A recent article in the Wall Street Journal said that Rosetta Stone is the best language learning program because of its multi-senory approach. Problem is, it costs $199. less tax, which is much more than most others.

Does anyone here have experience with Rosetta Stone for learning Italian?

I've been using Rosetta Stone for about 4 months, and absolutely love it! It starts out very easy, and increases with difficulty as you progress. The picture/word correlations also help tremendouly with memorization. The only thing that I don't like is that it takes awhile to teach you verb conjugations for. All verbs for about the fist 6 units are in third person sigular and plural. While the program isn't perfect, it has helped me a lot in learning a lot of vocabulary. Let me know if you have any other questions.

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Originally posted by TonyNC:
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal said that Rosetta Stone is the best language learning program because of its multi-senory approach. Problem is, it costs $199. less tax, which is much more than most others.

Does anyone here have experience with Rosetta Stone for learning Italian?

I checked it out of the library and tried it. It's OK but no way I'd pay 200 bucks. Does a picture of a kid jumping actually help an adult remember a word better than a written definition? I don't think so.

I guess each program fits the needs of different learning styles and different levels of knowledge. We too like the Rosetta Stone, accessed thru our library in the states. For me a picture does help, and the interactive program makes it more fun than just listen and repeat.

We also like the Pimsleur series, and play it in the car quite often. Maybe both programs are easier for us because we already know basic verb conjugation.

My wife has it. And likes it. In my honest opinion, it takes far too long to come to grips with the language proper.

As Bill discovered, a lot of time is spent, for example, with pictures of boys sitting under unlikely objects. Like aeroplanes. In middle age, I'm still waiting to see a boy actually sitting under an aeroplane. Maybe I don't get out enough. That aside, I realise their purpose - introducing the student to words via images, but they compound the problem at this early stage by dwelling on the progressive form - stare+gerund - as in, for example, Il ragazzo sta soltando (The boy is jumping) - which, while it correctly describes a picture of a boy jumping, is a tense that has relatively limited, very specific use. It certainly confused my wife when she realised she had to differentiate between I am going to the shops (her intention) and I am going to the shops (actually, physically, on her way).

I think a lot of Rosetta Stone's popularity stems from its blurb to the effect that a diplomatic corps uses it to train their officers. And I understand that a lot of people like it, but I think it's (a) very expensive; and (b) a circuitous route to the language.

EDIT. Just saw Barb's post. I think she's right. Some pre-knowledge of verbs would help overcome the sort of problem my wife had. OTOH, Rosetta Stone is pitched at beginners.

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Does a picture of a kid jumping actually help an adult remember a word better than a written definition?

For many people it does. I work on a literacy program for struggling readers based on this very premise. Strong research suggests it helps build "mental models" as you learn.

Personally, I have no problem learning vocabulary. It's the verb tenses that kill me. Ain't no picture in the world going to help me learn the trapassato prossimo.

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For many people it does. I work on a literacy program for struggling readers based on this very premise.

Yes I can see it helping a struggling reader. But an adult who's not a strugging reader....

if you don't want to put out $200 to start, you can try it for a month online:

http://rosettastone.com/

I believe it's the same program as the sets you can buy...someone else might know?

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In middle age, I'm still waiting to see a boy actually sitting under an aeroplane.

The goal is not to show you a picture that you have seen many times.

Memory research shows that shocking or unusual images & associations are retained far more easily than everyday images.

The goal is to present a common word (in this case sotto) in an image that you will remember. If you can remember the image, chances are that your associative memory will also remember the word.

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Does a picture of a kid jumping actually help an adult remember a word better than a written definition?

The image is not necessarily a memory aid (although it does help visual people remember). The reason for using an image rather than a written description is to avoid the translation process.

If you learn a written definition, when you see a kid jumping, most people's mind tends to go from the scene, to the English word or phrase, to the Italian translation of the word or phrase.

If you tie the Italian definition to the image, when you see the kid jumping, you can retrieve the Italian definition directly.

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Yes I can see it helping a struggling reader. But an adult who's not a strugging reader....

Bill, I am a 33 year old adult with a Master's degree, and have never been a struggling reader, but find Rosetta Stone to be the perfect program for me. The thing to remember is that everyone learns differently. Some people do just fine listening to CD's, but I don't. Others, like you, prefer a more direct/analytical approach, which is not a bad way at all. However, using picture/word correlations which scaffold each other is not a bad approach, either, especially for those of us who are visual learners. There is really no right or wrong way to learn another language. It's whatever is best for the person who is attempting to learn it. As for the expense of Rosetta Stone, I personally find it worth it because it has worked so well for me. For those people who can't afford to spend that much, though, many public libraries offer the online version (which is exactly the same as the software available for purchase) for FREE to library card holders. It can't hurt to try it when it's free.

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Originally posted by Bottegal:
Memory research shows that shocking or unusual images & associations are retained far more easily than everyday images.

The little boy under the airplane wasn't a real shocker to me. Now if the airplane engines had been running and the little boy was being sucked into the intake, that would have been very memorable.

Edited to remove excessive quoting. A.T.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Alice Twain,

From my experience, Rosetta Stone is a very good program. Will it teach you everything? No. But, it will help you understand and get you to a speaking point much faster. Plus, you can go at your own speed. I tried several different programs and found Rosetta Stone to be the best for beginners. Then, once you get a working vocabulary and the ability to speak some, you can study more grammar on your own. Yes, it is expensive, but no more expensive than if you went to a class. I went to a class and learned more with Rosetta Stone in the same amount of time.

