Rosetta Stone to learn a foreign language?

shakeNbake06 · 11-30-2009, 11:16 AM

Anybody here ever use the program Rosetta Stone and successfully learned a new language? It's expensive as hell, around $700 for all three units, but I recently got a pirated version in hopes of leaning French.. How long should it take to be able to actually speak some basic French and comprehend what people are saying?

verklingen · 11-30-2009, 11:19 AM

i've heard good things

osirus2020 · 11-30-2009, 11:34 AM

I have learned, through 3 years of language in high school, that learning how to speak a language, and comprehending an actually foreign speaker are two very different things.

I have also heard good things about the program.

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 12:49 PM

My wife used this to teach Spanish to a young boy she used to tutor. She can speak Spanish or Mexican, as it is, but this curriculum helped her teach it easer.

Grieves · 11-30-2009, 12:58 PM

My former high school used it, the people who went through that program did alot better in the long term retaining what they had learned than kids who were taught spanish by the traditional teacher/student motif..

yo. · 11-30-2009, 12:59 PM

yeah, i've always heard good things about it.
it's picture-word association so it sounds p easy.

shelbert008 · 11-30-2009, 01:04 PM

I think it depends on the language. I haven't tried to use Rosetta stone, but my sister has. She was trying to learn Chinese and she found that it was very difficult to learn the language with the program. She told me that the problem was they would show a few characters together and then would expect you to associate the proper character with the picture. And they never told her what the character meant to begin with. She had a lot more success taking classes. So honestly I can't give my opinion, but I think you would be fine trying to learn French with Rosetta Stone.

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 01:15 PM

Chinese is cool, no verb conjugation!

Debaser · 11-30-2009, 01:54 PM

I was thinking of looking into it to learn Tagalog, since my wife is Filipino. It's funny because she doesn't speak it, but she understands it because that's what her parents speak at home, I just figured I'd fit in a little better at family functions, since I'm usually the only white guy there and have no idea what anyone is saying.

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowmayne

I pirated it to learn spanish at my dads house in Dallas but never tried it out.

Isn't living in Dallas almost like Spanish immersion or is that the wrong part of TX for that?

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debaser

I was thinking of looking into it to learn Tagalog, since my wife is Filipino. It's funny because she doesn't speak it, but she understands it because that's what her parents speak at home, I just figured I'd fit in a little better at family functions, since I'm usually the only white guy there and have no idea what anyone is saying.

Couldn't hurt man. It will be easy to practice it together then for sure.

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debaser

I was thinking of looking into it to learn Tagalog, since my wife is Filipino. It's funny because she doesn't speak it, but she understands it because that's what her parents speak at home, I just figured I'd fit in a little better at family functions, since I'm usually the only white guy there and have no idea what anyone is saying.

Couldn't hurt man. It will be easy to practice it together then for sure.

My wife helps me with my Spanish all the time.....would never have known I took 2 years of it!

John F. Kerry · 11-30-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageTree

My wife used this to teach Spanish to a young boy she used to tutor. She can speak Spanish or Mexican, as it is, but this curriculum helped her teach it easer.

dude you've gotta be shitting me , i swear to god i thought u were a girl, no offense or anything, and i dont mean it as an insult, but i totaly thought u were a girl, thats crazy as hell , glad u finally set my ass straight lol .

John F. Kerry · 11-30-2009, 02:21 PM

ooooooo word good call

Grieves · 11-30-2009, 02:22 PM

can you not see his avatar?

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F. Kerry

dude you've gotta be shitting me , i swear to god i thought u were a girl, no offense or anything, and i dont mean it as an insult, but i totaly thought u were a girl, thats crazy as hell , glad u finally set my ass straight lol .

Trapped in a man body!

I take no offense to being ambiguous with my sex or how androgynous my posts look. No worries. And if I were female, I would ask you call me a Lady

Now that one of us is straight for sure, I'd entertain a few reasons why you though I was a Mrs. Tree.

No offense. Who did you think that was on my avatar?

PM me the answers if you want

Sage

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

lol sage is so confused right now

I wasn't instantly sure if I wanted to play off your comment or not.

