I bought the lifetime membership during Covid because I’ve always wanted to learn Italian. I don’t have the best short term memory and I’ll quit for like a few weeks here and there, but I feel like I’m doing ok because I always come back to it. I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to do this! Thanks for the video!
Most reviewers of Rosetta Stone are "Try the first lesson in Rosetta Stone and then try the first lesson in product X". But you can't judge a product by its first lesson. Obviously the most important question is "Where is the bathroom?" But just because that is not the first lesson does not mean the program is bad. For any program, you actually need to finish the program. So whatever program you think that you will actually finish is the one to use. My two favorites are Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur for different reasons.
Yeah -- I really dislike the videos that are like "I tried 25 language apps -- so you don't have to". They only get pinky deep in each app -- so what does a review of 25 apps even mean. I'm also a big Rosetta and Pimsleur fan again for two different reasons. Rosetta IMO is better for visual learners and better for reading and listening -- and Pimsleur is better for speaking. I actually recommend using both of these for their respective strengths.
I'm learning 3 languages in Rosetta Stone. One of them is Arabic. It's super hard because it doesn't sound like anything I already know. I learned the alphabet in 2014 just for fun, and forgot most of it, but that's about it, I didn't know a single word. I have chosen Arabic as an experiment to see how well I can learn a language (even a very difficult one) mostly using RS. I'm not supplementing my studies with anything else, and I just look up stuff when I'm really curious about it. I'm enjoying it a lot to figure out how the language works by myself. I'm 2 weeks in, and so far I noticed Arabic differentiate between dual and plural, both in noun and verb conjugations, verbs also change according to gender, etc. I think this is a great exercise for the brain.
Becca so happy i found this channel! I can 100% relate! I completed 5 levels of Mandarin Chinese in 2 and half years and literally changed my life! I will admit though that Rosetta Stone i think is more for learning how to speak than reading and writing! Just my experience!
Thank you for your Rosetta review. I, too, am learning French (hopefully) at age 59 for increased travel to Europe. Rosetta was on sale and has LIFETIME access to other languages. Good luck with your channel (please work to remove "like" from your vocabulary asap) 🙂
Go Becca! Great job on your placement test. I just started 11/30 & am also studying French & am enjoying the experience so far! I too am doing an hour + per day. Merci pour votre vidéo!
You suggest to get Rosetta Stone for free from the library. I guess I would have that opportunity as well. But can you tell me the formate of that programme? Is it a CD, which means that you need a computer? Or is it just a link? I ask because I am not willing to work with a computer. I want to learn by Smartphone. My question is: Is the free library version compatible with any Smartphone?
Just putting this out there -- the library version is probably CDs. I guess you can go to your local library and ask. I actually bought the CD version of Pimsleur for Brazilian Portuguese. $100 for 80 CDs -- saved about $150 bucks and ended up ripping the CDs to mp3 files so I could use them on my laptop and phone.
@@quantus5875 Thank you for your answer. In the meantime I have tried both, Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur. Rosetta Stone is not usefull at all. Its only benefit is that you can increase your passive vocabulary. You will neither actively learn vocabularies by clicking on them nor will you understand grammar this way. If someone learns a language by Rosetta Stone, this person must have put a lot of efforts into it and used other ressources like a grammar book. But then, what's the point of this programme? Pimsleur is much better, but it also has some issues. So I ended up learning by an Italki teacher.
@@fd-br6uw Italki is great (and tutors in general are fantastic), but the con is that it is expensive, unless you are trading languages (and I assume you're supplementing Italki with reading and watching videos?). In all fairness to Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Duo Lingo, Babbel, and others -- they only give you 60 to 120 hours of instruction -- no language app/program will get you there on its own -- because you need ~600 hours of effective learning in a language to reach basic fluency, around B2 (which is advanced intermediate using CEFL) levels. So, you need to supplement them by reading and watching videos and listening to content. And when you can speak -- speak to people. What I found and how I used Rosetta Stone was a greater "starter program" and gave me my initial 1200 words of vocabulary -- and many of these words I learned really well -- so not passive vocab -- but would say maybe 800 of the 1200 words learned were actually active vocab. So, it was a great start -- I estimate that I was a strong A2 (advanced beginner when I finished Rosetta Stone) -- and I could read simple children's books (~5 year old level) when I finished Rosetta Stone. What I loved is its immersion as you only learn in the target language. What I did is started with Rosetta Stone. Finished the course (wish the course was longer). Then did a year of reading, lingo pie, and watching videos with simple content (recommend Plain Portuguese and Easy Portuguese channels). This built up my vocab to maybe around 4K. Then I did Pimsleur -- what Pimsleur does is gets about 2000 words (most of which were already passive) into active and you learn basic phrase structures. I could then speak at around B1 level. Yes, I could speak!! Pimsleur is gold for speaking. Now I'm continuing to read, watch videos, listen, and speak and am a very strong B1 now (with an estimated vocabulary of (~6K passive, ~2K active) -- maybe a weak B2. In a year, at several hours a week of learning I should easily be a strong B2. (estimate a vocab of ~8k passive with around ~3K of that active).
No its online actually. I have it too via library. You can chose to use the computer or the smartphone. Some libraries have access to other apps like Mango. Definitely check your local library and how to enable it via library access.
