Author Topic: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?  (Read 1102 times)

tonymctones

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 26520
Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« on: December 03, 2012, 04:19:15 PM »
Im decent at spanish but I would like to be fluent in it at least conversationally fluent.

So Ive been thinking about buying the Rosetta Stone package with a friend but it still works out to like 150 or so a piece.

Anybody use it? any other avenues that you guys have used successfully to learn a 2nd language?

Archer77

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14174
  • Team Shizzo
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2012, 04:45:29 PM »
I dont have experience with the spanish version but I own the most recent version of Rosetta Stone for Japanese. I assume the method of instruction is the same for both languages.  I bought it to brush up on my Japanese language skills..  It's very basic and is decent for beginners but don't expect to become fluent.
A

tonymctones

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 26520
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2012, 04:50:13 PM »
I dont have experience with the spanish version but I own the most recent version of Rosetta Stone for Japanese. I assume the method of instruction is the same for both languages.  I bought it to brush up on my Japanese language skills..  It's very basic and is decent for beginners but don't expect to become fluent.
Thanks Archer I actually would like to learn Japanese after Spanish. Im half Japanese and used to be able to communicate at least on the basics in Japanese but I basically know nothing anymore. I think Ill get more use out of Spanish than Japanese but I would love to learn Japanese some day as well.

Have you become fluent in Japanese? If so what did you use to do so?

I was also thinking about going to a local community college after work. There are plenty of spanish speakers at my work and around me(Houston, Tx) so finding ppl to speak spanish to wouldnt be an issue at all.

Archer77

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14174
  • Team Shizzo
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2012, 05:19:31 PM »
Thanks Archer I actually would like to learn Japanese after Spanish. Im half Japanese and used to be able to communicate at least on the basics in Japanese but I basically know nothing anymore. I think Ill get more use out of Spanish than Japanese but I would love to learn Japanese some day as well.

Have you become fluent in Japanese? If so what did you use to do so?

I was also thinking about going to a local community college after work. There are plenty of spanish speakers at my work and around me(Houston, Tx) so finding ppl to speak spanish to wouldnt be an issue at all.



I'm far from fluent but I'm trying to improve my Japanese language skills. It's my fault because I didn't keep up with it after undergrad.  My main goal while in Graduate school was to become proficient enough to read written Japanese.  Masters work required that I use primary documents written in Japanese that had not been translated to English, and demonstrate that I was capable of doing this in front of a select group of professors.  Eventually, with aid of an English/Japanese dictionary I was able to muddle my way through.  Right now I am trying to improve my verbal and auditory recognition skills.  As for the study tools I use,  I have several books on Japanese grammar and hundreds of flash cards.  Flash cards work very well for me.
A

Irongrip400

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21084
  • Pan Germanism, Pax Britannica
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2012, 07:12:09 PM »
I just hired a private tutor not too long ago. I've had two lessons, one hour a week, and will probably get something to supplement that with. I have an Istart app for my phone I've been listening to as well. I also asked on this board about other foreign language boards like this one, to pick up slang and insults as well. :D. Good luck!

tonymctones

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 26520
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2012, 07:29:31 PM »
I just hired a private tutor not too long ago. I've had two lessons, one hour a week, and will probably get something to supplement that with. I have an Istart app for my phone I've been listening to as well. I also asked on this board about other foreign language boards like this one, to pick up slang and insults as well. :D. Good luck!
hahaha I just got back from Brazil and me and a buddy were looking up all the bad words/pick up phrases with our phones too hahah

Has the tutoring made a noticeable difference? My mother has a friend who teaches Japanese at the Houston Japan Society here in Houston but I just dont know if it would make that much of a difference.

Irongrip400

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21084
  • Pan Germanism, Pax Britannica
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2012, 06:21:16 AM »
hahaha I just got back from Brazil and me and a buddy were looking up all the bad words/pick up phrases with our phones too hahah

Has the tutoring made a noticeable difference? My mother has a friend who teaches Japanese at the Houston Japan Society here in Houston but I just dont know if it would make that much of a difference.


I just started, so it's hard to tell.  I know a few phrases, and can pick out bits here and there when watching tv.  She also, speaks to us in German to us at our lessons, and not just telling us phrases, but speaks to us like you would a child.  When we get something wrong, she will correct us, and use hand gestures so we can infer what she is talking about.  It is really frustrating, but I feel it works.  I just felt a bit cheated how in America all we learn is English, except for whatever language you take in high school, but I didn't absorb it because I stopped trying.  My plan is to go back to Germany next Christmas and be able to speak the language a bit.

Archer77

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14174
  • Team Shizzo
Re: Rosetta Stone, Anyone tried it?
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2012, 06:34:56 AM »
Irongrip suggestion to get a tutor is a good one.  A tutor is great for building conversational skills.  I found a Japanese native speaker on Craigslist. A native student knows all the nuisances of their language.  Tried a tutor who was studying Japanese but the quality of her skills paled in comparison to a native speaker. 
A