Alicia64 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'm realizing that if I want my kids to learn French, I'm going to have to learn. I grew up with years of Spanish, so it shouldn't be that huge of a jump. (She says. . .) I'm interested in Rosetta Stone. Because, you know, I just haven't spent enough money on hs yet!! :glare: But, too, Costco offers a $28 knock off and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about that one. Any suggestions would be great. If you know of another curriculum, I'm all ears. I've tried our library and the cds and dvds for learning French have really poor teaching technique and/or sound quality. THANKS!!! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cillakat Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'm realizing that if I want my kids to learn French, I'm going to have to learn. I grew up with years of Spanish, so it shouldn't be that huge of a jump. (She says. . .) I'm interested in Rosetta Stone. Because, you know, I just haven't spent enough money on hs yet!! :glare: But, too, Costco offers a $28 knock off and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about that one. It's awful. Just awful. To rosetta stone, I prefer Mango Languages and Tell Me More by Auralog both are free at many library systems. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'm not sure what's awful: Rosetta Stone or the Costco knock off? Does anyone else have some feedback? I REALLY appreciate it! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieB Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Is the Costco version the "sampler" which has about an hour of teaching for each language. Meaning, worthless, except maybe if you're going to Disneyworld and want to learn how to say hello in many languages, lol. Gotta agree with the previous suggestion....check your library (or those in nearby cities) for Auoralog. A library card is all you need to log in from home and take the lessons at your own pace. May be worth the cost of a "out of district" library card to a nearby town. Or...since all you need is the library card number check your relatives libraries and ask them to borrow the number. Auroralog, to me, is equivalent to 2 years of language in a public high school....meaning enough for college applications. However, like with any language program, using it frequently is really necessary for mastery......thankfully not a problem here in Arizona when learning Spanish, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cillakat Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'm not sure what's awful: Rosetta Stone or the Costco knock off? Good point. I wasn't clear: I think Rosetta Stone is fine, I just prefer Mango and Tell Me More. Costco's knock off isn't really even a knock off....it's a totally different, worthless thing. At least my version from approx 2 years ago was. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Various interests of children, can't spend the big $ on Rosetta. The man, my husband, said he heard that Instant Immersion had really good reviews and success, so we picked up "Crash Course to Europe" with Spanish, French, German, Italian for $6 at half price books last week. We are just messing around with it right now but I like it because it shows a person mouthing the word. I feel like I really need that, seeing how a person holds their mouth to pronounce a word. Eldest son is showing me Instant Immersion French which he got for Christmas a few years ago but didn't immerse himself into too much. :) I have never heard of Tell Me More and Mango Languages and am glad to hear of more and different choices. Although Rosetta does seem to have the market on the whole globe. Don't they have Celtic, Farsi (Sp), other Middle East, other various Asian languages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Rosetta Stone is great, but expensive. I've not tried them yet, but the Foreign Service Institute's language courses are free and online: http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php Don't know about Costco's program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happywthree Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Rosetta Stone is expensive and can't be resold (per them). So you're out the money. It didn't work well for us after 1.5 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Rosetta Stone pros: - opportunity for exposure to a language to see if student is interested to study it more seriously - teaches primarily via hearing, which is the way we naturally acquire language Rosetta Stone cons: - can't be re-sold - if you upgrade your computer to have a more advanced operating system, you have to purchase a new version of Rosetta Stone for $50 to match the new operating system -- no free upgrades from Rosetta Stone - if you are wanting to use the program for high school credit, the realistic assessment is that it takes 2 levels of Rosetta Stone to equal 1 high school credit -- not a one-to-one equivalence as the company says - in addition, if you want to use Rosetta Stone for high school credit you MUST add a grammar component from somewhere else for that foreign language (for proper sentence structure, verb tense explanation, and writing of the foreign language). All Rosetta Stone helps with is vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Rosetta Stone is great, but expensive. I've not tried them yet, but the Foreign Service Institute's language courses are free and online: http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php Don't know about Costco's program. Just wanted to thank you for this link. Dd and I just played around with the German for a few minutes and it seems like it will be a great learning tool for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Rosetta