Rosetta Stone is GOLD. The reality is learning a language is all about "efficient hours" (active learning hours) -- so almost anything will work if you spend the time. But Rosetta Stone got me maybe beginner level A2 with a vocab of maybe around 1200-1500 words. My only issue with Rosetta Stone is no second (advanced) course in Portuguese (like they do in Spanish, French,...) . My problem with Rosetta Stone is that I finished the course and just wish there was more.
I do agree with you that the Rosetta Stone course is probably equivalent to two college courses -- maybe let's say 1.5 college courses -- if you supplement it a little like you said (yes maybe a little grammar and some more reading) -- yes easily two college courses.
Hi Becca, this video is very helpful for me, I've always wanted to learn Italian but I lack in commitment... I was afreid that the Rosetta Stone Program it no going to work but you show me that with commitment and will its possible to be fluent after finish the program. Thank you! Saludos desde Venezuela :)
I think it's too expensive but I love it. It just fits my style of learning. You have to guess and click on the right answer. There is a lot of audio and I repeat every sentence so you get a lot of pronunciation practice that way.
I like that it's purely in Spanish no English words however when a new word is added there should be English pop us for a short time as you have to keep checking on a transator 12:08
I wish I saw this sooner. I’m aware of another language program free at library. I should have checked to see if library had Rosetta Stone. But that ok. I ordered lifetime subscription. Just started. Love it.
Hi, I think Rosetta is good enough to learn languages. As you have said, it has much content. And what is more, the content is accompanied by audio. The course is supposes to get you to some level from zero. And the faster you finish the course, the faster you will get to that level. The more time you do Rosetta every day, the better. The faster you move, the better, because the more intensive the process will be. I think even if you live in some country in order to learn the language in the fastest way, some other person can progress even faster, if he or she practices on Rosetta all day long. But you need to supplement Rosetta with some other material that Rosetta lacks: instructions on phonetics and pronunciation and grammatical explanations. So before you begin the course, you learn how to pronounce the sounds of the language so that you realize what sounds exactly the material you learn on Rosetta consists of. And you revise the phonetics from time to time.
I don't really have time to properly study yet another language right now as I've got my hands full with Japanese, but I've dabbled a bit in Mandarin and Korean using Rosetta Stone. Originally I was just supposed to test the Mandarin course in Rosetta Stone for the company I was working at (alongside some other apps), but ended up liking it so much that I bought the lifetime access. What I think is crazy about Rosetta Stone is the retention rate: I feel like I can still remember like 70% of the Mandarin I learned over a year ago. Vocabulary, pronounciation, grammar - the whole package. Granted, the similarities with Japanese help a lot, and I've had some outside exposure to Mandarin since then. If I was going to get started on a new language, or get serious about Mandarin or Korean, I'd most likely start with Rosetta Stone first to get a good feel for the language, and then probably move on to LingQ. It doesn't necessarily do great in every aspect, however. Since the lessons build on previous lessons to introduce new concepts, it can be hard to skip ahead even if you have pre-existing knowledge. In fact, I think it become an utter snoozer if you already know a fair bit of the language but just want a refresher for example. The content in exercises are just super repetitive and unengaging when you're not trying to figure out new words and patterns. Also, their stubborn stance of no translations and explanations can be just hilariously ineffective sometimes. For example, they give you the Korean phonetic alphabet with example sounds and just expect you to figure it out like it's a puzzle. If you start with no idea how it works, you could probably spend weeks or even months figuring it out on your own, when it could be taught in about 5-15 minutes. Or something like throwing irregular verbs at beginners because they just happen to be the same verbs they use in every language, with 0 mention or explanation of the irregularity, which can be really confusing at the start when you're trying to figure out patterns. I'm also not necessarily a huge fan of them pushing speech exercises at you straight from the beginning, before you get a good idea of how the language sounds and how the words are pronounced. Maybe after the 3rd lesson or something would be better. But you can just turn them off or skip so it's not that big of a deal.
Wow! I’m fluent in Argentine Spanish. I learned Spanish in my 20’s, going to language school and studying when I got to the country. I spent eight years in Argentina. I want to learn Italian, French and Portuguese. Your review was very helpful. Thank you.
They say you always hate something if you are forced to do it, I was forced to do Rosetta for my Portuguese class as part of the grade, at first it was like yay easy grade, but it became tedious real fast. Might try it later with another language but I burned out on it
Hi Becca! I agree with your review. I'm a native spanish speaker. I started 9 months ago to use rosetta stone (I get a free full "jack sparrow" version on the internet), and now I'm learning the level 3-4-3 (or unit 12, lesson 3. Depending the version). Personally, it really works well for me. I feel I'm progresing a little bit every day. But requires consistency day after day. I can say that I understood 70% of what you said in the video. It's so satisfaying for me. I really apreciate your review. Y que bonita sonrisa tenés! Saludos desde Argentina!
@@ok_e3w Cada país desarrolla sus propias características de lenguaje. Así como no es lo mismo ingles británico que de Usa, o el español de España que el de México, en Argentina, de donde soy, se sustituye el tu por el vos. En lugar de decir "tu tienes" se dice "vos tenés". Es por eso que te pregunto: "¿Vos de dónde sos?, y no "¿tu de dónde eres?. Saludos
It teaches you how you learn as a child - so you have to just trust the process and and learn through association which I absolutely love as then you don’t convert from your mother tongue you learn to think in the language you’re learning
Making this video was a very good idea! I love the fact that you actually were sticking to what you are talking about (it doesn't matter what your verdict is!). I personally found RS too boring - but I always play with the idea of "what if".
