Will Rosetta Stone French Make You Fluent In French?
I was recently asked by a French learner whether or not the Rosetta Stone French software program would make them fluent in French if they used the program in its entirety. This is an excellent question for many people because many language learners have considered purchasing the Rosetta Stone program and want to know whether it is worth the money.
The simple answer to this question is, no, Rosetta Stone French will not make you fluent in French. Unfortunately, Rosetta Stone French just does not teach enough vocabulary and grammar to get you fluent. However, if you do all of the French lessons in Rosetta Stone, you will reach a basic level of French and should be able to get the gist of most everyday conversations and be able to make your own basic phrases in the language.
If you enjoy the Rosetta Stone French method, then Rosetta Stone can be a fun program to help you along with your studies. However, you will still need to do a lot of studying outside of Rosetta Stone if your ultimate goal is fluency in French. Rosetta Stone should be considered one tool on the path to fluency, not the end all product.
If you have the money and enjoy the program, then Rosetta Stone French may be worth your money. However, if you are looking for a real method to fluency, I would highly suggest taking a look at my book which presents the fastest way to fluency. If you are serious about learning French, definitely check it out.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Is Rosetta Stone Useful?
I was recently asked if Rosetta Stone, the language learning software program, is useful or not. I’ll try to address that topic in this article.
I think that Rosetta Stone can be useful if used as a larger language learning plan. It’s just that Rosetta Stone’s advertising makes the program out to be something that will take you from knowing nothing to being fluent in the foreign language of your choice. This is simply not true. Rosetta Stone does not teach enough vocabulary and grammar to get you to fluency.
However, Rosetta Stone does teach you the basics and if you find that Rosetta Stone’s teaching method of using pictures and choosing the correct one out of four choices is fun or helps you, then by all means, use Rosetta Stone. However, if you are serious about learning a foreign language, you will have to use something else to get you to fluency since Rosetta Stone cannot get you there. That’s why I said you would have to use Rosetta Stone as part of a larger language learning plan.
I should also note that even for the basics, you will need to go to another source in addition to Rosetta Stone because Rosetta Stone doesn’t even teach basics like “How are you?” and self-introduction like phrases that you will definitely need if you ever plan on spending time in a foreign country or ever plan on talking to a new acquaintance.
So, all in all, yes, Rosetta Stone is useful if you want to learn the basics of a foreign language but is not too useful by itself if you are interested in reaching fluency in the foreign language of your choice. If you are interested in knowing more about a larger language learning program or learning about the fastest way of getting to fluency in a language, you may be interested in the book I’ve written about the subject.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
What Languages Does Rosetta Stone Teach?
Rosetta Stone teaches the following foreign languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Danish, Dutch, English (British), English (American), Farsi (Persian), French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese and Welsh.
However, if you are interested in buying Rosetta Stone, you may want to read a Rosetta Stone review first!
And, if you want a language learning method that is faster than Rosetta Stone, check out my book below.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Does Rosetta Stone Teach You How To Read A Language?
I was asked recently if Rosetta Stone teaches you how to read a language. The short answer is, in a way, yes.
Basically, the way that Rosetta Stone works is by showing you four pictures and then either reading a sentence or word to you or showing you a sentence or word. You then must choose the correct picture that matches the idea or word being expressed.
In this way, you begin to learn to read the language by seeing the sentences and word explained. However, other languages that do not use the roman alphabet like English may be a bit difficult to learn. For example, there is no specific Rosetta Stone unit for teaching you how to read Japanese or Chinese characters.
For this reason, if you are interested in learning a language that doesn’t use the same letters as English, it may be best if you find a different source to learn the written language. In that way, you would be able to learn a lot faster and in a much better way.
If you are serious about learning a foreign language, I cover the quickest and fastest way to learn a language including the written form in my book. You can find the link below.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
How Long To Learn A Language With Rosetta Stone To Fluency
I received this question recently… how long does it take to learn a language to fluency with the Rosetta Stone software?
Well, the simple answer is, never. Rosetta Stone unfortunately does not teach enough vocabulary and grammar structure to get you to a fluent level. The best that you can hope to achieve through Rosetta Stone is to reach a very basic proficiency.
In order to get to fluency in a foreign language, you will need a lot more than Rosetta Stone and you will have to study a bit more. To give you a general idea of the level you will be at after using Rosetta Stone to its end, you will most likely be able to make simple conversation and get the gist of most conversations. Of course, this varies from language to language since Rosetta Stone has three levels for some languages (like Spanish) and only one level for others (like Xhosa).
If reaching fluency in a foreign language is your ultimate goal, then I highly recommend taking a look at the book I’ve written that covers the quickest, fastest way to reach fluency. It will save you a ton of study time and a lot of money in wasted software programs and books. You can leap past all the mistakes I made in language learning over the past 10 years. Besides, Rosetta Stone is expensive and it makes sense to look at cheaper alternatives.
