Rating: 
Summary: Good program for memorizing and reviewing
Review: Every program has some advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, so I have found this program most useful for associating words with ideas - after all it does contain 8000 pictures. The complete beginner in Chinese may initially make good progress, but then get stuck because the program doesn't contain any grammatical explanations.I have found Pimsleur Chinese better for developing conversational proficiency. Ultimate Mandarin Chinese book and CDs would provide great addition to new learning because that course fills in the gap which deals with some essential grammar that takes out confusion. A little bit of understanding can greatly accelerate one's progress with Chinese. Rosetta Stone Chinese has only "pinyin", so if you wish to learn how to read and write Chinese, you'll have to get some other book. I do think that Rosetta Stone programs could be greatly improved with at least some basic grammatical explanations. For Chinese, it would also be nice, if the Chinese characters were provided. Nevertheless, in spite of all the missing elements that would be very helpful, I have still found this program very helpful for learning Chinese.
Rating:
Summary: Good program for memorizing and reviewing
Review: Every program has some advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, so I have found this program most useful for associating words with ideas - after all it does contain 8000 pictures. The complete beginner in Chinese may initially make good progress, but then get stuck because the program doesn't contain any grammatical explanations. I have found Pimsleur Chinese better for developing conversational proficiency. Ultimate Mandarin Chinese book and CDs would provide great addition to new learning because that course fills in the gap which deals with some essential grammar that takes out confusion. A little bit of understanding can greatly accelerate one's progress with Chinese. Rosetta Stone Chinese has only "pinyin", so if you wish to learn how to read and write Chinese, you'll have to get some other book. I do think that Rosetta Stone programs could be greatly improved with at least some basic grammatical explanations. For Chinese, it would also be nice, if the Chinese characters were provided. Nevertheless, in spite of all the missing elements that would be very helpful, I have still found this program very helpful for learning Chinese.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but fairly good.
Review: Firstly, I have not tested the entire software yet. At this point of time, I have only made my way through some of the exercises on the Level 1 cd(since I failed to get the hanyu pinyin to display correctly on my pc).
What I would like to point out is:
a) The pronunciation is excellent and the speaking exercise is quite useful and so are the reading and listening exercises. However, for the typing exercise, there is no installation guide for the proper encoding in order for hanyu pinyin to work, whether it be on a Mac or PC.
This would be particularly frustrating to those with limited proficiency when it comes to computers. And furthermore, there should be a few more speaking exercises as well as an introductory reading and listening exercise that explains the 4 tones in Mandarin.
b) Although the picture-matching exercises are useful and very helpful, the problem is that some of them do NOT match with the answer. For example: "zai chuan shang de yi ge nan hai er he yi ge nu hai er" which translates into a "a male and a female child in a boat" but from the picture itself, it is clear that an adult male and female are sitting in a boat.
c) Many of the pictures are small and of inferior quality, as though they were taken by amateurs. For the price one pays for such a package and given that the software itself was developed such that the pictures are on the Main Cd in order to reduce costs, I would have expected a higher quality product and more variety of pictures since a digital camera is relatively cheap these days.
d) And finally, who was the bright spark who called this a "Chinese" learning software? The right term should be Mandarin as Chinese includes not just Mandarin but the other dialects like Fujian, Teochew, Hakka, Shanghainese, etc, of which, most of them are as common to Mandarin as Dutch is to English.