Actually there has been some studies that suggest that moving abroad is a good way, just NOT the osmosis approach, by forcing yourself to only speak the foreign language and selecting a language partner or tutor to help assist you
Working really well for me! I’m actually hearing spoken Japanese well now! My speaking is still a little slow and clumsy; however my reading has significantly improved! I’m on week 5
Becca thanks for the video. I have two questions I will greatly appreciate it if you could please give me your opinions. 1. Have you ever done any Pimsleur? I’m at level 4. It’s been like a magic for me. I have never been exposed to French before in my entire life and I couldn’t even repeat a simple sentence in French if was asked to. 2. I think you said you are at level 16 of Roseta. How is your listening skil after completing this level. I understand that you knew Spanish and English and that they might have contributed to your French journey! I agree absolutely. But how do you feel about your listening skill after completing 16 levels of this program. Are you able to clearly understand French speakers?! I have done a lot of pimsleur and Duolingo and etc (self learning only) but my listening skill is horrible at this point. I’m really really disappointed at myself. I have spoken to some French professors and they said it’s kind of normal and it takes about 2 years to get the listening skills right. So I feel that they kind of encouraged me to keep going and i will but I just want to know about your level of confidence in your listening skill. Thanks for reading my long and boring comment. Best regards.
Both are great. I have both. Pimsleur is good for speaking practice, and going from English to the language you are learning with no picture to help. Rosetta Stone is better for reading in the language you are learning and looking at a picture and thinking the word naturally. But both require other sources for grammar understanding.
Pimsleur is Awesome for speaking!! Rosetta Stone IMO is better for reading and listening and building vocab. I have used both and highly recommend both.
Can I set up my level depending on how expert I am in every language in this Rosetta Course? If I am intermediate in French and Beginner in Arab for example, is there a way to clarify this difference in the course?
Rosetta Stone is by level. The Level 1 course will basically take you from A0 (nothing) to a strong A2 (advanced beginner). There is a Level 2 course for some of the more popular languages that will take you to a strong B1 (basic intermediate) or weak B2 (advanced Intermediate) level. That's as far as you can go with Rosetta. In fairness to Rosetta, most courses are like that -- i.e. getting to intermediate is as far as you can go with almost all courses. To get to B2 and C1 and beyond you need to read, listen, speak, etc...
I used RS in the past to help me get better at French. It does work to say the least. The downsides with the program I think is that RS is not a complete beginner's program and you HAVE to supplement your learning with outside material. In the defense of RS, I've done other software language learning programs and they weren't beginner level programs either and you had to supplement you learning with outside materials too. For any person looking to start learning a language with Rosetta Stone and any other language learning app, take some classes, find a tutor, watch some RUclips videos or buy some grammar books before you start those programs. I want to mention as well that I'm currently learning Spanish with RS. I didn't buy the software this time around and bought the subscription. The only complaint I have with the subscription is that they've gotten rid of live tutoring. Now they only have the live video sessions with one of the tutors. They never mentioned this to the older, continuing customers for some reason. But RS is not so bad if you go into it realizing that it's mainly an interactive way to learn vocab. nuff said.
@@beccalevy1 I wanted thank you for mentioning using Wikipedia as a way learn a language. I had the habit of buying novels but was thinking of buying Spanish textbooks on subjects I wanted to learn in Spanish. I realize now that, that's the more expensive route. I'm not sure why it's been 6 years and I never thought of using Wikipedia but I'm glad I finally found out about it. Thanks!
I was so mad at the Rosetta Stone iPhone port that I haven’t used my lifetime membership at all. They didn’t redesign it at all when they ported it to the iPhone even though the screen is tiny compared to a computer. But I am inspired by your video and I think I will try it on my iPad. That said… if you speak Spanish and English… I think you should almost be able to speak French without studying 😂
I really appreciate your review. I don't understand why people seem to hate Rosetta Stone so much. It kinda feels like most of them are just jumping on the bandwagon as some kind of validation, as if hating Rosetta is some sort of requirement to be a self-proclaimed polyglot 😂 I watched a RS review by this french guy. He roasted RS for its repetitiveness, high price and whatnot. The same guy recommended Babbel, in a different video, and said it was ok for Babbel to have that much repetion because there is no way to avoid it in language learning 😶 I bought a lifetime subscription for about US$45 (Rosetta is cheaper in my country, otherwise a regular person would not be able to afford it. $45 is still a lot, considering that minimum wage is around US$258 and people can barely pay the bills). Babbel costs exactly 3 times more over here, and they have fewer languages.
I just started the Rosetta Stone German course (received for free), and so far, there are some things I find annoying (eg., there is no weighted repetition, over stressing of grammar, etc), however I really appreciate the intuitive nature of the learning - they don't have any translations which makes learning way more organic rather than forced and contrived. It causes you to pick it up in a mock natural setting through osmosis rather than forcibly translating your native language into the target language - the problem with translating is I find I tend to over-replicate the structure of my native language. Rosetta Stone basically eliminates that problem.
Great video - question - where are you at with it now? I am also doing the French module and I am on unit 5 of 20. It takes a while to get through and what I am finding is that while I am much better at French, I'm not quite sure yet what level I am actually at.