It's my coming out party yall! Now I have an E-willy and all!!!!

Read the bump thread kids!!!!

John F. Kerry · 11-30-2009, 02:40 PM

hey whatever u do or are is fine in my book sage, i guess i never really pondered what your av was.

anyone with eagle feathers as cool as yours (those painted feathers) is cool in my book reagardless of gender or sexual preference !

**SageTree** · 11-30-2009, 02:52 PM

Well my wife is actually a female for what that is worth in the spectrum of gay/straight.

Metta,
SageTree

Captain Cannabis · 11-30-2009, 04:14 PM

in my experience learning a language requires you to have at least 1 interested person who speaks the language you are learning fluently to help you. without some real person feedback you'll say things wrong all the time and won't understand what anyone who is a native speaker is saying. as a disclaimer i have never tried to learn a language with this particular program.

even if you have a friend who is also learning the language to practice speaking with it will probably be better than any computer program/book. language is a tool to understand other people and cultures, without any real context you are going to forget everything you might manage to learn. you need to immerse yourself for a prolonged period of time to make any real progress. also be ready for some serious frustration when you forget things and can't express yourself and don't understand people. if you find yourself in such situations you might want to try nonverbal ways of expressing yourself in hopes that you can continue to communicate with someone who doesn't speak english.

i can speak 3 languages fluently and can communicate basics and formal greetings in several more. most people are impressed enough if you learn how to use one word and apply it in the correct context. seems to me that genuine efforts to understand are always met with appreciation.

11-30-2009, 11:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
shakeNbake06 Old School Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 368 Thanks: 21 Thanked 56 Times in 29 Posts	Rosetta Stone to learn a foreign language? Anybody here ever use the program Rosetta Stone and successfully learned a new language? It's expensive as hell, around $700 for all three units, but I recently got a pirated version in hopes of leaning French.. How long should it take to be able to actually speak some basic French and comprehend what people are saying?

11-30-2009, 11:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
verklingen Radical Dreamer Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: texas Posts: 8,005 Thanks: 811 Thanked 1,491 Times in 946 Posts	i've heard good things __________________ “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” rip matt

11-30-2009, 12:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
SageTree ~Kalyāṇa-mitrā~ Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: In Love Posts: 23,414 Blog Entries: 26 Thanks: 13,070 Thanked 6,769 Times in 4,664 Posts	My wife used this to teach Spanish to a young boy she used to tutor. She can speak Spanish or Mexican, as it is, but this curriculum helped her teach it easer. __________________ "What's oppressive is letting your life be confined by old definitions of what everything is." -Zen Meister my_scatterheart YaHooka is.... Cannabis lovers from around the world pulling up a comfy chair, picking up a vaporizer, a bong, a brownie, a pipe, or a joint, getting high, stoned, buzzed or healthy. Uniting our minds in conversation...While Portraying a Positive Image of marijuana and marijuana users to the world. Treat your fellow YaHookans with kindness,respect and tolerance.

11-30-2009, 12:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
Grieves The Worst Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Interstate 8 Posts: 12,108 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 2,580 Thanked 3,129 Times in 1,722 Posts	My former high school used it, the people who went through that program did alot better in the long term retaining what they had learned than kids who were taught spanish by the traditional teacher/student motif.. __________________ "And no matter what they said dollar is not your friend and it's the feelings that are hard to know are the feelings that all come slow No matter what they said dollar is not your friend and these feelings that so hard to know are the feelings that wont let go No don't let go, till you find a home World Unite and I'll love you forever"

11-30-2009, 12:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
yo. Controversial Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SOCAL Posts: 1,160 Thanks: 676 Thanked 202 Times in 143 Posts	yeah, i've always heard good things about it. it's picture-word association so it sounds p easy. __________________ "God" is an alien and we all came from another galaxy as an expansion of our specie's existence.

