Author |
Message |
Thumper74
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:01 am: |
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Does anyone have any experience with the Rosetta Stone software? I'm curious if it's worth the price of admission... I realize it may be a bit rough going for someone with no experience in Spanish. I have a basic understanding from three years of highschool Spanish, but no actual applied knowledge. |
Spiderman
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:09 am: |
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I was blown away by the price myself, I wanted to learn Polish for shits&giggles but not now LOL. I too am waiting to hear from a third party about their first hand account as well... |
Bcordb3
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:12 am: |
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I called them and got the free introductory disk. It has all the languages offered on it, with a short lessen in each. It easy to use. It isn't so much memorization but recognition. You will see how it works when you order the free demo disk. As advertised it can be quick learn, but like a sweater, you only get out of it what you put into it. My kids spent last summer in Italy and used the full addition of the course and got by fine with no real problems. I am toying with buying the full program myself. Can't decide what language I really want to learn. Spanish for the local use here, Portuguese because of my heritage (Rosetta Stone offers Brazilian Portuguese only). French because its French. (Message edited by bcordb3 on March 05, 2008) |
Ft_bstrd
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:22 am: |
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My wife is using it to learn spanish. She really likes it. You can go to the Chattanooga public library ($30), get a library card, and use the software for the next two months all you want for free (not the demo version). If you like it, you can then buy it. If you don't, you at least haven't dropped the coin on it. |
Chainsaw
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:24 am: |
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I'm currently using Rosetta Stone for Spanish for an upcoming Costa Rica trip. Good supliment to my high school Spanish. It's really screwing me up that they use the same pictures in all the different language versions. They show a window, I think "fenster" (German) when I'm supposed to be thinking "ventana" (Spanish) I used Rosetta Stone to learn some German last year before a trip there. Software worked fairly well, I wish it had more travel oriented content. Sometimes I just need to know how to say "I woke up missing a kidney" in a foreign tongue. ;) Weird thing was, folks would ask me a question in German and I'd answer in Spanish!! I may spring for the new Version 3 of French which just came out. I got the new demo, Version 3 looks like it uses more professional, less ambiguous pictures. The old version, they would show a picture of a kid digging with a shovel, and the point of the picture is the color of his pants. It is pretty expensive, depending on what is the knowledge worth to you. There is always a 10% off code in every month of National Geographic. ADVRider Thread on Rosetta Stone |
Ratyson
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:33 am: |
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I woke up missing a kidney German - Als ich aufwachte, war meine Niere weg There you go... and I only charge $50!!! LOL In all seriousness, I was also thinking about getting the Spanish and the Polish (I am half Polish) courses.} |
Thumper74
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:41 am: |
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My mom's maiden name is Wynieski and I've thought about the Polish course too, but for now, I think I should get back into learning Spanish. Does anyone have the code from National Geographic? |
Cataract2
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:44 am: |
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As military we get to use it for free. It's really well liked by all who use it. Comes in handy when you're getting stationed over seas. |
Thumper74
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:56 am: |
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Is it worth $500? |
Glitch
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 10:00 am: |
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Weird thing was, folks would ask me a question in German and I'd answer in Spanish!!
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Bcordb3
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 10:47 am: |
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Thumper, I think it would be worth the investment, you can learn at your own pace. It could be valuable tool. Like a book, it doesn't wear out. Like anything there will be newer versions etc. The basics are still there. I would compare to owning a torque wrench, the only time you use it is when you need it. I know I am going to get a set with some of tax return money. This thread has made me think again what want/need, I am thinking Spanish would the most useful for me in this area, high hispanic population, proximity to Mexico, etc. |
Slaughter
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 11:31 am: |
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Is it really $500? Yoikes...! I had seriously considered it but think I'll go a semester here at the local Community College at night for German. |
Cityxslicker
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 12:57 pm: |
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"Its pretty expensive" Ugh try 3 years of University education, a personal library of specialty dictionaries (@ at least $120 a hit), foreign tutor, translation software and phone calls over seas to keep your language and accent current. It is pretty cheap by comparison. My lil nephew is 6 and up to 300 words in Russian. THAT is when they should teach foreign language, not highschool. It is good for what it does, however I dont know when you would ever need to differentiate between a brown horse in a field and a yellow pencil in your pocket <seems> |
Court
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 01:02 pm: |
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<g> . . . tell me about it. My semester cost LOTS more than the Ulysses I would have otherwise bought. I've got law classes this semester and one of the books was like $288! . . YIKES! |
Froggy
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 01:18 pm: |
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Damn, they don't offer it in Klingon. |
Spiderman
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 01:21 pm: |
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Damn, they don't offer it in Klingon. NEERDSS! JK |
Chainsaw
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 02:04 pm: |