Stone pros: - opportunity for exposure to a language to see if student is interested to study it more seriously - teaches primarily via hearing, which is the way we naturally acquire language Rosetta Stone cons: - can't be re-sold - if you upgrade your computer to have a more advanced operating system, you have to purchase a new version of Rosetta Stone for $50 to match the new operating system -- no free upgrades from Rosetta Stone - if you are wanting to use the program for high school credit, the realistic assessment is that it takes 2 levels of Rosetta Stone to equal 1 high school credit -- not a one-to-one equivalence as the company says - in addition, if you want to use Rosetta Stone for high school credit you MUST add a grammar component for that foreign language (for proper sentence structure, verb tense explanation, and writing of the foreign language). All Rosetta Stone helps with is vocabulary. Not to be argumentative, Lori, because I have a great deal of respect and admiration for you.... But are you sure about the upgrades from RS? I had to contact them because I went from using it on a 3 yo MacBook to a new iMac and the lady I spoke with simply emailed me an upgrade to the RS software so it would operate on my new computer. Perhaps this is not their policy but she made no mention that it is something one normally has to pay for or anything like that. If upgrades are a concern, I would contact their customer service. I have had to do so on a few occasions now and they have always been very pleasant to deal with. Again, not to argue or discredit what Lori has to say. Just adding my experience with the program and their customer service. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 You might want to check out Duolingo online (they also have an app). They are free and claim to have similar results to rosetta stone. And you are helping translate the internet too! http://duolingo.com/ I saw them on a Ted Talk and thought it was an interesting concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 But are you sure about the upgrades from RS? Yes. However, our experience was from 3 years ago, trying to get an upgrade for a program purchased some years earlier than that, so they may have changed their policy since when we had the conversation with them. But at the time I spoke with them, they were extremely adamant that it was a $50 fee to send up an upgraded disk to use on our Mac computers. No exceptions. Emailing a download upgrade was not an option at that time. Ultimately, we figured out a way to dual-boot up our oldest Mac with a simulated old operating system, and were able to use RS -- only to realize it really wasn't a good fit at all for us. Both DSs ended up doing their foreign language as dual enrollment at the local community college, which was a fabulous fit for us. Plain Jane -- thanks for sharing your different (and better!) experience. Hopefully, RS's policy has changed! And glad you had a great (and free!) experience! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 We have Rosetta Spanish and my oldest uses it almost every day. My kids also do a live class with a native speaker once a week which makes a big difference for them too. I do like Rosetta, BUT it's good to know the program is really designed for adults. Very few young kids are going to be able to run with it. It requires typing and spelling in a foreign language to really be able to run independantly. It moves quickly. My son started it at age 11/5th grade and that was a perfect starting point for him to be independant with it (and he's quite accelerated across the boards). I have not tried it with my younger yet because I don't think she has the patience. Anyway - I've been happy with it, but many people I've heard locally complaining about it try it with a younger child and give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I have the Spanish one from Costco and it is pretty cheesy. I have never seen RS but it has to be netter than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I haven't tried the Costco knockoff, but I did try the RS Spanish for a week or so, and I'm not a fan. It doesn't really offer any instruction on how the language works. If I hadn't already had a couple years of Spanish in high school, I would have been completely confused after about the first day. There's no explanation about verb endings, tense, etc. Now, I think it would make a great supplement for a full program. But as a standalone? Not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I have not looked at it much yet but Manga is free and seems to have a very wide selection of languages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 You might want to check out Duolingo online (they also have an app). They are free and claim to have similar results to rosetta stone. And you are helping translate the internet too! http://duolingo.com/ I saw them on a Ted Talk and thought it was an interesting concept. Thank you for this! I hadn't heard of it, and I started it yesterday. I'm really enjoying it! My kids like to stand behind me and learn as well. I don't think my 8 year old could handle it yet, but he could certainly do it in middle school, when his typing is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clpretzel Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 This is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnmusic Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Tried the Costco knock-off, it was dirt cheap and couldn't resist. Gotta agree about the degree of awfulness about it. I tried it out and didn't even think if was worth showing the kids, didn't want to turn them off to the language! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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