Rosetta Stone

I've been looking at it, but I'm going for Fr+Esp+Ger+Mand+Rus and looking at retail that's $2,500 for v4 OR $300/year for online subscription.
I can get the CDs off of craigslist for 1/2 to 1/5th the price, but this is still a wad of cash that I sorely need.

Anyone have experience with rosetta stone? Is there a cheaper way to get what I need without pirating?

 

I can't speak from any personal experience, only from reviews and word-of-mouth. From everything I've heard and read though, Rosetta Stone is simply the best.

I would love to pick it up for German, but I can't quite afford it yet. One day I will, though.

 

Check your local library - some actually have the Rosetta stone course that you could borrow for free.

 

i know that the romance languages are less costly than Mandarin, Ive also read that the way Rosseta teaches you Mandarin is not as good as going learning from a human

Mandarin is highly complex language in that, volume, affect, pronounciation is a paramount when learning this language, thus learning from authentic source has proven more usefell

I will try an find that link

for the $$$ I am thinking robbery or selling drugs typically yields a quick turnover

 

I can tell you in three different languages Rosetta is the best. Also, its quite easily acquired from the usual places... if you know what I mean

 

I had a copy from long ago.. but never had the discipline to make myself do it.. but I have heard WONDERFUL things about it... I might even actually pick it back up so that I can learn a new language.

 

Hooked on Phonics is far su·pe·ri·or.

 

@Kitsune Great advice! I'll check around to see if I can find v4! (I would like to own it pref.!)

@Gruune Mm, yes I agree that you can't learn a lot of the meanings of mandarin words though any program especially because of mandarins tendancy for historical and dichotic subtext and definition, I have been sampling the RUS level 1 and within the first few days I've already encountered words I needed to make phonecalls to friends to confirm I was pronouncing words correctly. Good advice thanks!

From what I've seen from my study so far it's outstanding in terms of methodology and it sticks better than a lot of classes I've had.

@Waffle German is a grind to learn (3 genders, randomized), constructing writing or speech in it is like playing speed chess except the pieces change the ways they move every turn, though reading or listening to it isn't exceptionally difficult.

 

I mean I have heard good and bad things about Rosetta stone, but I dunno.. Maybe if you actually stick with it, you could make it work?

 

I am just wondering if anyone knows where I can buy KyojiStone .... I dont understand a freaking thing he says on TS

 

From immoreelitethan.com

 

It's English (American).


I've been using russian level 1 version 3 for the last week now, it's really nice so far but the voice recognition is kinda flaky at times, it'll pick up clear mispronounciations and not pick up correct ones sometimes.


So far, I recommend using rosetta stone to give some extra and fairly easy push into language studies to lessen the impact of classes, especially if you have night classes and you want to even-out your stress levels rather than exhaust yourself.

 

Stick with it. It can work. I found the Eastern Arabic pretty good. I continue to work on it. I felt so good about my progress, I thought it could be pretty cool to try out Mandarin and I even got my office to pay for it. Its proving much more difficult, but I think its working. I watch movies with Chinese guys in it and, all of the sudden, I can sort of comprehend what they are talking about! It was the same story when I first started with Arabic. It just starts clicking and you even start to teach yourself. Thats the whole point behind the rosetta method. It seeks to teach you how to teach yourself the language. I find it highly effective.
I know others who have had more success with the more traditional routes such as the Pimsleur methodology of learning languages.

 

here is a place to practice your Chinese/mandarin in an immersive enviroment.

54% of Second life members come from a non english speaking country.
There are lots of places to practice your multi language skills.



besides schools..there are chinese social events in which to practice your speaking/reading skills.

An English friend has used SL as an accessory to her Japanese writing/speaking courses and found it very helpful to use Japanese in a social way.

 

I'm good for mandarin/cantonese, I might check out that SL thing if I move to berlin or norway.
Vancouver has a celebrated, profitable and integrated ethic community, people don't throw away their roots because vancouverites consume diversity (we are suckers for that kind of thing), the cultural industry is actually lacking compared to the needs of the people-- I often see cultural events absolutely packed, and sales of clothing from thailand or rarer stuff from india can be brought back on a plane and sold for x2 to x10 it's original cost because we simply don't have enough roots here to stimulate large-scale handmade production of cultural goods.

 

This is something I have never considered or even heard of. This is an outstanding idea- A safe environment to become more fluent in the cultural nuance of a language. Thanks for the tip, Doctorie. I may just have to do this.

 

This is all true. I taught myself the language and it's complex as shit. Still working on mastering it.

 

Mandarin is last on my list, I want to get a really good basis of how languages work, I figure after I get enough diversity it should take off the edge of how difficult it is for me to make the connections between rules and differences between sounds most people don't hear.

 

hmm... Honestly, if Mandarin is a real goal of yours, the sooner you start the better in my opinion. Learning more than one language at once is a real bear. Good luck, whatever method you use.