So, if you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Will Rosetta Stone Make You Fluent In A Language?
Before buying Rosetta Stone, many people wonder how far Rosetta Stone will actually take them in achieving fluency in a foreign language. Of course, this is an important question to ask since one usually wants to reach a high level of proficiency in a language and Rosetta Stone supposedly takes you to that point as quickly as possible. So, is it true? Will Rosetta Stone make you fluent in a language?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Rosetta Stone will not make you fluent in a foreign language. Rosetta Stone simply does not teach nearly enough vocabulary to get you fluent. Using Rosetta Stone, you will reach a very basic proficiency. You will be able to make simple conversation and get the gist of most things going on, assuming you go through every level of Rosetta Stone (which is quite expensive!)
Also, Rosetta Stone does not teach nearly enough grammar structure either. Many grammar points are not even yet included in the Rosetta Stone program so the truth is, you will have a lot of outside studying to do to make up for this lack of grammar if you plan on reaching a high level of proficiency in your target language.
The bottom line is that Rosetta Stone is a nice piece of software in its interactivity and an interesting way to use the computer to help you learn a new language but it will not get you anywhere close to being “fluent” in a foreign language. In order to reach fluency, you will need to do a lot of studying outside of Rosetta Stone. For this reason, many people question the cost of the Rosetta Stone software since it is so expensive yet does not actually teach you that much.
So, if Rosetta Stone isn’t the answer to reaching fluency, then what is? If you’re interested in becoming fluent in a foreign language as quickly and as efficiently as possible, I highly suggest taking a look at the book I’ve written that covers these topics in depth.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
6 Good Reasons Why Rosetta Stone Sucks
You’ve seen the Rosetta Stone TV commercials. You’ve read the Rosetta Stone magazine ads. You’ve even walked by the Rosetta Stone kiosk at your local mall or airport. Rosetta Stone is the end all language learning program that will take you to fluency faster than any way possible, right? Well, not exactly…
While Rosetta Stone may have its good points, I’d say it’s far from being the best language program out there. Here are six good reasons why Rosetta Stone sucks.
Reason 1: Rosetta Stone’s vocabulary learning is too slow.
If you have a few years to learn a language and don’t mind learning at a snail’s pace, then Rosetta Stone might be for you. I don’t know about you, but personally I’ve always wanted to learn a language quickly so that I could get on to the fun parts and start using it in real life. You probably don’t want to sit around while it repeats phrases like “The cat is large”.
Reason 2: Rosetta Stone is unclear.
Showing you vague photographs while repeating the foreign language does not necessarily make the word’s meaning clear. Does the photo for the word mean an article of clothing? Or, does it mean a type of shirt? Or, does it mean that specific kind of shirt in the photograph? Or, does it refer to something completely different like the pattern on the shirt? You need to learn the real meaning of a word or you will waste time wondering about its meaning and be afraid of making a mistake in real usage.
Reason 3: Rosetta Stone requires supplements.
Rosetta Stone will not get you anywhere near fluency. It just doesn’t teach nearly enough words and grammar structure. If you want to become proficient in your new language, you are going to need more than just Rosetta Stone or else your ability in the language will be stunted. Rosetta Stone is like a map that shows you 1/8th of the way to your destination. It may be fine for the first bit, but it will leave you lost and stranded on your path to fluency.
Reason 4: Rosetta Stone is lacking in useful phrases.
Rosetta Stone stresses teaching unnatural phrases like “The cat is large” or “The woman is wearing a yellow shirt”. It does *not* teach you useful phrases like how to introduce yourself or even how to say “hello”! Think about this past year. How many times have you said, “The cat is large” and how many times have you said, “Hi, my name is…” Do you really want to be spending all your time learning sentences that you won’t use and not even learn how to say “how are you?”
Reason 5: Rosetta Stone tries to fit every language into a cookie cutter formula.
The truth is, human languages vary widely. One language may be particularly hard in its verb conjugation but easy in its adjectives. Another language may be easy in its verb conjugation but difficult in another aspect like its noun cases. Rosetta Stone does not address the special issues of any one language. It gives equal time to all categories. Furthermore, it simply tries to force each language into its pre-arranged photos and sentences. For this reason, you are missing all of the specifics of the language that are most likely to be different from English and therefore are most important to learn properly!
Reason 6: Rosetta Stone is just plain expensive.
It costs a lot and I’m just not sure if the cost is worth what you are getting considering the problems I’ve outlined. There are cheaper and faster ways of learning a language. If you’re interested in learning about these other faster and cheaper methods, just continue reading below.
As you can see, Rosetta Stone does have its problems but I do admire Rosetta Stone for its innovative use of computer technology to teach a foreign language. It is a nice concept despite its lacking execution and inability to efficiently teach a foreign language. However, its emphasis on interactiveness is a (small) step above textbooks and I would like to see future software products expand on this interactiveness and try to do things right.
That being said, if you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!