RosettaStone – Natural Language Approach to Learning - Online version

reviewed by Robert Pritchett

Fairfield Language Technologies has done such a good job, that they are now partnered with Berlitz and also won a contract with the American Military to teach languages. Want to know why they are successful? Perhaps we can explain why here.

At the moment, there are 27 languages to choose from. Twenty-nine, if you count British English and Spanish spoken in Spain as separate from American English and Latin American Spanish.

There are two methods for getting started. One is the “buy the box” packages, and the other is online. But wait! You can sample how RosettaStone works by going to the Demo link above. Just know that there is no 6-month money back guarantee for online learning, like there is with the boxed versions. There can be 3 or more learning levels per language, however, if you want level 3, you will need to get the CDs. The boxed versions also have Personal, HomeSchool (also contains teacher’s instructional materials) and Classroom.

You must be able to keyboard, read and hear to use this training tool.

To get started online, pay the monthly fee, get your license and be sure you get your assigned password.

Dynamic Immersion is a trademarked method of learning languages using ears, mouth, eyes and hands. These are graphically represented with a speaker, open book, mic stand and keyboard onscreen.

The Spanish levels 1 and 2 run through about 100 screens per lesson that combine these 4 methods of learning.

You can pick and choose which process you want to learn from. The default is the “Full Immersion” method using all the senses.

You will not be bogged down in grammar-traps, but rather, you will learn how to “pass the beans” and pick up speaking the language quickly without giving you a migraine.

Level 1 Quickly begins using sentences. Level 2 digs deeper into useful vocabulary depending on the location and environment.

I found the process quite enjoyable and I even learned a few words I didn’t know before. I can guess Level 3 must be advanced, but that means I will need to get the CDs to go through that level.

I have linked a page of comparisons between this app and other similar-in-function apps.

There is a 44-page Users Guide online that can be downloaded that discusses much more than we do here.

The online version is responsive using a broadband connection. Each lesson checks back home to see that I’m legitimate and that is the only slowdown I experienced.  Apparently there is a timeout and an error will appear if the connection doesn’t sense any activity for a while. That is a great security feature and I ‘m glad that it have a short fuse.

Anyway, I really do recommend RosettaStone. I picked Spanish because I speak the language so I could do this review. I’m impressed with what I found, knowing what I know of the language. They made learning fun.

This screenshot is part of the audio  portion of this program where the native-speaker does his or her thing and than I repeat by clicking the lower portion. The radio buttons are for normal and slower pronunciation.

I can now begin to pick any of the other languages and begin learning them for $50 USD per month. Try the demo and then go knock yourself out. ¿Comprende?