Rosetta Stone Spanish Level 1 & 2 Personal Edition

Rating:
Summary: Good but way overpriced
Review: I got this program to help with listening comprehension. It does a good job at that. Overall, the program is way overpriced. As one reviewer pointed out, it is mostly in the present progressive or the present tense. It helps one learn basic vocabulary and very simple sentences in the present tense, but is sorely lacking in teaching more complex grammar and more complicated vocal utterances. This is not a stand-alone program. You will need to study Spanish elsewhere to really learn the language. It does excel at teaching listening comprehension but you will need to supplement these CDs with plenty of other learning.

Rating:
Summary: Rosetta Stonne is useful, but not as a stand-alone course
Review: Rosetta Stone Spanish lacks learning Spanish "drills." The Rossetta Stone Spanish lessons teach you how to speak Spanish using pictures. From my experience, you need drills in order to learn Spanish or to learn how to speak Spanish proficiently. Only drills will make you "think" quickly and sharply in Spanish. An example of a learning Spanish course that uses drills would be a learning Spanish plan with Spanish lessons that asks you questions, and then requires you to make your response in Spanish. The "drill" method is probably the most effective way to learn Spanish. Not a method that relies entirely on pictures such as Rosetta Stone Spanish. But the Rosetta Stone Spanish method can be useful if used in conjunction with another course that uses the drill method such as Learning Spanish Like Crazy or Pimsleur's Spanish.

One thing that I really like about the Rosetta Stone Spanish software is that the Spanish lessons have excellent sound quality.

Rating:
Summary: Great software but has room for improvement.
Review: The only thing I don't like about this program is that the method does not take into account the fact that people who try to learn another language have amassed a great deal of knowledge before they embark on a new language journey. For example, in my case my thought process is very much efficient if things are explained not only in pictures but also in textual form, particularly the English language. For this reason, the course should have considered the mother tongue of different people, to make the learning process a lot easier and faster. In my case, to overcome this handicap, I downloaded the PDF text file of the English Level 1 and 2 from the Rosetta Stone website to help me grasp words and phrases that are not adequately conveyed by the visual choices of the program. The English version is not the mirror of the Spanish lessons, but it is a great help when one is lost in the occasional inadequacy of the visual examples of the program. An optional translation of the lessons, by way of one toggle switch in the interface, would have been perfect. With the proliferation of MP3 capable CD players in car stereos and other portable devices, Rosetta Stone should also squeeze all the audio lessons contained in its language disks in just one disk (I am very sure this is possible if done in MP3 format), thereby extending the learning process to the car or somewhere when the learner is simply far from the desktop.

Despite the above, I rate this product as a 5 star, because in less than 3 months of intensive use it helped me attain a very high level of proficiency, which even my Spanish speaking officemates are simply amazed.

Rating:
Summary: Present Progressive Tense
Review: The present progressive tense indicates that the action is in progress, e.g. I am eating (now). In Spanish the present progressive tense is quite restricted and is usually limited to what a person is doing RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, this course uses the progressive tense throughout, where as in real life, the present indicative is usually the tense most commonly used. Some examples from the course might be: Los muchachos están saltando; La muchacha está comiendo; El niño está corriendo, etc. The point is, you get a lot of work with the verb "estar" and a lot of work with the gerund (the "ing" form )of other verbs, but little else. The pictures are great, the vocabulary work is great and the voice quality is great,I would just prefer more work with the verb forms of the present indicative which is the most commonly used and which is a much more versatile tense. Another complaint: this is a windows based program without a minimize button--that's inconvenient.

Rating:
Summary: Learning A Language With Success
Review: There is no better program we've found than this. Though skeptical at the onset, we made the purchase. An airport sign advertised promises that seemed unbelievable. Yet months later and through interesting lessons, we've grown much in our knowledge of Spanish grammar and context. Give this one a shot, it doesn't disappoint!

Rating:
Summary: Learning A Language With Success
Review: There is no better program we've found than this. Though skeptical at the onset, we made the purchase. An airport sign advertised promises that seemed unbelievable. Yet months later and through interesting lessons, we've grown much in our knowledge of Spanish grammar and context. Give this one a shot, it doesn't disappoint!

Rating:
Summary: I needed the Rosetta Stone in high school!
Review: This is an amazing product! I have to preface my comments by stating my biases-I think the best way to learn a language is through immersion lessons in that country (this is how I learned Czech). If that's not possible, then the next best way is with intensive lessons with a great teacher (I don't have a Spanish tutor yet, but I'm going to get one). But for those of us who want to study Spanish on our own every day (I do one lesson a day, which takes me about two hours), the Rosetta Stone is awesome. I've never used any other language software, so I don't know if there are other great programs on the market that are this good, but I doubt it.

Why is this product so awesome? It's intuitive, fun (isn't that half the battle in learning a language?), interactive, and comprehensive. I'd describe the method as similar to the Berlitz language school method in that you start the lesson and great looking pictures come up on the screen with the words that match each picture (the obvious difference being that the Rosetta Stone does this with great graphics on your PC versus a Berlitz teacher using a picture book). Then the words are spoken so you intuitively learn by making these connections (you need a good headset).

After you learn the words the lesson goes through the same words, but in 4 different exercises (Listening, Reading, Speaking, & Writing). Over time the words build up to phrases and then to sentences. I really like the creative way the lessons teach each activity while repeating the words/phrases you're learning in a way that's not boring.

The other thing I'd say is these lessons are fun, which means I'm highly motivated to keep learning (I actually look forward to doing my lessons every day!). I wish the Rosetta Stone had a Czech version when I learned that language because it would've changed my experience from being a grind to being enjoyable.

I should mention there are a couple of things that annoy me about the software (in the Writing exercise there's not an Auto-scroll function for 2 of the parts, so you have to click on the next picture to advance; also, there's not an easy way to tell what exercises you've completed in the lesson, so I have to write down what I've finished when I take breaks). Although I'd like to see these improvements made, they are relatively trivial compared to the overall brilliance of this product.

But back to the positives, I've also noticed how mentally exhausted I've been since I started using this program. I had the same feeling the first couple of weeks when I started learning Czech intensively, so this is a good sign my brain is really being stretched by this software.

Lastly, the Rosetta Stone is very interactive because you have to click on the correct pictures/text or type in the correct spelling as you do the exercises. So, it's easy to stay engaged as you're learning, versus feeling being bored by reading some grammar lesson from a textbook or wasting your time making dull flash cards.

Based on the excellent progress I've had so far, I'm going to buy either the Italian or French versions from Rosetta Stone next, since for the first time in my life I'm having a blast learning a language and I'm progressing faster than I thought was possible.

Rating:
Summary: Very Helpful
Review: This will not work for you as the first or only program for learning Spanish. It is great as a supplement to other methods of learning Spanish. The method is entirely intuitive - there is no English anywhere, so you may also want to have a dictionary and a grammar book.

I have found Rosetta Stone language programs most useful for reviewing the information I have learned elsewhere, for brushing up on languages I haven't used for a while, and for expanding vocabulary.

It may not be the best choice for total beginners, but you can learn a lot by associating words and expressions with the images and occasional mini videos. I do consider it definitely a worthwhile purchase.