Rosetta Stone: Opinions Anyone?

aricbcool · 01-28-2005, 21:28

I'm thinking about purchasing the Arabic course on CD-ROM from: www.rosettastone.com

The course covers speaking, reading/writing Modern Standard Arabic.

Has anybody had experience with these guys before? Do they put out good stuff? Just looking for opinions before I shell out the $$$.

Thanks,
Aric

jatx · 01-28-2005, 23:10

Check this thread, Aric:

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ghlight=arabic

aricbcool · 01-29-2005, 12:14

Ack... The search button got me. I knew it would happen one day. Only a matter of time. I had searched "rosetta stone" and "www.rossettastone.com" with no results.

That said, and with all due respect, I am more looking for opinion (good or bad) on Rosetta Stone, as it seems to be the best choice at this point.

Any takers?

--Aric

jatx · 01-29-2005, 20:42

Aric,

That wasn't meant as a gotcha - not my place to do that.

I purchased Pimsleur's MSA (sp.?) awhile back and started in on it, but decided to defer until I can take some time off for an immersion course. I've got three years of Japanese, a pretty tough language, under my belt - and I could tell there was no way I was going to get Arabic "into my ear" only using the program.

Now if you have had, or can arrange, some other exposure to native speakers, that might not be a problem and my understanding is that both Pimsleur and Rosetta will do their part in building your vocab and grammar. But the sounds were just too alien to me, and my progress will be held up until that is rectified.

I tried posting an ad for a "conversation partner" on the bulletin board at a nearby mosque but no takers. I suppose they've had their fill of innocuous looking white guys who'd like to "talk".

One piece of advice: check Ebay for these titles - you should be able to save half.

Good luck!

aricbcool · 01-30-2005, 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by jatx

That wasn't meant as a gotcha - not my place to do that.

No worries, I know you were being helpful.

I've just tried really hard to not be the guy who comes out and asks his question before reading the related threads. I don't know what went wrong, but I missed it this time.

Thanks for the input on Pimsleur's, and the advice about Ebay; that's a good idea.

Ender, thanks for the feedback. I'm going to look into finding a native speaker locally (in addition to a CD-ROM course), but I'm not too hopeful. Idaho is a pretty small place.

Regards,
Aric

SoldiersSister · 02-03-2005, 14:50

I don't have any experience with the Arabic course in particular. As a homeschooler, I am familiar with the Rosetta Stone foreign language courses. They are very popular among homeschoolers and get very high reviews from most families I know that use them.

Just my two cents.

ender18d · 01-29-2005, 23:01

I used some Rosetta in the Arabic language course. The program is very intelligently designed, and works well in the initial phases of learning. I was generally impressed. The limitations are that it is more focused (from the parts I used) on recognition of basic words and phrases, and isn't as strong on teaching you to speak. In addition, the way the program runs, a savvy person can master the patterns without actually mastering the underlying language.

Verdict: The best of the computer language courses I've seen, but *expensive* for home purchase and certainly no substitute for a real teacher.

Aloring001 · 02-06-2011, 22:34

If you have access to AKO, I am fairly sure you can get Rosetta Stone for free. You have to be active, guard, reserve, ROTC or academy to recieve it. Retired personel and contractors are not accepted for it. If you have access, check on it before instead of just taking my word for it. If you don't have access and/or are not associated with the Army, Ebay may be your best bet.

Good Luck

MtnGoat · 02-07-2011, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aloring001

If you have access to AKO, I am fairly sure you can get Rosetta Stone for free. You have to be active, guard, reserve, ROTC or academy to recieve it. Retired personel and contractors are not accepted for it. If you have access, check on it before instead of just taking my word for it. If you don't have access and/or are not associated with the Army, Ebay may be your best bet.

Good Luck

I was going to say this.. Like Aloring POSTED.. If you're a AKO user. Search for Skillport. You Register with your AKO account and they send you a password. You can log on from anywhere and get a lot of RS courses for free.

I'm currently taking Pashto.. Let you know how it turns out.

lindy · 02-13-2011, 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtnGoat

I was going to say this.. Like Aloring POSTED.. If you're a AKO user. Search for Skillport. You Register with your AKO account and they send you a password. You can log on from anywhere and get a lot of RS courses for free.

I'm currently taking Pashto.. Let you know how it turns out.

MG, have you taken a look here: http://fieldsupport.dliflc.edu/downloads.aspx?

They have Paki Pashto for your iPod (I'm not a RS fan).