Rosetta Stone

[Bunny_Moon]

My school recently got Rosetta Stone software. I waited patiently for weeks while our Department Director reminded me everyday that soon I would really be able to pick up on my Japanese. I heard how wonderful this program was and that NASA and the US Army, and famous News people used this software to become fluent in various languages. The boxes finally came, and I was able to use the software, and now about a month later though I am still on Level one, I have now concluded that I have learned more in the first 10 lessons of Japanesepod than I have learned now being half-way through Level one of Rosetta Stone. I agree with some others, it is great for building vocabulary, and you do get to associate pictures and words together. So in the case of getting to start switching your brain from English to Japanese it works. I have classmates learning English, Portuguese and Spanish and they like it. But I think for harder Asian languages like Japanese and Hindi. You can't really rubber stamp it the same way you would any other language. It's a little more complicated than that. Is Rosetta Stone a good software? It's ok. Is it worth ALL that money? No. If you have the money to spend on an over priced software, that you will need to put in extra work out side of the software anyway, then buy it. If your like me and you don't fall into that category, then I advise you to use it at your local library or at school like I can. If you choose the second option then Rosetta is worth giving a try. I have bought many language programs during my quest to conquer the Japanese language, and so far besides a trusty dictionary, verb book, adjective book and a few other gizmos, Jpod101 has proven to be on of the best resources I have come across for studying Japanese.

[mslozada]

I have bought many language programs during my quest to conquer the Japanese language, and so far besides a trusty dictionary, verb book, adjective book and a few other gizmos, Jpod101 has proven to be on of the best resources I have come across for studying Japanese.

I am now listening to Intermediate lessons and Audio Blogs in Jpod101.com after 3 years of Japanese study, after spending about 15,000.00 euro, and having about 40 kinds of books just for Japanese and so on.

If I only knew Jpod101.com back then, not only could I have save lots of money, but probably be far more advance than I am right now.

Dude, seriously..... Jpod101.com is not only one of the best...nope....it is probably the one and only Website, that provides so much information and so many funktions like Ipod....that there is not even 1 website that I know, that can be compared to Jpod101.com....and most of the vital stuffs that are necessary for your Japanese are FREE / or for a small amount. Some other Websites that I know would ask you for about 20.00 USD for a small amount of Japanese, informations that isnt equivalent to the half of Jpod101.com stuffs.

[Kobolinear]

Hmm yeah, I totally agree. Out of everything I've tried, Jpod101 is the only one-stop place I can truly go to for everything. It's so realistic too, they're teaching you with native Japanese & English speakers so you can see both sides of it. Everything else I've seen, it's mostly "Japanese if you're in THIS situation". Soo many times I expect to learn just one thing, but end up learning so much more from a single lesson. And it has great results. My first trip to Japan will be this August, so I've never been there before, yet when I speak to Japanese people, they always ask things like 日本にどれぐらい住みましたか？ It's amazing to think I've made so much REAL progress in a language & culture, not just memorizing and regurgitating vocabulary words. I love it :]

[koizumi]

I had ordered Rosetta Stone for about $350.00 in 2007. It was soooo painfuly tidious trying to go through the lessons. It is just repetitive point and click and listen to a dialogue that you would never use. For example the boy is on the airplane, the man is on the roof, the kids are drinking orange juice. All the nouns are in conjugated forms, so if you are a beginner and are trying to look up words in a dictionary, and unless you understand conjugated verb forms, you will be asblolutely frustrated trying to figure out what word they are using. Did I mention it is painfully boring. So much that it is a chore learning.

Rosetta Stone is on par with any program that you could pick up at a local book store with the cd's and work book for 25 bucks. I do not understand how they can now sell it for $450.00 - $550.00. Save your money or buy an iPad instead.

Please don't listen to anyone that gave it a positive review, especially if they've never personally used it.

I am light years beyond anything that Rosetta Stone teaches using Jpod. I've got over 9 gigs of lessons on my i pod touch along with pdf files that actually explain and walk you through what could be difficult learning points instead of the Rosetta Stones making you guess what they are trying to teach method.

One of the selling points with Rosetta Stone is that they claim their method cuts out all of the boring memorization.But you're learning a new language. You've got to memorize! There is not really any way around that.

I've used Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Instant Immersion from Costco, and Living Language from Borders. I checked out some other web sites too, but Jpod101 is the way to go. It's all I use.

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Rosetta Stone's claim that it can teach you a new language the same way you learned your first one is false. The human brain changes as it matures and the language aquisition part shrinks with age, hence why things now need to be explained rather than automatically understood like when you were a baby. Research into second language learning has only ever come up with the conclusion that you just have to do it the hard way.

I've completed every level of Rosetta Stone's Japanese program and I agree with the consensus here. The robotic, monotone voice is unbearable. Significant parts of it are completely incomprehensible. The lack of English explanation is infuriating.

The one redeeming quality is that it's pretty decent for gaining some vocabulary. It throws a lot of words at you and some of them stick.

[community.japanese]

andycarmenjapanese8100-san,
Thank you very much for sharing your opinion with us!!

I agree with you regarding language acquire process; mother tongue and foreign language leaning processes are
usually (must) different. I've just had the same conversation with my friend a couple of days ago!

It's always good to have feedbacks from actual users Thank you very much!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com