Rosetta Stone v. Tell Me More

[Christine]

Asking for opinions between these two programs.

 

For the record I want something that gives me more than "conversational" language. (i.e. I want them to be able to read / write in the language as well as speak it.)

 

WAY back when Rosetta was conversational only; however, I've noticed in the upgrades that they now have written resources. I can't get the stinkin' demo to work for me write now, so I don't know what they entail.

 

Tell Me More is getting high ratings, and I see the "writing and reading" bit, but it's all on the computer, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

 

So, what does the hive have for me?

[Tardis Girl]

:bigear: would love to hear more about this too. Used RS version 2 a number of years ago. Liked it but didn't love it. Thanks for asking!

[Cleopatra]

What language are you thinking of having your dc study?

 

We've used both RS & TMM, and TMM is far more comprehensive. RS, I think, is okay for very young children or as a supplement only for comprehension & speaking practice, but for us it progressed in an illogical fashion and my dd got next to nothing out of it. With TMM, she loves it. It has numerous different exercises: listening, speaking, dictation, verb conjugations, etc. etc. It's been a great supplement for us to boost my dd's listening and speaking skills. We only use it as a supplement though. I agree that it's wise to use other items to make it a complete program, such as a grammar workbook, readers/audiobooks, DVDs (movies in whatever language that you are studying), etc.

 

TMM is also cheaper. If you wait for a sale at the Homeschool Buyers Co-op, you can get 5 levels for around $180.

 

HTH! :001_smile:

[Christine]

What language are you thinking of having your dc study?

 

While my son would love Japanese, there are just too many Spanish speakers around here to ignore, so we are going for Spanish.

[MommyThrice]

I agree that it's wise to use other items to make it a complete program, such as a grammar workbook, readers/audiobooks, DVDs (movies in whatever language that you are studying), etc.

 

 

How would you add a grammar workbook? What kind of grammar workbook? Don't you want the computer lessons and grammar workbook all from the same place so that they use the same vocabulary? I haven't been able to find anything like that. Just curious how you are doing this. Can you explain?

 

I just looked at TMM online, and the sample lessons were really confusing. We tried RS back when it first came out and we didn't learn anything. I think I really need a book/workbook to go along with the course. I've looked a bit at Visual Link and it looks interesting, but the reviews describe it as short on grammar.

[Cleopatra]

While my son would love Japanese, there are just too many Spanish speakers around here to ignore, so we are going for Spanish.

 

Have you ever looked at OSU Spanish? While my dd has not taken their Spanish program, she is taking their German program and it's excellent. I've been in contact with a few people on the boards who say that their Spanish program is just as good. It is self-paced, done online and you have weekly contact with a teacher to practice speaking and listening skills or to ask questions. A couple of weeks ago, my dd had her teacher speak for almost a half an hour in German and (while her head was hurting afterwards ;) ) she could understand all of the conversation. I'm really impressed with it. They also give a big discount to homeschoolers, which is always helpful! :001_smile:

 

In the meantime, here are links for a couple of free Japanese language programs if your ds would like to play around a little!

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/index.html

http://www.gpb.org/irasshai

 

I found the second one (Irasshai) a little annoying but I know other people have used it and liked it.

[Cleopatra]

How would you add a grammar workbook? What kind of grammar workbook? Don't you want the computer lessons and grammar workbook all from the same place so that they use the same vocabulary? I haven't been able to find anything like that. Just curious how you are doing this. Can you explain?

 

I just looked at TMM online, and the sample lessons were really confusing. We tried RS back when it first came out and we didn't learn anything. I think I really need a book/workbook to go along with the course. I've looked a bit at Visual Link and it looks interesting, but the reviews describe it as short on grammar.

 

What did you find confusing about the sample lessons? TMM is an immersion-style program so you are not going to be given, for example, the English word; the Spanish word; and then the Spanish word spoken. Everything is in the language you are learning, in context. Believe me, for speaking or comprehension, this is a much preferable way of learning. I learned all my languages translating from English to French, to say something, then the response would have to be translated back again, and it really was frustrating. If you can learn the words for the language you are studying in context, it makes it so much easier in the long run. With TMM you just have to be okay with not understanding 100% right away, knowing that eventually you will pick it up and understand. It would work the same way, for example, if you had to move to France. You would not understand everything people were saying to you at first; you'd have to try to pick it up in context. I'm simplifying, but basically, that's the idea.