All in all, an excellent software but one which comes with several drawbarks.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor instruction
Review: I am very disappointed in the Rosetta Stone software for Chinese. The principle is to show you pictures, hear a native speaker say what is trying to be portrayed in the picture, do this multiple times, and eventually you'll learn the language. That is, if I keep showing you a picture of an apple and every time I do I say pinguo, you're eventually going to realize that a pinguo is an apple. Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it? The problem is that a number of the pictures cannot be easily deciphered. There are a few pictures that I have no clue whatsoever as to what I am supposed to be identifying. For instance, if I show you a picture of an apple sitting on a plate with a candle besides it and say pinguo, what is the pinguo? The apple? Plate? Candle? There are several times I thought an object was called one thing and then, several units later, I realized I had misinterpreted the pictures. How frustrating! And it's not that bad in the beginning but the further you get into the program, and the longer the sentences, the worse it gets. Also, the grammatical structure of the sentences is not covered. There is NO instruction on the Chinese language and in fact, there is NO English at all, accept in the instructions on how to use the software. I quickly realized I needed to buy a Chinese dictionary, which was a tremendous help. Even still, it's nearly impossible to decipher long Chinese sentences without some instruction on it. I found the majority of my time was spent trying to find what each word in the sentence meant. This program needs to have an English option that tells me what each word means. Then I can shut it off and try to engrain it in my head. I should not have to spend 50% of my time with my head stuck in a Chinese dictionary in order to understand what this program is trying to teach me. After completing the first disk of the Rosetta Stone, (level one) I have given up on it. I have since then switched to the Pimsleur program. This program is MUCH better than the Rosetta Stone method. It's a CD so there is not visual, which is one thing that was nice with the Rosetta Stone software, but you have an instructor telling you about the grammar and how the word order goes. Additionally, and this is VERY important in speaking Chinese, I spent 5 months going through the first disk of the Rosetta Stone program and did not know HOW important the actual sound of the words meant. Sure, I could hear the different inflections and rising and falling tones in the words, but I just thought that was a Chinese accent. When I switched to the Pimsleur method, the very first lesson spent a great deal of time discussing how important the rising and falling tones made to the meaning of a word. And you are reminded of this fact through out the program. Needless to say, I was a little upset with the Rosetta Stone. Nearly half-a-year of studying under the Rosetta Stone program and I never knew how important the tones were. The Rosetta Stone needs to make changes to their program. It is flawed in theory. If good grammar and speaking ability came from only looking and hearing at pictures, and not instruction, kids wouldn't have English classes for 12 years of their life. Rosetta Stone does not provide an instructor to tell you why the word order is the way it is, what a 'measure' word is, that the tones are important and not just a Chinese accent, etcetera. I do not recommend this software. I have found the Pimsleur method much more effective and I was able to speak in simple conversations shortly after I began. I'm not saying Pimsleur's the best because I do not know. But I do know it's better than the Rosetta Stone method.
Rating: 
Summary: False Advertising
Review: I take issue with Fairfield Language Technologies' claim that the Peace Corps and State Department uses this computer program. I just completed the State Department Chinese language course and I never saw any teacher nor student use this program. Perhaps it is used with other languages that were taught at the Foreign Service Instutute, but not Chinese. As a former Peace Corps trainer, I find it hard to believe that Peace Corps trainees would use this program. Trainees spend at least four hours a day in language class and then spend their evenings staying with host families. The idea is to get out and interact with people, not with a computer.
Rating:
Summary: Works well for me
Review: I use this program in conjunction with a native Chinese tutor. I've been using it for several months. I started with the online version before committing to buying the standalone version. In contrast to some other reviewers I find this program to be very good. Some of the points raised by other reviewers are valid, but their importance is blown out of proportion. The program allows you to practice listening, reading, typing, and speaking. In "tutorial" mode a variety of exercises are used to help train your memory. Things that you get wrong are covered again later in the tutorial as many times as you need to get them right. The lessons are broken down into units. Each unit covers a small number of concepts. The first few units are a bit tough - but this is only because every single word you hear is new. In later units you already know what most of the sentence means and so learning the new words gets easier. The software teaches you concepts rather than the word themselves. The meaning of individual words comes from seeing and hearing the words used in different situations. This is an important point to realise as it means you don't have to waste time trying to find every word you come across in a dictionary. An example of this is in the first lesson - you're taught the sentence for "one dog". You don't know at that point that the word "one" is in the sentence, and so you don't actually realise what word is used for "dog" either. The precise meaning of the sentence, and so the learning of the words for "one" and "dog" come once you've progressed a bit further. This learning approach isn't what everyone is after. If you want to learn lists of words then this program won't suit you. The pronunciation of words is important in Chinese. Every word is pronounced using one of four tones - the same sound pronounced in a different tone is actually a different word in Chinese. This becomes apparent fairly quickly as there are words taught that show this. For example, the word for "horse" and the word for asking a question are both "ma" but with different pronunciations. Having a picture with no horse in it but associated with the sound "ma" should help you realise what's going on. There are many other examples too. The "speaking" component is also very good for practicing tones - visual feedback is given to show whether words have been pronounced correctly. In isolation some of the pictures used are initially hard to decipher. However, if you use the "preview" mode before starting a new exercise you'll get to see what the exercise is about and this then makes most of the picture meanings obvious. Having a Chinese-English dictionary is a good idea - inevitably you will want to check the precise meanings of some things. You can get a free software one from Euro Asian Software.
Rating: 
Summary: Great program AFTER you know some basic Chinese
Review: I was initially using this program through Rosetta Stone's online service (off and on for about a year). I went through the entire program several times, but have decided that I like it enough and have finally purchased it.
