Why would you throw away $500 software?!

by Sarah
(USA)

I can't believe all of the negative reviews!! Most of these have to do with a beef with the company.

The program itself is amazing. I enjoy learning languages, and I've tried TONS of methods, Pimsleur, Teach Yourself, __ for Dummies, and Rosetta Stone just beats them easily.

1. Grammar - When you were a child, you did not read a book or tips on grammar to learn your native language. Your parent or guardian told you that you shouldn't say it that way, this is the way you say it. That's how Rosetta Stone works. If you TRY to look at the way grammar works as you learn, you'll start to see patterns. And it sticks with you as you get it wrong and you see why that word is different than in another scenario. I chalk a lot of these reviews up to laziness. The language isn't going to learn itself. The software isn't going to learn it for you. It's certainly a lot more fun and interesting to figure out the grammar as you learn, but if you're one of those people who needs to read the rules - by all means don't throw out the software! Go on a website, look up the rules, then go back and do the activities to brush up on the grammar you learned. It's sad that some people are so arrogant that they would throw away $500 software because they can't think for themselves and supplement their learning style for free by just looking something up on the internet.

2. Fluency - I think along the lines of fluency, I agree with it being a good foundation. You need to do the speaking exercises, the reading, all of it, try not to skip parts.. it may seem kind of redundant, but there have been times where I've noticed I've learned something new, or understood it better, when I thought it wouldn't make a difference. Though, all that in mind - I worked with Rosetta Stone almost up to the end of Level 3, and I'm far from fluent. In my opinion, I don't believe you can become fluent from this software alone. You do have a foundation, and from that point you need to learn vocabulary on your own - obviously it can't include everything. And to do so would be a bit redundant I think.


If you are considering buying the $500 software... I would suggest you try to find some sort of deal or find it used.

If you've lost your keycode, just find one through other means. In my opinion if you've bought the software, you have every right to use it.

If you are determined to learn a language quickly - this software is for you. It's better than any other software out there, and I've spent years looking at all of the alternatives. It's the best for Japanese at any rate, and I believe the method would work well for other languages too.

Normally when I read reviews to buy software and I see tons of negative reviews - I'll hold off and revisit the idea. In this one case, as I've used the software, I felt compelled to tell whoever you are out there - the reviews are directed more at frustrations with the company and frustrations with language learning in itself rather than the software, which is the scape goat here.