Once you get to Unit 6, things become a lot more enjoyable, because you start learning to speak in past and future (some forms). Starting in Unit 9 is when you start to fully learn future tense.
@@melissanewman5497 Hi yes, I am currently in that stage now and yes, you are right. I find that it is a long journey learning a new language. I need to upload a new video at some point talking about my progress, but my subscription ended recently (I need to renew).
Great video, Becca. Im portuguese language native and I use RS to learn other of 'em. I use 5.0.37 (build 43113), but if you guys want how to update it Id appreciate a lot ;)
Sooo funny, I only did 1 module and thought it was the full course.. hahaha. Yeh the thing about rosetta is if you only spend a few days on it , people-oriented realize how effective it can be it all fits together eventually
Awesome, I totally appreciate your amazing video! I just wish I would've ran across it before I download babble lol. I will definitely keep Rosetta Stone on my mind. Thanks for making this video cheers
french language is a mistake, dont contain yourself 😭😭😭, jokes aside I love your energy, your video is informative as it is entertaining 👏🏽thanks for this video. new subscriber
This is not really a review video, but more like a loosely organized vlog. I would have liked to hear you demonstrate your spoken French, or some of your ability to communicate with real people in text. I appreciate that you can understand ~60% of Netflix French with subtitles on, but you didn't say how many hours you've put into Rosetta Stone. It's also not a complete testament to Rosetta Stone, considering you have previous experience from school and Duolingo. It would have been more representative of Rosetta Stone if you tried it with a fresh language. Maybe video sections would have been nice, but overall I think you repeated a lot of stuff and I didn't get a sense of how effective Rosetta Stone actually is for a 16 minute video.
Rosetta Stone Level 1 course is only like 60-80 hours of content. All software/apps are like that. The reality is that 60 hours is pretty small to the ~600 learning hours it takes to become a B2 (basic fluent) in a language. My guess is she was probably -- a B1 when she made this video -- and speaking would have proven nothing about Rosetta Stone. You're not going to be good until you have around 600 languages in a language. Rosetta Stone is an incredible start IMO -- but no software is going to get you there -- after you do something like Rosetta and Pimsleur you need to read, listen, watch videos, and speak. Get those 600 hours. Learning a language takes a lot of time.
I like Rosetta Stone, but there's no way you got enough vocabulary from it to read articles. Your supplemental material must have provided tons of vocabulary.
voice recognition in rosetta stone is just absolute garbage. That alone makes me not want to use it (I have to for my course). Further more, I've never experienced worse lessons for language learning. It's literally more efficient and effective to create your own schedule by doing research on a language and that's without paying anything
3 reasons why RS don't work: Reason 1: At the end of the course you can't talk Reason 2: At the end of the course you can't talk Reason 3: At the end of the course you can't talk
No course will get you to speaking. If you do want to speak though I highly recommend Pimsleur. Pimsleur is GOLD for learning how to speak. You still need to supplement Pimsleur though.
This is used for my mandarin class and its terrible, all they do is shove words in your face and expect you to know what they mean without actually teaching you first,you only really learn if you get all the answers wrong and that gives you a bad grade
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
I bought the lifetime membership during Covid because I’ve always wanted to learn Italian. I don’t have the best short term memory and I’ll quit for like a few weeks here and there, but I feel like I’m doing ok because I always come back to it. I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to do this! Thanks for the video!
Keep going Italian is so sexy what a great thing to add to your life!
@@morningmayan thanks for the encouragement! Grazie!
@@hotstepper1649 how are you doing right now? are you still using RS?
How is the Italian going ?
Most reviewers of Rosetta Stone are "Try the first lesson in Rosetta Stone and then try the first lesson in product X". But you can't judge a product by its first lesson. Obviously the most important question is "Where is the bathroom?" But just because that is not the first lesson does not mean the program is bad. For any program, you actually need to finish the program. So whatever program you think that you will actually finish is the one to use. My two favorites are Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur for different reasons.
Fair comment
Yeah -- I really dislike the videos that are like "I tried 25 language apps -- so you don't have to". They only get pinky deep in each app -- so what does a review of 25 apps even mean.
I'm also a big Rosetta and Pimsleur fan again for two different reasons. Rosetta IMO is better for visual learners and better for reading and listening -- and Pimsleur is better for speaking. I actually recommend using both of these for their respective strengths.
Ive been doing Spanish on Duolingo for over 2 years and I feel like im not getting anywhere now, trying to find out more and this was helpful
I'm learning 3 languages in Rosetta Stone. One of them is Arabic. It's super hard because it doesn't sound like anything I already know. I learned the alphabet in 2014 just for fun, and forgot most of it, but that's about it, I didn't know a single word. I have chosen Arabic as an experiment to see how well I can learn a language (even a very difficult one) mostly using RS. I'm not supplementing my studies with anything else, and I just look up stuff when I'm really curious about it. I'm enjoying it a lot to figure out how the language works by myself. I'm 2 weeks in, and so far I noticed Arabic differentiate between dual and plural, both in noun and verb conjugations, verbs also change according to gender, etc.
I think this is a great exercise for the brain.
I'm learning it too, learned the alphabet when I was younger, how's your progress
Becca so happy i found this channel! I can 100% relate! I completed 5 levels of Mandarin Chinese in 2 and half years and literally changed my life! I will admit though that Rosetta Stone i think is more for learning how to speak than reading and writing! Just my experience!