The program does not contain a single word in English and you'll get nowhere fast relying only on the intuitive method. OK, the beginning lessons that teach you just how to say simple words may be fine, but then enter the "measure words" (if you don't know anything about measure words, you'll feel lost because it will make no sense to you), and then enters a word order which is simple, but somewhat different in Chinese.
You'll get out of all that confusion by using some basic grammar book and a good pinyin dictionary. It will help you tremendously to move through Rosetta Stone's program.
Now, that I've purchased this program, I was delighted that the two books which are included contain pinyin as well as Chinese characters (both simplified and long form). Even these characters will seem too much, unless you have gone through some other books and programs learning how to write them (I recommend Easy Chinese Tutor CD to begin with).
Now, that you're armed with all the additional tools, progressing through this program will be a piece of cake. The first time I attempted to work with Rosetta Stone, I got nowhere fast. So, I put it aside for a while and went through the Pimsleur Program first - that helped tremendously.
That being said, this program is not geared toward absolute beginners - you'll find it much more enjoyable after you have some basic Chinese under your belt.
The program will expand your vocabulary and help you to memorize lots of words, after you already understand basic sentence structure and some essential grammar in Chinese.
I have been using it in the same way I'd use watching movies in a foreign language to enhance comprehension, learn more words and the use of those words in different contexts. For beginner to intermediate student of Chinese, working with Rosetta Stone program is simply much easier than the comprehension you'll get from watching Chinese movies.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent approach, but needs adaptation for Chinese
Review: I will say up front that I have not used this entire CD. I have only done the first lesson from the program, which I downloaded for free from the RosettaStone.com web site. The learning style presented in the Rosetta Stone series really is as good as they say it is. I like the direct presentation of the Chinese and the concept, without English text explaining the grammar, usage, and so on. I also like the amount of repetition that is built into the exercises. Somehow that approach seems to place the language deeper into your brain, if that makes sense. The "game" like style is also fun. While I was working with it, my one year old son was learning English, and it was quite clear to me that the Rosetta Stone style really is just like a child's first language acquisition. In fact, I felt that working with the program helped me to understand and help my child with his English learning process. Although I like this learning style, I think it would be an improvement if there were an accompanying guide showing the meanings in English, Chinese characters, and pinyin. A guide would also come in handy if you wanted to work separately with a tutor. Then you could show the tutor a list of phrases and sentances you know so they could practice them with you. For what you pay for this software, it would be nice. I do have one major complaint about the program - it is not adapted to Chinese. From looking at the free downloads of each language of Rosetta Stone, it is clear that exactly the same concepts are taught in the same order in each language. For example, The first four phrases you learn are "a girl", "a boy", "a cat", and "a dog", whether you are learning English or Swahili. The program is not adapted to the languages individually. The concept behind the program is that only one new word or phrase is introduced at a time, and the accompanying illustration makes the meaning clear, so your mind can make the association. The problem is that in Chinese the sentance structure can be very different than the Romance languages, causing confusion. For example, in part six of lesson one, you see a picture of a man on a horse accompanied by the sentance "yi ge qi zai ma shang de nan ren". Up till that point you have learned the phrases "A Man," and "A Horse". In the English Rosetta Stone program, the phrase accompanying this picture is "A man on a horse." So clearly, the intention is that you learn the new word "on". But, in the Chinese program the sentance is, literally translated, "A riding located horse top man." So the student is presented with three new words, "riding", "located", and "top," with no clues to figure them out. I get the impression that they developed the template of this program to work well for the romance languages, and then just decided to make extra money by having translators translate the sentancesinto umpteen languages, regardless of whether the template works in those other languages. I think it would be a mistake for a beginner to try to learn Chinese using only this program - it would be very slow and frustrating. But the program would be very helpful used in conjunction with a class or tutor. I have not seen any similar programs out there that are better designed for Chinese, so it could be that Rosetta Stone is still your best bet if you like the interactive, total-immersion learning style.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't get beyond lesson 1
Review: I'm very frustrated. As many of the reviewers have noted, it is often difficult to relate the picture to the chinese. With just a little explanation, this could be a useful program. So far I've purchased the Lonely Planet Mandarin phasebook and used many web sites, but it's still a struggle. We need a web site with translations of the Chinese. Anyone out there have a place to do this?
Rating:
Summary: Might be good, but how can I tell?
Review: I've had this on order for a month now and shipment has been delayed twice. When I want to know why, some nice Indian person tells me that it's been delayed, didn't I get the mail. I have no reason to think it's going to be shipped in the near future. You'd think I was ordering the Gutenberg Bible or something.
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