The purpose of the boy under the airplane, table, etc. Is to teach you those concepts, using words that you have learned in previous lessons. Do people usually see boys sitting on or under airplanes? No. But, you've now learned the words "under" and "on" because it's easy for you to understand the concept behind the picture and for your brain to make the link. The point is to teach you more as a child would learn, by observation and repetition.

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The image is not necessarily a memory aid (although it does help visual people remember). The reason for using an image rather than a written description is to avoid the translation process.

If you learn a written definition, when you see a kid jumping, most people's mind tends to go from the scene, to the English word or phrase, to the Italian translation of the word or phrase.

If you tie the Italian definition to the image, when you see the kid jumping, you can retrieve the Italian definition directly.

This is something I can definitely relate to. Anyone who learns a new language will eventually come to the point where they know some words only in the foreign language and not in their mother tongue. They will reach a point where they start thinking in the foreign language, which is when they are finally approaching fluency.

This is what full immersion does to you; you won't have anyone there translating for you, and there won't be time for you to translate or check the dictionary. When you were a baby pointing at a lamp your parents kept repeating the word 'lamp', and you didn't have any references or dictionaries to use, you just had to accept that the lamp is somehow related to the word 'lamp'. It's the same procedure when you grow up, and if you can skip that extra step of translating (looking at the lamp, thinking 'lamp' then thinking 'lamp=lampa') you're one step closer to knowing the language.

And yes, this is what I have to learn in Italian. When speaking English I don't translate anything, but upon speaking Italian I sometimes translate from Swedish to English to Italian and back, and that slows me down much more than I'd like.

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Originally posted by MB:
The purpose of the boy under the airplane, table, etc. Is to teach you those concepts, using words that you have learned in previous lessons. Do people usually see boys sitting on or under airplanes? No. But, you've now learned the words "under" and "on" because it's easy for you to understand the concept behind the picture and for your brain to make the link. The point is to teach you more as a child would learn, by observation and repetition.

Thank you for explaining that to us. Again.

I, myself, just started with "living languages" and find it VERY helpful. My husband is often suprised at what I'm being taught because of how modern it is. It teaches slang, like "cavalo!" It literally means "cabbage" but italians say it to mean something like "Wow!" A "proper" language lesson probably won't tell you that sort of thing. Anyway, it teaches you some very real things that people say along with easy to understand verb conjugations and lot's of vocabulary. It's also sprinkled with little historical and cultural facts about different areas of Italy. Even going so far as to recommend different italian movies. I love it, check it out.

I can't believe everyone is talking about Rosetta Stone and the other language learning programs, but nobody had mentioned Mango. I just stumbled onto this website and it is sweet! Also, it's free. The website is www.mangolanguages.com . I found it to be very helpful.

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they compound the problem at this early stage by dwelling on the progressive form - stare+gerund - as in, for example, Il ragazzo sta soltando (The boy is jumping) - which, while it correctly describes a picture of a boy jumping, is a tense that has relatively limited, very specific use.

Re: Rosetta Stone. My sister-in-law has been using this program, while my husband and I have been taking lessons with a live human (!) and also listening to Michel Thomas CDs (which we find useful).

I only browsed through her Rosetta Stone for a short time but I wasn't really impressed. I think the pictures could work well for some people. She seems to like it.

However, I found the early and constant emphasis on the use of the gerund to the exclusion of the more common & more easily congugated present tense Italian phrasing (we are eating vs. we eat) to be confusing. It seems that they want to use a phrasing that directly translates into English, but they don't explain the nuances...such as that the Italian use of this present progressive means that you are doing the action as you speak.

You can't say in Italian using the present progressive "You're reading Harry Potter?" if you see someone with the book under their arm, as you would in English. You would only say that if they were actually reading at that moment. I don't see why Rosetta needs to push this more complicated form when it isn't necessary for early learners.

As a friend said the other night, Rosetta Stone is handy for vocabulary. Trouble is, it's a mighty expensive vocab tool.

These programs may be of help to people who live outside the country. But nothing beats being there, getting to know people who can't speak English, and struggling along, trying to communicate. It is very important to associate with people who can't speak English! This is the old-fashioned way and it's really cheap if you're already there. It does take a little patience and a lot of humility.

First of all, Rosetta Stone is not expensive. Go online and buy a 3 month subscription for $109. it covers all three levels. That's very inexpensive if you take the time to cover the whole course in 3 months, which is not very extreme.

I did it, and it helped before coming to Italy, but all three levels do not teach you all that much. I think RS builds a good foundation for understanding how language works. However, because of the approach they use, you need some other textbook to learn things like formal grammar afterwards. Rosetta Stone also isn't focused on giving you essential words and phrases (a lot of fairly useless vocabulary, which makes sense if you see RS as only first step into learning Italian).

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I can't believe everyone is talking about Rosetta Stone and the other language learning programs, but nobody had mentioned Mango. I just stumbled onto this website and it is sweet! Also, it's free. The website is www.mangolanguages.com .

MANGO??? IT IS NOT FREE and seems to be nothing special either.

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Originally posted by Anna inumbria:

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I can't believe everyone is talking about Rosetta Stone and the other language learning programs, but nobody had mentioned Mango. I just stumbled onto this website and it is sweet! Also, it's free. The website is www.mangolanguages.com .

MANGO??? IT IS NOT FREE and seems to be nothing special either.

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