners, Talk Now! Tagalog (Filipino) includes such topics asvocabulary, phrases, culture, and more. A handy print and picture dictionaryproduces entries with both text and pictorial references. This interactivesoftware title also features a recording tool, so you can compare yourpronunciation to that of native speakers (microphone required). Quizzes and achallenging memory game let you test your newly acquired skills. You can alsotrack your scores and print awards to celebrate. Best of all, you can changeTalk Now! Tagalog's onscreen help and menus to the language of your choice. Withmore than 70 languages from which to choose, this software makes learningTagalog accessible to everyone. ... Read more

Features

• Tagalog language learning software
• Study vocabulary, phrases, culture, and more
• Recording tool lets you practice with native speakers
• Games and challenging quizzes make learning fun
• On-screen help available in more than 70 languages

Reviews (3)

You won't be able to talk back and forth with this.
If you are looking to buy this software in order to speak to someone back and forth, this is not the product for you. It will teach you phrases and questions, but you won't be able to understand any answers that a native speaker might give you because it doesn't teach you that. You will be able to identify objects in a house or building, but you won't know how to use them in a sentence or even in a fragmented sentence. This is also true for colors. If this is what you rely on to travel somewhere you might find yourself in the middle of a croud just saying azul(blue)......pula(red).... malalim na azul(dark blue)....Nasaan ang maipaparada ng kotse(where can I park the car?) and then even when you ask where can I park the car you won't know where to park it because you won't understand anything that people will tell you because it doesn't teach you that(people might think you're retarded haha). It only teaches you numbers up to 20, so you're out of luck if you ask magkano ito? (how much is this?) and the answer is 150 pisos. You'll just have to hand a merchant a wad of cash and hope he is honest and gives you your change. However, with all the bad things out of the way, this might make a good start for you to learn how to say the words correctly, even though the guy that talk doesn't pronounce the words correctly on there, just click on the girl(she says the correct pronunciations). After completing the CD, Which only took a bout a week and a day and scoring a perfect score on everything on the CD,I would say that this software is incomplete. The manufacturer could have done a better job. I give it a 1 out of 5.

Good software to learn the basics
This CD is "fast, fun & user friendly" just like the good people at Talk Now say. It plays on both Windows and Mac computers. I recommend it for what it is. A beginner's learning tool for the essential words and phases. A useful feature is you can learn using YOUR native language as you have choice of over 70 languages. I tried Chinese as I know it reasonably well and it worked just OK - I feel they designed it primarily for those with English as their 1st language. So if you American, Brit, Aussie, or Canadian this is a good beginner's guide for you.

It's best feature is it's pronounces the words in both male and female voices as many Tagalog courses do not pronounce the words for you :-( You will enjoy the games and tests to measure your progress and it allows you to print your own dictionary for handy reference. I just wish it covered even more of our Tagalog words. Just incase I forget them.hehehe

Talk Now! Tagalog by Eurotalk
Nice interactive cd for beginning Tagalog. Learn basics such as numbers, colors, directions as well as some simple dialogs. The sound is quite clear and allows you to hear the words pronounced alternately by a male and a female voice. There are also multiple choice quizes that test what you have learned. There is a text that can be printed as well to assist in the learning of Tagalog. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Learn a new language with the award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats. Proven effective by NASA astronauts, Peace Corps volunteers, and millions of students worldwide, the Rosetta Stone Language Library teaches new languages faster and easier than ever before.

We all learn our childhood language by associating new words and phrases with the world around us. The Rosetta Stone method replicates this process by presenting vivid, real-life images to convey the meaning of each new phrase. Instead of translating, memorizing, and studying rules of grammar, you actually learn to think in the new language. Vocabulary and grammar are integrated systematically, leading to everyday proficiency.

The Rosetta Stone Level I program offers a comprehensive course of study for beginning learners, leading to intermediate proficiency. The program contains over 3,500 real-life images and phrases in 92 lessons and more than 250 hours of mastery instruction in listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing. Systematic structure teaches vocabulary and grammar naturally, without lists and drills. There are reviews, exercises, and tests for every lesson with automated tutorials throughout the program. (Ages 6 and older) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good for understanding, but not speaking.
I'll start by saying that I am a die-hard fan of the Pimsleur Language system, so take this review with a grain of salt, if you'd like. I will also say that I have always struggled with foreign languages until I discovered Pimsleur. Now, I am almost fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, and can communicate in several others (Russian, German and French)
Why did I bother with Rosetta Stone if Pimsleur is so great? Well, by itself, no program out there is complete, Pimsleur being no exception. I found that though my spoken skills were developed by Pimsleur as no other program could, my vocabulary was limited, and my listening skills still needed work. I found that Rosetta Stone is good at forcing you to listen and write well. In addition, it greatly enhances the limited vocabulary provided by Pimsleur.
I can't imagine for a minute though that one could develop good spoken language skills with Rosetta Stone by itself. I simply won't believe it, because it doesn't afford you the opportunity to speak in a conversational type setting. This is necessary practise for becoming fluent.
Summary? Use Pimsleur, supplement with Rosetta Stone. Happy learning!

The BEST
I've taken many language courses, mostly in Spanish and French. I used to quit once it got hard simply because I was bogged down with grammar. The Rosetta Stone for Portuguese Level I(I also bought Level 2), in this case, Brazilian Portuguese, is completely different than any language course I've tried in that YOU choose how and when you learn. The pictures are colorful.You have two men and a woman voice for variety. You get to choose between listening, reading, writing, speaking. The only thing that didn't work for me was the recording of my voice for comparison because the microphone I had wasn't compatable, but in the record mode, you can still play back the speakers either in slow or normal conversational speed and 'see' how the words 'sound'. Fairly good with languages anyway, my accent is gradually going 'native'so I don't need to record myself. Through trial and error I've discovered the 'listening' mode works best. That way when the next picture comes up I can think its description in Portugese rather than be dependent on reading the Portuguese decription.I adore the fast tutorial. You can test yourself. You're given a book that you can read your lessons if you don't feel like putting in the CD. The CD works without a glitch. The best thing about this course is that you CAN'T get bored even with the repetition because you decide how you want to do things. The clever thing about the colorful box is that the front opens up like a book which describes the course features. The Rosetta Stone IS the BEST for language instruction if classes and cassette tapes don't work. ... Read more