Thread: Rosetta Stone online language software.

The Rosetta Stone method may have been mentioned before, but I have tried it and it seems really good for beginners.

http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo has a free online demo of language excercises. To purchase, it's only $20/month--and the lessons can be accessed by you from any computer.

It involves hearing, reading and spelling -- with what they call the "dynamic immersion" method. I have tried books & tapes, but this is definitely different.

Anyone else tried it?

It just doesn't seem to give any grammatical info AT ALL?!
Someone pointed out that for the Arabic version this is quite serious. Some bloke just couldn't make head or tail from the script, until finally, finally he realised Arabic is written from right to left

i heard its RRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAALLLLLYYYYY expensive

Prohibitatively so.

Originally Posted by garmonistka

Prohibitatively so.

Thanks, I broke my tongue on that one...

Like me, some people have trouble getting started learning Russian alone.
Not all of us have Russian speakers to talk with, or classes to attend.
I've spent money on books and tapes and have had trouble building my vocabulary and my confidence.
I just felt that the way they presented it was good and it was working for me, studying alone.
It may not be heavy in grammar, but is good for building your vocabulary.
As far as being really expensive, the online version is available for $16.65 per month (if you buy 3 months). To me, that's not prohibitive.
Hey, I'm not selling the stuff--just letting you know that it works for me at the beginner's stage I'm in.

I agree, that isn't too bad a price. I pay

When they say it is expensive, they are probably referring to buying it instead of renting it online. To buy it is almost $300 I think.

or, you can just learn for free. it's a bit slower pace, but, hey... why waste all that money when u can just do it for free?!

ah... i tried to convince my parents into a monthly deal. But they wouldnt comply. So i bought the книга i have now

Hi,
I used the Rosetta Stone online for learning Brazilian Portuguese.
I found this 'immersion' approach excellent for learning vocabulary (and I mean really learning, not just reading it once and forgetting it ).
However, it wasn't really useful at all for grammar. Now of course, Portuguese, being a Romance language, is alot closer to English in grammar, pronunciation and vocab. and therefore not nearly so difficult as Russian.
I would tend to think the Russian version would be a bit useless... but of course it is 'muito barato' (very cheap in Portuguese ).

I have a Russian CD-ROM from Linguaphone which seems to take a similar 'trendy' immersion approach. Right now I can't use it at all (only been learning a couple of weeks) and am sticking with a boring old fashioned Penguin Russian text which is actually teaching me all the tiresome rules.