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Rosetta Stone questions - homeschool vs. regular version?


Matryoshka
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I'm actually asking this for my mom - she'd like to teach my nephews and wants something that they can (and actually will) work on over the week consistently and willingly. They both like the computer, so she thought this could be a good idea.

 

In this situation, is there a benefit of using the homeschool version vs. the "regular" version? She will only have one kid per language (one wants to learn German, the other Spanish - my mom speaks both), so she doesn't have to track multiple students. Does the regular version have tracking for just one person, or not at all? Are there more printed or grammar materials in one version vs. the other? Any other differences or benefits??

 

And she could get the regular version at B&N or Borders for 30% off during the upcoming teacher appreciation days. Rainbow I see offers the homeschool version for 10% off - is there anywhere that offers a better discount on the hs version, and if not is it worth paying the extra money for it?

 

Thanks for any help!

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We use the Spanish homeschool edition. I like that it tracks my son's progress and I can monitor it or print his progress for his portfolio.

 

I have not used the regular edition, so I can't comment on that. The homeschool edition allows you to choose a track. You can set it to just teach you how to speak the language without any reading or writing (for executives who have to travel, I guess), or you can set it to teach everything, including reading, writing and grammar. They have some interim settings with mixed options. I chose the comprehensive level as I want ds to acquire mastery of the language.

 

Like the OP, I'm interested in finding out what the difference is between the two editions. Thirty percent off is a lot of money, so if the differences aren't huge, I'd pick up Latin during the sale.

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I only have the regular version and cannot see the point in buying the homeschool one too. From what I understand and that has been suggested to me by bi-lingual friends is that the language has to be spoken and used for it to matter. What I am trying to say is that all the extras in the homeschool version are not "necessary" to learn the language. Like the TWTM books says to hire (or ask a bi-lingual neighbor you can pay cheap) to come have conversation with you for 1 hour, twice a week.

 

The testing part may be useful if you are wanting to see if dc can write the language (if the program tests that, I don't know) but if you are learning the language with your child then you can probably tell how much they are retaining by talking in the language to dc, using when you run errands, etc.

 

If you are really wanting mastery of the language, you may want to just start with the talking part and move to the writing part later so it's not so involved. I don't know, speaking philosphically, if I'd call writing in a language "mastery". How many uneducated people in foregn countries can use their language better than most of us but don't know how to read or write it? Our own children speak fluently and can get around town without reading and writing. Food for thought.

 

Personally, I took 4 years of spanish in high school, wrote in spanish, etc. and I haven't retained much. If I could go back I would just learn to speak the darn language, and then use it as much as possible. If you can write in english you can automatically read common languages like spanish, italian, etc. I used spanish to talk to people on the job on occaission, but I can't say that writing in spanish ever saved my life or even came in useful.

 

The Rosetta Stone program I have shows the words for the pictures in parts of the program. I tried the Arabic just for fun and was actually recognizing some of the words. It testes you on words as you go through the program, so word recognition, even strange "sqiggles" I've never seen before, became familiar to me. So, again, the extras may not be necessary depending on what you consider language "mastery".

 

This probably doesn't answer your question, but I hope it helps close the gap a little. :tongue_smilie:

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Me again, I got my RS program from my husband through his job in the military. All the guys in his unit use it and the feedback is great. His Law Enforcemen buddies have used it to learn the languages on their beat.

 

I know me: if I got the Homeschool version I would get obsessed with testing and mastery and forget what learning a language is really for/about. :banghead: You probably don't have that problem, but I'd probably treat it like another grammar program, or math program or something because that's what it was in Public High School. Maybe that's what made it so useless--it was taught as just another Program but in another language.

 

Ok, I'm shutting up now.:001_smile:

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I'm actually asking this for my mom - she'd like to teach my nephews and wants something that they can (and actually will) work on over the week consistently and willingly. They both like the computer, so she thought this could be a good idea.

 

In this situation, is there a benefit of using the homeschool version vs. the "regular" version? She will only have one kid per language (one wants to learn German, the other Spanish - my mom speaks both), so she doesn't have to track multiple students. Does the regular version have tracking for just one person, or not at all? Are there more printed or grammar materials in one version vs. the other? Any other differences or benefits??