Am totally agree with you.
Thanks Rosetta stone, now I am a fluent Russian speaker !
So far Russian on an app like this didn't appeal to me. I learned the alphabet, but would like to write a lot more in the beginning.
Becca, woowwww, I too am a Maryland resident. I’ll look into the public library option you noted.
Thank you for your Rosetta review. I, too, am learning French (hopefully) at age 59 for increased travel to Europe. Rosetta was on sale and has LIFETIME access to other languages. Good luck with your channel (please work to remove "like" from your vocabulary asap) 🙂
Go Becca! Great job on your placement test. I just started 11/30 & am also studying French & am enjoying the experience so far! I too am doing an hour + per day. Merci pour votre vidéo!
What results do you achieve? Can you pleease tell me? I want to buy Rosetta Stone to learn English. Thank you.
You suggest to get Rosetta Stone for free from the library. I guess I would have that opportunity as well. But can you tell me the formate of that programme? Is it a CD, which means that you need a computer? Or is it just a link? I ask because I am not willing to work with a computer. I want to learn by Smartphone. My question is: Is the free library version compatible with any Smartphone?
Just putting this out there -- the library version is probably CDs. I guess you can go to your local library and ask.
I actually bought the CD version of Pimsleur for Brazilian Portuguese. $100 for 80 CDs -- saved about $150 bucks and ended up ripping the CDs to mp3 files so I could use them on my laptop and phone.
@@quantus5875 Thank you for your answer. In the meantime I have tried both, Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur. Rosetta Stone is not usefull at all. Its only benefit is that you can increase your passive vocabulary. You will neither actively learn vocabularies by clicking on them nor will you understand grammar this way. If someone learns a language by Rosetta Stone, this person must have put a lot of efforts into it and used other ressources like a grammar book. But then, what's the point of this programme?
Pimsleur is much better, but it also has some issues. So I ended up learning by an Italki teacher.
@@fd-br6uw Italki is great (and tutors in general are fantastic), but the con is that it is expensive, unless you are trading languages (and I assume you're supplementing Italki with reading and watching videos?). In all fairness to Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Duo Lingo, Babbel, and others -- they only give you 60 to 120 hours of instruction -- no language app/program will get you there on its own -- because you need ~600 hours of effective learning in a language to reach basic fluency, around B2 (which is advanced intermediate using CEFL) levels. So, you need to supplement them by reading and watching videos and listening to content. And when you can speak -- speak to people.
What I found and how I used Rosetta Stone was a greater "starter program" and gave me my initial 1200 words of vocabulary -- and many of these words I learned really well -- so not passive vocab -- but would say maybe 800 of the 1200 words learned were actually active vocab. So, it was a great start -- I estimate that I was a strong A2 (advanced beginner when I finished Rosetta Stone) -- and I could read simple children's books (~5 year old level) when I finished Rosetta Stone. What I loved is its immersion as you only learn in the target language.
What I did is started with Rosetta Stone. Finished the course (wish the course was longer). Then did a year of reading, lingo pie, and watching videos with simple content (recommend Plain Portuguese and Easy Portuguese channels). This built up my vocab to maybe around 4K. Then I did Pimsleur -- what Pimsleur does is gets about 2000 words (most of which were already passive) into active and you learn basic phrase structures. I could then speak at around B1 level. Yes, I could speak!! Pimsleur is gold for speaking. Now I'm continuing to read, watch videos, listen, and speak and am a very strong B1 now (with an estimated vocabulary of (~6K passive, ~2K active) -- maybe a weak B2. In a year, at several hours a week of learning I should easily be a strong B2. (estimate a vocab of ~8k passive with around ~3K of that active).
No its online actually. I have it too via library. You can chose to use the computer or the smartphone.
Some libraries have access to other apps like Mango. Definitely check your local library and how to enable it via library access.
Rosetta Stone is aweasome!
I' m brazilian and I bought the lifetime subscription and it's very efficient and cool!
Rosetta Stone is GOLD. The reality is learning a language is all about "efficient hours" (active learning hours) -- so almost anything will work if you spend the time. But Rosetta Stone got me maybe beginner level A2 with a vocab of maybe around 1200-1500 words. My only issue with Rosetta Stone is no second (advanced) course in Portuguese (like they do in Spanish, French,...) . My problem with Rosetta Stone is that I finished the course and just wish there was more.
@81claudete Agreed Rosetta Stone is GOLD to get you started -- and Pimsleur is GOLD if you want to actually "speak"!!
I do agree with you that the Rosetta Stone course is probably equivalent to two college courses -- maybe let's say 1.5 college courses -- if you supplement it a little like you said (yes maybe a little grammar and some more reading) -- yes easily two college courses.
Hi Becca, this video is very helpful for me, I've always wanted to learn Italian but I lack in commitment... I was afreid that the Rosetta Stone Program it no going to work but you show me that with commitment and will its possible to be fluent after finish the program.
Thank you!
Saludos desde Venezuela :)
I think it's too expensive but I love it. It just fits my style of learning. You have to guess and click on the right answer. There is a lot of audio and I repeat every sentence so you get a lot of pronunciation practice that way.
Thanks for the tip on going through the library. Im also in MD, close to Moco. What’re the chances? Anyways thanks again!
How is your learning effect?
