I was very unimpressed with Rosetta Stone. I think it is the "Bose" of language learning. (That is, everybody thinks it's the best mostly because of gimmicks and marketing.)
A review I wrote on Amazon (I'm not a professional reviewer, just a customer):
I can't for the life of me understand why Rosetta Stone has garnered such good reviews (although I see a few negative ones here, so I feel validated) and seems to have such an outstanding reputation. I find it practically worthless, and it's expensive to boot. I'm sure that my experience with the German program would apply to Rosetta Stone's other languages as well, as they all taught via the same method.
I've been learning German for about 6 months and besides Rosetta Stone I have used Pimsleur, Rocket Languages, and have taken private instruction. Obviously, private instruction is best. But this review is about software, and Pimsleur is best. But Rosetta Stone has more bells & whistles, which is perhaps why people think it is so good. But it isn't. For example, nowhere in Rosetta Stone do you actually learn how to say useful things. Nowhere do you learn how to say "Hello," "How are you, "What's your name," or even "Where's the bathroom." Instead, you will learn how to recognize such useful phrases as "The woman and the boy have a ball on their heads" or "The man is under the donkey" or "These two fish are from the same species" or "The blue triangle is bigger than the red square." Ridiculous!! And note I said "learn how to recognize a phrase." This is the biggest weakness and disappointment with Rosetta Stone. It really doesn't get you to talk at ALL. You are not required to utter a word. You see four pictures, and the speaker will say (in German) "The boy is drinking milk." Now, if you have already heard the word for "boy" (Junge) and three of the pictures have no boys, you simply click on the picture with the boy and presto, you're correct! This multiple choice way of learning is not effective for learning a language! (There is a "practice speaking" mode, equally useless, which I mention below)
With Pimsleur, which is an audio only program, you hear conversations that will impart essential words and phrases. And they are repeated (and asks you to repeat) in such a fashion that it sticks. For example, it was weeks ago that it introduced "How much do I owe you?" yet I still remember it. (Wie viel shulde ich Ihnen?--No, I didn't cheat and look it up!) Pimsleur is brilliant in the way it gradually builds your knowledge and abilities. Of course, it isn't perfect as it doesn't explain the grammar. But neither does Rosetta Stone, and Rosetta Stone is worse because with Pimsleur there is also an English speaker who explains some things, while with Rosetta Stone you are left to twist in the wind. That's why software language learning programs should be seen as supplements--supplements to classroom or private instruction.
What are the bells & whistles on Rosetta Stone? You get to do a lesson in a variety of ways--seeing pictures with audio (the speaker), or pictures with audio and text, or audio only, for example. There is also a feature where the speaker on the program says a phrase, and you repeat it into a microphone and can compare your voice signature to the speaker's. But I found that this didn't work well at all and wasn't worth the trouble. And again, the phrases weren't useful.
Now the reveiw I wrote for Pimsleur:
[editing out duplication from above]
So how exactly does Pimsleur work? For a technical explanation you could Google Pimsleur and get a better answer than I could give. But here's what you get: each level (I bough the whole package: Levels 1,2,3 and a bonus 4th level) contains 30 half-hour lessons, except the bonus level, which I think has 10. You do each lesson until you feel comfortable going to the next (you are told that you do not need to master each lesson; if you feel that you can do 80% of what the lesson asks of you, it is time to move on). I think this 80% rule is smart--you don't expect yourself to be perfect, so you don't get bogged down. I found that I do each lesson twice, and on occasion have done a lesson three times. What does the lesson ask of you? The lesson typically starts with a very short conversation spoken by two Germans, then breaks it down. All the time you are repeating things--an English speaker guides you along the way, and eventually a German speaker will ask you to do things, but the English speaker is always around to clarify something new or explain a nuance. And then the lesson goes beyond the initial conversation and introduces new words, phrases, and concepts, sometime adding to what you've learned before, sometimes reinforcing what you've learned before: It mixes it up in a way that keeps your interest, so it doesn't become rote. There is a good balance between English and German spoken on the lessons, unlike Rocket Languages where there is way too much English spoken with cutesy-pie encouragement. Even the little things Pimlseur does well. For example, instead of endlessly repeating numbers in order to teach numbers, you'll learn the numbers in context, such as learning how how to say "Give me ten Euros." I found that this is far more effective than just trying to memorize words.
Of course, a software program is a supplement. Pimsleur will definitely get you speaking, and maybe even enough to get around on a trip to Germany. But if you're seriously interested in studying a language, it's not enough. For example, it's left a mystery why a word has certain endings in one context or another. It takes a textbook or a teacher to explain the German cases. (For example, my mother = meine Mutter, with my mother = mit meiner Mutter). All Pimsleur will do is have you note the different sound: meine, meiner. It doesn't explain why.
Note: I purchased a download, not the CD's. Many different websites sell it. Shop around for the best price.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimsleu...earning_system
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