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| Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? (945250) | |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by LuchAAA on Tue May 29 23:08:26 2012, in response to Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Jeff Rosen on Tue May 29 22:11:30 2012. Whatever you do, in addition to those instructional courses, try to get an Israeli tv station on net or satellite.Nothing helps like watching the news or reading newspaper every day in language you want to learn. |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Tue May 29 23:28:38 2012, in response to Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Jeff Rosen on Tue May 29 22:11:30 2012. I've used both Pimsleur (Volume 1 and first disc of Volume 2) and Rosetta Stone (Version 3, Volume 1) for learning Japanese...IMO: First off, both force you to figure out grammar, so if you are the type to benefit from learning the mechanics first, I'd suggest finding a good textbook to augment. That said... Pimsleur is awesome for developing a conversation "reflex"... but as it is an audio-only course it is obviously completely useless for reading/writing. The reason Pimsleur is better than your average language tape is efficiency: the spaced repetition is done quite well, and only twice did I find myself needing to repeat. Rosetta Stone is actually pretty good for linking visuals to sounds / text... I would say it is better for learning basic vocabulary. I wouldn't be able to tell you how good it is for learning a foreign alphabet as I learned the Japanese alphabets independently. It does have a speaking instruction but it (at least V3's) is crap compared to Pimsleur. For both products you can (legitimately) try them out for significantly less than the full cost... Pimsleur has the 12 lesson "starter" pack for ~$20-30, and libraries seem to have the whole shebang, available to be checked out. For Rosetta you can sign up for online-only at a month-to-month rate. Also I've heard there are massive discounts for government employees. As long as you slot out the 30 minutes/day I don't see either one being a let down... the only reason I stopped was an employment change requiring a lot more free time (and I think someone else had checked out the Pimsleur Volume 2). One warning: Rosetta Stone are pricks about installing their software multiple times, so don't count on being able to get a used copy at a discount. Good Luck! |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Jeff Rosen on Wed May 30 05:33:48 2012, in response to Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Tue May 29 23:28:38 2012. Thank you. Excellent post, exactly what I was looking for.As far as the alphabet, reading & writing, that I know from going to Hebrew School as a kid and going to synagogue for 50 years!! I just can't converse in it which is what I want to. And if I learn it good I'm then going to try Spanish!! |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Charles G on Wed May 30 15:42:06 2012, in response to Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Tue May 29 23:28:38 2012. Just to echo Henry's experience, my family found Rosetta Stone to be good for conversational German -- but similarly, no emphasis at all on grammar or fundamentals.Berlitz was the opposite -- quite a bit of emphasis on grammar, conjugation of verbs and the like, and less in the way of conversation. My wife did Berlitz and struggled for a bit at first with the concept of "when am I actually going to be able to speak this language?". Rosetta Stone gives more instant gratification of being able to have some really basic conversations. If you are living somewhere that the language is spoken, then a Berlitz approach probably works best -- you learn theory but can supplement with conversation in daily life. And by all means, follow Luch's suggestion of trying to read and watch TV or movies. The mother of a friend learned much of her English watching the Flintstone's after arriving in the US with no English at all. (She still tends to overuse the phrase Yabba Dabba Doo, but you get used to it...). |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by JohnnyMints on Wed May 30 15:55:14 2012, in response to Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by LuchAAA on Tue May 29 23:08:26 2012. That's definately true. When I spent a month in Italy back in 2006, I learned more of the language by talking to the people and reading the papers than I learned in the classroom.When I got back, I gradually forgot much of what I learned. |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Wed May 30 20:24:14 2012, in response to Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Jeff Rosen on Tue May 29 22:11:30 2012. If you're really bored, have you considered taking classes at a local community or "directional" college? It gives a bit of challenge given the desire to get as high a grade a possible. :-) |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Thu Apr 24 20:06:26 2014, in response to Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Tue May 29 23:28:38 2012. I'd like to update this post after having completed both Rosetta Stone and (most of) Pimsleur:Pimsleur is hands down the superior product. When I actually went to Japan, I found myself using the words and phrases from it much more than the ones from Rosetta Stone. The irony was that I had just completed Rosetta Stone immediately before going, so it was strange that it was less useful. I will give a few points for Rosetta Stone's vocabulary: there were a few cases where Pimsleur taught a different word than RS. In most of those cases, Rosetta Stone's version of the word was more common. For example, Rosetta Stone chose Kusuriya for pharmacy, while Pimsleur chose Yakkyoku. Everything I saw that looked like a pharmacy had Kusuriya somewhere on a sign. When I transitioned back to text book learning, the grammar I had gleaned from context via the Pimsleur method was more compatible than the Rosetta Stone version. RS took a more literal approach, whereas Pimsleur went with simpler but more natural sounding sentences. Overall, I'd recommend the Pimsleur approach for get comfortable with a language. |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Stephen Bauman on Thu Apr 24 23:13:32 2014, in response to Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Jeff Rosen on Tue May 29 22:11:30 2012. I want to learn conversational/fluent Hebrew and I can't afford to spend a year in Israel.Have you considered Ulpan? They offer classes in a number of locations throughout the metropolitan area. |
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Re: Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language? |
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Posted by Nilet on Mon May 5 17:10:45 2014, in response to Anyone out there have any experiance with either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur for learning a language?, posted by Jeff Rosen on Tue May 29 22:11:30 2012. Pimsleur runs a scam where they ask you to buy a $10 CD and then claim that by purchasing it, you have implicitly given them permission to bill you $64 per month forever.However, they paid me $20 to buy their $10 CD and my bank casually reversed the $64 charge so I'm happy with them in a financial sense. Still haven't tried using the CD though, so I can't speak to its efficacy or value, but I wouldn't expect much from a company that resorts to such sleazy business practices. |
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