I like that it's purely in Spanish no English words however when a new word is added there should be English pop us for a short time as you have to keep checking on a transator 12:08
I wish I saw this sooner. I’m aware of another language program free at library. I should have checked to see if library had Rosetta Stone. But that ok. I ordered lifetime subscription. Just started. Love it.
Hi, I think Rosetta is good enough to learn languages. As you have said, it has much content. And what is more, the content is accompanied by audio. The course is supposes to get you to some level from zero. And the faster you finish the course, the faster you will get to that level. The more time you do Rosetta every day, the better. The faster you move, the better, because the more intensive the process will be. I think even if you live in some country in order to learn the language in the fastest way, some other person can progress even faster, if he or she practices on Rosetta all day long. But you need to supplement Rosetta with some other material that Rosetta lacks: instructions on phonetics and pronunciation and grammatical explanations. So before you begin the course, you learn how to pronounce the sounds of the language so that you realize what sounds exactly the material you learn on Rosetta consists of. And you revise the phonetics from time to time.
I don't really have time to properly study yet another language right now as I've got my hands full with Japanese, but I've dabbled a bit in Mandarin and Korean using Rosetta Stone. Originally I was just supposed to test the Mandarin course in Rosetta Stone for the company I was working at (alongside some other apps), but ended up liking it so much that I bought the lifetime access. What I think is crazy about Rosetta Stone is the retention rate: I feel like I can still remember like 70% of the Mandarin I learned over a year ago. Vocabulary, pronounciation, grammar - the whole package. Granted, the similarities with Japanese help a lot, and I've had some outside exposure to Mandarin since then. If I was going to get started on a new language, or get serious about Mandarin or Korean, I'd most likely start with Rosetta Stone first to get a good feel for the language, and then probably move on to LingQ.
It doesn't necessarily do great in every aspect, however. Since the lessons build on previous lessons to introduce new concepts, it can be hard to skip ahead even if you have pre-existing knowledge. In fact, I think it become an utter snoozer if you already know a fair bit of the language but just want a refresher for example. The content in exercises are just super repetitive and unengaging when you're not trying to figure out new words and patterns.
Also, their stubborn stance of no translations and explanations can be just hilariously ineffective sometimes. For example, they give you the Korean phonetic alphabet with example sounds and just expect you to figure it out like it's a puzzle. If you start with no idea how it works, you could probably spend weeks or even months figuring it out on your own, when it could be taught in about 5-15 minutes. Or something like throwing irregular verbs at beginners because they just happen to be the same verbs they use in every language, with 0 mention or explanation of the irregularity, which can be really confusing at the start when you're trying to figure out patterns.
I'm also not necessarily a huge fan of them pushing speech exercises at you straight from the beginning, before you get a good idea of how the language sounds and how the words are pronounced. Maybe after the 3rd lesson or something would be better. But you can just turn them off or skip so it's not that big of a deal.
Estaba buscando videos en Inglés para poder aprender y me apareció tu video. Felicitaciones 👏🏼 por tu canal. Saludos desde Lima-Peru
Wow! I’m fluent in Argentine Spanish. I learned Spanish in my 20’s, going to language school and studying when I got to the country. I spent eight years in Argentina.
I want to learn Italian, French and
Portuguese.
Your review was very helpful. Thank you.
This is awesome I'm MD and just applied for a library card and I'm already logged into my first lesson. Took less than 5 minutes! Thank you!
They say you always hate something if you are forced to do it, I was forced to do Rosetta for my Portuguese class as part of the grade, at first it was like yay easy grade, but it became tedious real fast. Might try it later with another language but I burned out on it
Hi Becca! I agree with your review. I'm a native spanish speaker. I started 9 months ago to use rosetta stone (I get a free full "jack sparrow" version on the internet), and now I'm learning the level 3-4-3 (or unit 12, lesson 3. Depending the version). Personally, it really works well for me. I feel I'm progresing a little bit every day. But requires consistency day after day. I can say that I understood 70% of what you said in the video. It's so satisfaying for me. I really apreciate your review. Y que bonita sonrisa tenés! Saludos desde Argentina!
Warning !! Te cracks are not your friends 🤣
tienes*
@@ok_e3w Cada país desarrolla sus propias características de lenguaje. Así como no es lo mismo ingles británico que de Usa, o el español de España que el de México, en Argentina, de donde soy, se sustituye el tu por el vos. En lugar de decir "tu tienes" se dice "vos tenés". Es por eso que te pregunto: "¿Vos de dónde sos?, y no "¿tu de dónde eres?. Saludos
@@marianope123456 Ya veo, no sabia que en argentina el espanol era diferente, gracias por dejarme saber hermano
You must have improved a lot since this comment!
I just started polish today and I learned alot more then. Also north jersey library has it for free just library card required.
It teaches you how you learn as a child - so you have to just trust the process and and learn through association which I absolutely love as then you don’t convert from your mother tongue you learn to think in the language you’re learning
Becca, when you say "all of rosetta stone" in your French program, how many levels are you talking about?
Making this video was a very good idea! I love the fact that you actually were sticking to what you are talking about (it doesn't matter what your verdict is!). I personally found RS too boring - but I always play with the idea of "what if".
Actually there has been some studies that suggest that moving abroad is a good way, just NOT the osmosis approach, by forcing yourself to only speak the foreign language and selecting a language partner or tutor to help assist you
hello there I am in MD too Jessup so I can have RSt in library too?
