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I think I'd skip the language program altogether, but that's just me. The way I learned Spanish was that I got hold of a Pablo Neruda book of poetry with the poem in spanish on one side and the English translation on the other and then started translating phrase by phrase, which was more fun than it sounds. I was learning right away how the words are strung together and it led me to get other Spanish language materials and I learned pretty quickly that way. I mean, I guess I did, since I haven't actually had a chance to go speak it with anyone, but it was fun and free. It did get me a job working with English language learners though.
I like mango languages better it's more user friendly but has the same basic principles as Rosetta stone. If I'm not mistaken, the government moved from Rosetta stone to mango recently
I will be the voice of opposition here. I have an adult friend who learned Russian from Rosetta Stone, and it has served him quite well. He has visited Belarus a few times and been able to communicate with the natives.
We are using Italian at home for DD and DS. I was shocked at how easily DD picked up reading in Italian. She is at the point however, at age 6, that difficulty in pronunciation is preventing her from using the microphone. We will press on with the reading and understanding and come back to the speaking later.
Success with Rosetta Stone depends on your own learning style. I'm a visual and auditory type of learner, so Rosetta Stone was an excellent match for me as photographs, matching, and audio are the basis of the program. There is a great deal of repetition and review throughout the program as well, from earlier lessons you've completed.
If you're an individual who cannot stand high levels of repetition and repeating what you've already completed, prefer reading from a book, not listening to audio and viewing photographs, Rosetta Stone is probably not in your best interest. Rosetta Stone also does not offer English translations while learning; you must be observant regarding the photographs they present and be able to make connections between those and the audio provided.
For example, they may show four photographs, two with people running (man and woman) and two with children walking (boy and girl). You must then use deductive reasoning to determine which words indicate the action of running or walking and then apply tense and gender based vocabulary presented in earlier lessons to figure out the correct answer.
It is a program that you may want to try a demo of before purchasing to see if it is something you're personally interested in. When it works, its an excellent investment in learning. For others, its a terribly frustrating, expensive experience.
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