Hola y bienvenidos a mi art culo sobre el software Rosetta Stone!

Wow! See! It really works! (Ok, ok, I speak a bit of Spanish already…)

We’ve all heard of Rosetta Stone language software. Its been featured in magazines and commercials and I’m sure you’ve got a friend (or a friend of a friend) who swears it taught him Mandarin before his vacation. Whether or not that’s true, I can’t say. What I can say is that this software ROCKS.

A Few Things I Love About Rosetta Stone:

• Over 30 languages to choose from! Wish you knew Polish? Want to learn Swahili? They’ve got it!

 

• The user interface is super simple and easy to use. Nothing too messy, everything in its proper place.

Ooooh, pretty!

• IMMERSION! Your learning gets started right away, with little English instruction or lengthy explanation. You learn (kinda) the way native speakers do, by using the language from the get-go.

In this type of activity, the voice would say "un tractor" and you would have to click the picture of what you thought that is. Trial and error, making you learn the way kids do!

 

• IT WORKS FOR KIDS TOO!!!

You heard me. It works for kids. My daughter Amelia will be 5 soon and since its summer, she really misses her bilingual preschool. To keep up with her Spanish learning (and to introduce my 2 year old to the language) I was able to set up kid-friendly user accounts. Since Amelia can’t read very well yet, all her lessons are customized to include only audio and pronunciation, and none of the reading and writing included on an adult user account. *Important note – if your child is very soft-spoken, they will need to speak up for the voice recognition software to hear them!*

Speaking of which, for your child’s online safety, only the adult accounts get access to online content, including native-speaking tutors, games, and even mobile apps for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (no Droid app yet, darnit!) It also comes with an audio disc to reinforce what you know on-the-go, as well as MP3 format files for your iPod.

Rosetta Stone software comes in multiple levels, for everything to basic hellos to more advanced conversation and some languages have more available levels than others (for example, Spanish has 5). You can buy each level individually as you need them – or – buy a value pack of multiple levels if you know you and your family want to learn it all! But let’s say for some reason you decide that you aren’t really into learning Urdu after all, they have an unconditional six-month money-back guarantee!

While at first you might say, “Gee, that’s not cheap,” think about the cost of private tutors or even classes at your local community college. Odds are, this self-paced course with materials to practice anywhere is a better value! Especially if everyone in your family can get in on the learning together! Ever try bringing your toddlers to a college class with you? I have. While it’s a blast for them, I don’t recommend it for furthering your education!

While its fresh in your mind, go check out the Rosetta Stone website and find them on Facebook and Twitter!

Which language will you and your family learn?

*While Rosetta Stone provided my family with sample software, all opinions above are my own – I recommend this product to anyone!*