 

Another example is my dd's German online program at OSU. For her first lesson, they gave her a paragraph in German. Because she'd had a little bit of German, I didn't completely panic but I thought, wow, how can they expect students who are just starting to understand all this right away. However, when I looked closer at the paragraph, many of the German words were similar to English and the rest could be guessed in context. When I questioned them about it, they said that you actually need to be able guess at times, and learn to make accurate guesses to progress with learning a language. This is what my dd has to do when she speaks German with her teacher once a week. It's trained her not to panic when she doesn't understand everything; often words can be skipped over and the message still understood. Her willingness to speak and listen has improved because of this. Does that make any sense?? :)

 

As for grammar books, I'll give you an example of what we do for French. I have to say the bulk of her "program" is books. I've bought French books, starting with board books, then step readers, to young adult books. Most of the very young children's books are designed to be repetitive and to have words shown in context. It's quite easy to build a good vocabulary going through these types of books. I don't worry that she can't conjugate verbs, we simply read. In conjunction, I have her go through a grammar book called Grammaire Progressive du Francais. TMM she does on an irregular basis but she likes it so much that she'll often do it on her free time. Other additions are music CDs, DVDs and I even have subscribed to a French magazine that includes a CD of the main story in the magazine. This is very helpful.

 

If you want your dc to learn Spanish, I would strongly recommend OSU Spanish. I know that you get a textbook with the courses and it would cover all the bases. If you still would like to go the computer route, I would find the program that you think will work best and add a grammar book. Even if the grammar doesn't link up, you would simply be learning more vocabulary. I don't have a reasonably priced grammar book to recommend for Spanish; I know that Breaking the Barrier and SYRWTL Spanish are good programs but they're a little pricey to add to an already expensive computer program. Try doing some searches on the bilingual forum and see if you can find any good recommendations.

 

Let me know if you'd like more information on TMM; I'd be happy to post a list of what it contains if it would help! :001_smile:

[Cleopatra]

Wait ..... I forgot to mention Destinos ...... http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html

It's free, a wonderful way to practice comprehension and it also has workbooks to go along with it. Here is a copy from a post that lists the workbooks and their ISBN #s:

 

ISBNs (use the number to search, as the titles are incorrect on Amazon and other bookselling websites!)

Student Viewer's Handbook Volume 1 (Episodes 1-26): 0072497092

Student Viewer's Handbook Volume 1 (Episodes 27-52): 0072497106

 

Finally, if you want to use Destinos as a formal Spanish course, there are accompanying materials which can be obtained used fairly cheaply on Amazon Marketplace. The audio for the first edition can be found free here. The audio is essential if using the text and workbooks. If you don't have access to the audio, skip the text/workbook and use the Student Viewer's Guide instead. If accessing the audio files from the link above, I'd recommend downloading the files to your own computer, as there's no guarantee that they'll stay up on that server!

 

ISBNs

Textbook: 0070020698

Workbook Part 1: 0070020728

Workbook Part 2: 0070020736

 

The text and workbooks listed above correspond with the audio link above. There are also newer, revised editions of the text, workbook, and audio. In the newer edition they've separated the audio for the text from the audio for the workbook. However, it would be a LOT more expensive to put those materials together, even used, so I'm sticking with the 1st edition.

 

And here's an Amazon link, if all else fails: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=destinos&x=0&y=0

[klmama]

The visual voice analysis feature on Tell Me More is really helpful to my dd. At first she couldn't come close to matching the sounds correctly (and she sounded very American), but after practicing with it her accent is much better.

[MommyThrice]

What did you find confusing about the sample lessons?

 

Exactly this...

 

With TMM you just have to be okay with not understanding 100% right away, knowing that eventually you will pick it up and understand.

 

 

I'm really visual - didn't like the sections that were strictly audio. I feel that I have to SEE the spanish word to get it. I know that later I'll be okay with audio only (I have a little spanish background and I live in Texas, so I know what it should sound like) but at first I need to see the word.

 

Thanks for your detailed response. You have some great suggestions for integrating various resources. I would never have dreamed of doing this; I just thought everything had to match up with the same vocabulary words. OSU sounds great, but its too expensive for all three kids. I keep going back to Visual Link (visual learner). Maybe with added grammar it would be okay.

 

I'm trying to make sense of Destinos, now. That's my project for this morning. It looks very interesting.

[...................]

Destinos!!!

 

Oh my goodness, I'm running for cover! We did that in high school. I just remember being confused for an entire year!!!!!!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to mention that OSU does has a homeschool price lower than the regular price listed on the website. It might still be out of range for a larger family but it has been a pretty good value for us considering what we're getting. And compared to the investment for RS or textbooks and audio packages.