Rosetta Stone German Personal Edition Level 1

Rating:
Summary: Great program
Review: I really liked this program and highly recommend it.
Two things though:
1. You need a dictionary
The small booklet only contains the text of the course in its original language
2. If you are sure you want to buy Level 1 then do NOT buy the Explorer. The Explorer is merely a subset of Level 1.

Rating:
Summary: Good program
Review: I started using this program so that I can learn German. I live in a Dutch speaking home and Dutch was my first language. Since the two languages are very similar I decided to begin learning German. The program is very good, although translations would be helpful, and if the grammar was explained. Also it would be nice if they introduced the definite articles with each noun introduced in the vocabulary, this would make it much easier instead of having to eventually figure out the noun gender. But all in all this program is quite good to learn basic German, move on to the second version of this program to learn more advanced things.

Rating:
Summary: The ONLY worthwhile language learning software!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but an option with translations would have been nice.
Review: This program is the best I have run into for learning a foreign language. It starts with basic German words and pictures, to which is added other words and pictures so that one learns phrases and then eventually sentences. Your mind associates the sound and spelling of a word(s) with a picture representing the word(s), and in this way you learn intuitively instead of having to think or translate. A few pictures, however, can be interpreted in more than one way, and it would have helped to have had an option that allowed one to view a translation. When I was unsure of the meaning of a certain word based on the picture, I used a dictionary and this solved the problem. The different sections in each lesson interactively teach you how to read, listen, speak, and write. For example, you will hear and/or read something and you will have to match what you hear/read to the one of the pictures shown. If you match it correctly you hear a pleasant sound and continue. If you match it incorrectly you hear an annoying sound and you try again until you get it right. For the writing section you hear words associated with a picture that is shown. One of the writing exercises consists of choosing the right words in the right order and another consists of typing in the correct word, phrase or sentence off the top of your head. I liked the speaking section because you can listen to German spoken at a normal speed, a slow speed and an even slower speed: the slow speed helped me hear better how words were pronounced so that I was more confident when attempting to imitate them. This personal edition level 1 course teaches you just basic German. You end up learning to ask and answer questions like "how do I get to the train station?" You also end up learning grammar intuitively. The reasons this program works well I think is: because you learn language naturally through pictures; because it does a good job building from the basics; and finally, because it tests you a lot. I had fun using it because it tests you continually and I like getting "Skinnerian" positive feedback every time I answer something correctly. It's a great way to begin learning German, but I recommend buying a dictionary in case you feel you have to look up a word or two.