Working really well for me! I’m actually hearing spoken Japanese well now! My speaking is still a little slow and clumsy; however my reading has significantly improved!
I’m on week 5
I love your energy!!what state are you from? california here!!
Becca thanks for the video. I have two questions I will greatly appreciate it if you could please give me your opinions. 1. Have you ever done any Pimsleur? I’m at level 4. It’s been like a magic for me. I have never been exposed to French before in my entire life and I couldn’t even repeat a simple sentence in French if was asked to. 2. I think you said you are at level 16 of Roseta. How is your listening skil after completing this level. I understand that you knew Spanish and English and that they might have contributed to your French journey! I agree absolutely. But how do you feel about your listening skill after completing 16 levels of this program. Are you able to clearly understand French speakers?! I have done a lot of pimsleur and Duolingo and etc (self learning only) but my listening skill is horrible at this point. I’m really really disappointed at myself. I have spoken to some French professors and they said it’s kind of normal and it takes about 2 years to get the listening skills right. So I feel that they kind of encouraged me to keep going and i will but I just want to know about your level of confidence in your listening skill. Thanks for reading my long and boring comment. Best regards.
Both are great. I have both. Pimsleur is good for speaking practice, and going from English to the language you are learning with no picture to help. Rosetta Stone is better for reading in the language you are learning and looking at a picture and thinking the word naturally. But both require other sources for grammar understanding.
Pimsleur is Awesome for speaking!! Rosetta Stone IMO is better for reading and listening and building vocab. I have used both and highly recommend both.
I am studying Russian... I really like Rosetta Stone as well.
Thank you. Buying today.
Can I set up my level depending on how expert I am in every language in this Rosetta Course?
If I am intermediate in French and Beginner in Arab for example, is there a way to clarify this difference in the course?
Rosetta Stone is by level. The Level 1 course will basically take you from A0 (nothing) to a strong A2 (advanced beginner). There is a Level 2 course for some of the more popular languages that will take you to a strong B1 (basic intermediate) or weak B2 (advanced Intermediate) level. That's as far as you can go with Rosetta. In fairness to Rosetta, most courses are like that -- i.e. getting to intermediate is as far as you can go with almost all courses.
To get to B2 and C1 and beyond you need to read, listen, speak, etc...
Thank you so much for telling me I could get rosseta stone for free from my library. I was just about to buy it ❤❤
i actually wonder the way u studied like did u take notes or did u watch lessons on youtuba with u did rosetta stone
I used RS in the past to help me get better at French. It does work to say the least.
The downsides with the program I think is that RS is not a complete beginner's program and you HAVE to supplement your learning with outside material. In the defense of RS, I've done other software language learning programs and they weren't beginner level programs either and you had to supplement you learning with outside materials too. For any person looking to start learning a language with Rosetta Stone and any other language learning app, take some classes, find a tutor, watch some RUclips videos or buy some grammar books before you start those programs.
I want to mention as well that I'm currently learning Spanish with RS. I didn't buy the software this time around and bought the subscription. The only complaint I have with the subscription is that they've gotten rid of live tutoring. Now they only have the live video sessions with one of the tutors. They never mentioned this to the older, continuing customers for some reason.
But RS is not so bad if you go into it realizing that it's mainly an interactive way to learn vocab. nuff said.
I totally agree!
@@beccalevy1 I wanted thank you for mentioning using Wikipedia as a way learn a language. I had the habit of buying novels but was thinking of buying Spanish textbooks on subjects I wanted to learn in Spanish. I realize now that, that's the more expensive route. I'm not sure why it's been 6 years and I never thought of using Wikipedia but I'm glad I finally found out about it. Thanks!
I was so mad at the Rosetta Stone iPhone port that I haven’t used my lifetime membership at all. They didn’t redesign it at all when they ported it to the iPhone even though the screen is tiny compared to a computer. But I am inspired by your video and I think I will try it on my iPad. That said… if you speak Spanish and English… I think you should almost be able to speak French without studying 😂
So get a proper smartphone.
I really appreciate your review. I don't understand why people seem to hate Rosetta Stone so much. It kinda feels like most of them are just jumping on the bandwagon as some kind of validation, as if hating Rosetta is some sort of requirement to be a self-proclaimed polyglot 😂
I watched a RS review by this french guy. He roasted RS for its repetitiveness, high price and whatnot. The same guy recommended Babbel, in a different video, and said it was ok for Babbel to have that much repetion because there is no way to avoid it in language learning 😶
I bought a lifetime subscription for about US$45 (Rosetta is cheaper in my country, otherwise a regular person would not be able to afford it. $45 is still a lot, considering that minimum wage is around US$258 and people can barely pay the bills). Babbel costs exactly 3 times more over here, and they have fewer languages.
I just started the Rosetta Stone German course (received for free), and so far, there are some things I find annoying (eg., there is no weighted repetition, over stressing of grammar, etc), however I really appreciate the intuitive nature of the learning - they don't have any translations which makes learning way more organic rather than forced and contrived. It causes you to pick it up in a mock natural setting through osmosis rather than forcibly translating your native language into the target language - the problem with translating is I find I tend to over-replicate the structure of my native language. Rosetta Stone basically eliminates that problem.