11-30-2009, 01:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
shelbert008 stoner Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: hell on earth aka texas Posts: 1,043 Thanks: 101 Thanked 157 Times in 113 Posts	I think it depends on the language. I haven't tried to use Rosetta stone, but my sister has. She was trying to learn Chinese and she found that it was very difficult to learn the language with the program. She told me that the problem was they would show a few characters together and then would expect you to associate the proper character with the picture. And they never told her what the character meant to begin with. She had a lot more success taking classes. So honestly I can't give my opinion, but I think you would be fine trying to learn French with Rosetta Stone. __________________ one pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small, and the one that mother gives you, doesnt do anything at all Feed Your Head

11-30-2009, 01:15 PM	#8 (permalink)
SageTree ~Kalyāṇa-mitrā~ Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: In Love Posts: 23,414 Blog Entries: 26 Thanks: 13,070 Thanked 6,769 Times in 4,664 Posts	Chinese is cool, no verb conjugation! __________________ "What's oppressive is letting your life be confined by old definitions of what everything is." -Zen Meister my_scatterheart YaHooka is.... Cannabis lovers from around the world pulling up a comfy chair, picking up a vaporizer, a bong, a brownie, a pipe, or a joint, getting high, stoned, buzzed or healthy. Uniting our minds in conversation...While Portraying a Positive Image of marijuana and marijuana users to the world. Treat your fellow YaHookans with kindness,respect and tolerance.

11-30-2009, 01:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
Debaser Baked Fresh Daily Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 1,186 Thanks: 32 Thanked 303 Times in 177 Posts	I was thinking of looking into it to learn Tagalog, since my wife is Filipino. It's funny because she doesn't speak it, but she understands it because that's what her parents speak at home, I just figured I'd fit in a little better at family functions, since I'm usually the only white guy there and have no idea what anyone is saying. __________________ Wouldn't it be great to heal the world with only a song? Message CM47: Let's go pay some hookers to knock our junk around.

11-30-2009, 02:22 PM	#15 (permalink)
Grieves The Worst Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Interstate 8 Posts: 12,108 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 2,580 Thanked 3,129 Times in 1,722 Posts	can you not see his avatar? __________________ "And no matter what they said dollar is not your friend and it's the feelings that are hard to know are the feelings that all come slow No matter what they said dollar is not your friend and these feelings that so hard to know are the feelings that wont let go No don't let go, till you find a home World Unite and I'll love you forever"

11-30-2009, 02:52 PM	#19 (permalink)
SageTree ~Kalyāṇa-mitrā~ Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: In Love Posts: 23,414 Blog Entries: 26 Thanks: 13,070 Thanked 6,769 Times in 4,664 Posts	Well my wife is actually a female for what that is worth in the spectrum of gay/straight. Metta, SageTree __________________ "What's oppressive is letting your life be confined by old definitions of what everything is." -Zen Meister my_scatterheart YaHooka is.... Cannabis lovers from around the world pulling up a comfy chair, picking up a vaporizer, a bong, a brownie, a pipe, or a joint, getting high, stoned, buzzed or healthy. Uniting our minds in conversation...While Portraying a Positive Image of marijuana and marijuana users to the world. Treat your fellow YaHookans with kindness,respect and tolerance.

11-30-2009, 04:14 PM	#20 (permalink)
Captain Cannabis safety word: more Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: m.i.a. Posts: 13,922 Thanks: 2,705 Thanked 3,174 Times in 1,812 Posts	in my experience learning a language requires you to have at least 1 interested person who speaks the language you are learning fluently to help you. without some real person feedback you'll say things wrong all the time and won't understand what anyone who is a native speaker is saying. as a disclaimer i have never tried to learn a language with this particular program. even if you have a friend who is also learning the language to practice speaking with it will probably be better than any computer program/book. language is a tool to understand other people and cultures, without any real context you are going to forget everything you might manage to learn. you need to immerse yourself for a prolonged period of time to make any real progress. also be ready for some serious frustration when you forget things and can't express yourself and don't understand people. if you find yourself in such situations you might want to try nonverbal ways of expressing yourself in hopes that you can continue to communicate with someone who doesn't speak english. i can speak 3 languages fluently and can communicate basics and formal greetings in several more. most people are impressed enough if you learn how to use one word and apply it in the correct context. seems to me that genuine efforts to understand are always met with appreciation. __________________ fuck the monkeys

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