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Does anyone have the code from National Geographic? I'll post it up after work tonight. Typically it's just has a code for the month and year behind the web addy. German - Als ich aufwachte, war meine Niere weg Too freakin' funny! Thanks! |
Chainsaw
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 02:14 pm: |
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Is it worth $500? I think I only paid $300+ for a Level 1 and 2 German. 3 Disc set are a bit more. They do have a 6 month money back guarantee, and i think they offer an online course by the month. I think it was worth it, just for the fact I can travel abroad without being the prototypical Ugly American. I was constantly mistaken for a German citizen (which I'm sure was based more on my appearance than language ability) Side note: I also read a bunch about the European Union before my travels, so I could talk smack about their political system if anyone started badmouthing the USA. It was quite fun asking why the EU hasn't been able to ratify a constitution, and asking why Germany had more members in the the EU's parliment than the more populous Spain really through a couple of locals for a loop. |
Mikej
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 03:31 pm: |
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The local used book&CD store has language learning CD's for $3.95 and up. Variety of publishers. I checked there at lunch today and they had nothing from Rosetta Stone. edit: just checked yahoo travel, best price for airfare from Milwaukee to Paris is a little over $1,000. Looks like I'm in no hurry to learn French. Airfare from Milwaukee to Switzerland is about the same, looks like I'm in no hurry to learn Swiss-French either. Y'all enjoy your travels, and please post travel reports when you get back. (Message edited by mikej on March 05, 2008) |
Bcordb3
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 06:19 pm: |
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Mikej last year I flew from Phoenix to London for about $600.00 round trip. You can get a flight from London to just about anywhere in Europe for not a lot money from Ryan Air. I flew from Bologna Italy to London for about $40.00. Ryan Air is a cool airline, the plane I was on was a Boeing 737 a relatively new. I am sure some of our European brethren will agree with me regarding Ryan. Check it out. http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/ (Message edited by bcordb3 on March 05, 2008) |
Dynasport
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 06:29 pm: |
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me saveng op fer thee anglesh verzun |
Chainsaw
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 06:56 pm: |
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Does anyone have the code from National Geographic? From the March 2008 issue: "use promotional code ngs038 at checkout for 10% off." |
Alchemy
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 07:47 pm: |
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I flew Ryanair once and it was.... well unique. Crowded and all but what was unique to me was they started to sell stuff. It was like being trapped in a Homeshopping network studio. I can't remember what they were selling exactly but it was mostly general stuff like sweaters and jewelry etc. You are sort of trapped while they walk up and down the isles with their stuff. Creative really since you are really a captive audience<grin>. |
Blake
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 08:05 pm: |
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MikeJ, Geez, ya gotta shop around. |
M2me
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 08:36 pm: |
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I tried the online demo for German once and was very impressed at how quickly I picked it up. But the high cost scared me away and I bought a cheap book and CD set at Borders. I am not making much progress with it. Ich habe Kopfschmerzen! Oh well, you get what you pay for. I might have to take another look at Rosetta Stone. |
Brumbear
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 08:39 pm: |
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Nach einmal bier biite SO FORT |
Mikej
| Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 09:10 pm: |
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I was just being lazy with the airfare search earlier, didn't dig too hard. Had never heard of Ryanair before, sounds interesting like a flying flea market. |
Froggy
| Posted on Saturday, March 08, 2008 - 06:21 pm: |
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Lets just say i happened to obtain a copy of it with 27 languages. It seems pretty nice and easy so far. Only time will tell if i do learn anything. |
Thumper74
| Posted on Saturday, March 08, 2008 - 09:40 pm: |
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You have a pm... |
Bill0351
| Posted on Saturday, March 08, 2008 - 10:00 pm: |
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"just checked yahoo travel, best price for airfare from Milwaukee to Paris is a little over $1,000" I know they aren't a sponsor, but if you need rock bottom tickets, go to www.bestfares.com . It's where I have always had the best luck. Right now they have Milwaukee to Paris for under $500.00. My girlfriend is using them to fly to California for about $200.00 less than her travel agent could find. It's worth checking out. Bill |
Bikertrash05
| Posted on Sunday, March 09, 2008 - 12:23 am: |
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Oh, Rosetta Stone, I was thinking Tool... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIJAfbiRX7s |
Leftcoastal
| Posted on Sunday, March 09, 2008 - 11:25 am: |
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I checked and they don't seem to have any for learning Australian. I'd really like to travel 'down under' but I'm afraid that language barrier might make it really difficult! AL |
Mikef5000
| Posted on Sunday, March 09, 2008 - 01:19 pm: |
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I just spent over a month finding the best airfare prices from Columbus to Germany. Yahoo Farechase is great! It found me a great deal through Orbitz. Flight prices depend entirely on when you are traveling. That flight in February was $300, but in July was $1200. |
Cityxslicker
| Posted on Monday, March 10, 2008 - 04:08 am: |
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There are some severe contextual problems with learning rote memory with out understanding the conjugations, declensions and the shifting of tense. Be very careful how you say "I am full" (i have had enough to eat) in the target language that you are studying. In several cases you will create a rather embarrasing situation for your self. And now back to your local broadcast of Benny Lava http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYwS9k1ZexY beware the false homonyms and lifted cognates |