Great video - question - where are you at with it now? I am also doing the French module and I am on unit 5 of 20. It takes a while to get through and what I am finding is that while I am much better at French, I'm not quite sure yet what level I am actually at.
Once you get to Unit 6, things become a lot more enjoyable, because you start learning to speak in past and future (some forms). Starting in Unit 9 is when you start to fully learn future tense.
@@melissanewman5497 Hi yes, I am currently in that stage now and yes, you are right. I find that it is a long journey learning a new language. I need to upload a new video at some point talking about my progress, but my subscription ended recently (I need to renew).
Thank you so much!
I was hoping to hear a sample.
I'm taking the Tagalog part because my wife is a Filipina so I have alot of practice with her
Great video, Becca. Im portuguese language native and I use RS to learn other of 'em. I use 5.0.37 (build 43113), but if you guys want how to update it Id appreciate a lot ;)
Sooo funny, I only did 1 module and thought it was the full course.. hahaha. Yeh the thing about rosetta is if you only spend a few days on it , people-oriented realize how effective it can be it all fits together eventually
Thank you, great review
thanks for posting this, super helpful! New sub❤️
Glad you liked it!
It works for Russian, too.
I tried Duolingo to learn Hebrew and the app just throws words at you
I was not leaving my house! 🤣🤣 i felt that
I'll finish it maybe in 3 months
Non ci sono i sottotitoli in italiano.
im from dominican republic now i investing which is better lenguage lear plataform. i think your video will be useful for me. thanks
becca Levy.
Qué buena review.
Awesome, I totally appreciate your amazing video! I just wish I would've ran across it before I download babble lol. I will definitely keep Rosetta Stone on my mind. Thanks for making this video cheers
How is your learning effect?
Wish could’ve heard you speak French to show what you’ve accomplished
Thanks for sharing this. Is this a paid promotion or are you totally unbiased?
HAHAHA there’s definitely no one paying lmao
What's your native language ?
I’m a native English speaker!
Why not do this podcast in french
You actually badmouthed Duolingo? You went there?
I like Duolingo more than Rosetta Stone.
french language is a mistake, dont contain yourself 😭😭😭, jokes aside I love your energy, your video is informative as it is entertaining 👏🏽thanks for this video. new subscriber
the first time i see uu i falling in love hhhhh
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This is not really a review video, but more like a loosely organized vlog. I would have liked to hear you demonstrate your spoken French, or some of your ability to communicate with real people in text. I appreciate that you can understand ~60% of Netflix French with subtitles on, but you didn't say how many hours you've put into Rosetta Stone. It's also not a complete testament to Rosetta Stone, considering you have previous experience from school and Duolingo. It would have been more representative of Rosetta Stone if you tried it with a fresh language. Maybe video sections would have been nice, but overall I think you repeated a lot of stuff and I didn't get a sense of how effective Rosetta Stone actually is for a 16 minute video.
I agree, I was waiting to hear some French! I’m glad it worked for her nonetheless, but I’m still not sold on Rosetta Stone haha
I imagine you spend much of your waking hours giving others unsolicitied advice.
Can you speak it?
Rosetta Stone Level 1 course is only like 60-80 hours of content. All software/apps are like that. The reality is that 60 hours is pretty small to the ~600 learning hours it takes to become a B2 (basic fluent) in a language. My guess is she was probably -- a B1 when she made this video -- and speaking would have proven nothing about Rosetta Stone. You're not going to be good until you have around 600 languages in a language. Rosetta Stone is an incredible start IMO -- but no software is going to get you there -- after you do something like Rosetta and Pimsleur you need to read, listen, watch videos, and speak. Get those 600 hours. Learning a language takes a lot of time.
"Ped uh gah gee" just fyi
Hello si vous avez appris le français que c est facile parler français non anglais et voir comment vous le parler
She never said she was great at French. My guess from watching this video. She is probably a B1. Or at least a B1 when she made the video.
Didn't speak tho, soooooo. ? What language did you learn. I clicked through your video so idk.
She was learning French.
I like Rosetta Stone, but there's no way you got enough vocabulary from it to read articles. Your supplemental material must have provided tons of vocabulary.
Yes, agreed the basic Level 1 Rosetta Stone will get you to about a 1200 to 1500 word vocab. Need to read to get more vocab.
erm, internet maybe?
Why you didn't do it with French then 😂
voice recognition in rosetta stone is just absolute garbage. That alone makes me not want to use it (I have to for my course). Further more, I've never experienced worse lessons for language learning. It's literally more efficient and effective to create your own schedule by doing research on a language and that's without paying anything
Duolingo sucks.
3 reasons why RS don't work:
Reason 1: At the end of the course you can't talk
Reason 2: At the end of the course you can't talk
Reason 3: At the end of the course you can't talk
not just that. You won't be able to form proper sentences either without just repeating the lessons
What's Reason 4 and 5?
@@joelance101 it's boring; It's too boring 🤣
No course will get you to speaking. If you do want to speak though I highly recommend Pimsleur. Pimsleur is GOLD for learning how to speak. You still need to supplement Pimsleur though.
It's too damned boring.
This is used for my mandarin class and its terrible, all they do is shove words in your face and expect you to know what they mean without actually teaching you first,you only really learn if you get all the answers wrong and that gives you a bad grade
If your not B1 up level in English....don't watch this......
I'm sorry but you talk so fast that listening is very exhausting.