 

And she could get the regular version at B&N or Borders for 30% off during the upcoming teacher appreciation days. Rainbow I see offers the homeschool version for 10% off - is there anywhere that offers a better discount on the hs version, and if not is it worth paying the extra money for it?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

I'm not sure there is much of a difference anymore if you're talking about Version 3. With the older versions, there was a separate Student Management Software disk that you installed in order to schedule lessons.

Version 3 has you pick a set of goals/study profile when you set up a new student. Then it schedules the lessons sequence that will help you meet that goal (example, full year vs speaking and listening only).

 

The price for standard level 1 and homeschool edition are the same on the RS site. There are a couple of things listed as included in the homeschool edition, but I think that they might be included in both (and just not listed on the site under personal edition).

 

If you want, I'll double check and see which one I'm running for Japanese.

 

BTW, Rosetta Stone is usually specifically excluded from sales, coupons and discounts at Borders. I would be surprised if the teacher discount would be allowed. If it is, then that is a great deal.

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If you want, I'll double check and see which one I'm running for Japanese.

 

Thanks, that would be very helpful.

 

BTW, Rosetta Stone is usually specifically excluded from sales, coupons and discounts at Borders. I would be surprised if the teacher discount would be allowed. If it is, then that is a great deal.

 

Yeah, I was wondering that too. If it's excluded, then Rainbow actually has the better deal, and she should get the homeschool edition.

 

I'd love to ask you a follow-up question, as I know you're (at least) bilingual and are also familiar with RS - do you think this would be the best thing to use in this situation? To recap, my mom, a fluent speaker, will be giving an in-person "class" once a week, and is looking for something for my nephew to use for immersion/follow-up during the week. He has not been inclined to do the written assignments she's given, nor watch the videos nor listen to the songs she's given him. She's hoping something on the computer will be more interesting - I can't think of any other computer program for German at least? He says he's very interested in learning the language, but isn't particularly inclined to do the follow-up work necessary (this is where the tracking feature I thought might be useful - he'd know she could see what he did or didn't do during the week). He's 10yo.

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Well, it would be an expensive experiment if he also declined to use the Rosetta Stone. There are some German produced computer games from Tivola. At 10 yo you sometimes have a disconnect between ability and what they think they want to read/do. The ability level is that of a young child, but they want to be using more mature books/videos.

 

Hard to really understand the situation from afar. But I might think twice about getting this for someone who is already not doing the in between assignments given. It might be interesting and encouraging. On the other hand, it might just be something more expensive to no do. [And FWIW, I do think that RS is a good product and is worth it's price - if you use it.]

 

I'll check our version when I get a chance.

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We're using the HS version with younger kids (6 and 8) so it's nice to be able to decide what they need to be able to do. We have them do pretty much everything but writing. It's also nice to see how long they spend working on it (we set a minimum for each day), have them repeat sections, etc. I am very pleased with it so far.

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I checked the box and we do have the Homeschool Edition of Japanese, so the scheduling tracks that I mentioned and the reports that someone else mentioned may be features that are only on the Homeschool Edition of version 3.

There is also supposed to be a 96 page supplemental printable on a cd for several of the most common languages. We bought ours before this was available, so I can't comment on it directly. It is supposed to have some worksheets as well as occasional quizes.

 

Since the prices are the same, it probably would make sense to get the homeschool version.

 

I have found that Rosetta Stone has eased some of the potential conflict over languages at our house. It isn't a matter of mom telling them that they have to do something specific. I just tell them that they have to do 30 min of Japanese. That is whatever the computer throws at them based on where they are. Also, we have it loaded on a laptop, so they have some ability to study in different parts of the house.

 

My oldest was having fun today, because he was on a lesson that let him say "I am hugging my blanket" and "I am kissing my blanket." It was actually pretty funny.

 

But it is still hard for me to say if this would be a great suggestion for your nephew or just another thing that he didn't do.

 

What is the motivation for his learning German?

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We use the homeschool edition of RS Spanish, and honestly, I never use any of the extra features. If I were using it with more than one child, I might feel differently, but RS isn't rocket science -- the child does a lesson, and when he's finished with it, the next lesson appears on the computer screen. There's no real need for "scheduling," and since ds9 has never scored less than 94% on any of the end-of-lesson tests, I don't worry about keeping track of the grades.

 

Of course, when I bought it, I knew that I had to have all of the features of the homeschool edition, and would have felt terribly deprived if I had bought the regular edition. Now, I know better!

 

Cat

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