Rosetta Stone: Any experiences?

Just pictures, no definitions.

You’ll see a picture of a man “hombre,” and a picture of a woman “mujer,” Then later on, you’ll see a full body shot of the man “El hombre esta andando” and a full body shop of the woman “La mujer esta andando” and then both of them together “Ellos estan andando”

What does that mean? well - “andando”-ing but there’s no explanation as to whether that means walking or crossing or moving or starting to move or going or looking out over the horizon, because there’s no dictionary. Similarly is “ellos” two people? a couple? a man and a woman together? You’re supposed to pick it up from clues. There’s no dictionary and no English translation.

Oh, and in previous editions, you’d never be able to go up to a Spanish speaking person, because it never goes into things like pleasantries. No “hello,” “goodbye,” “thank you,” “how are you,” etc. Abstract ideas that can’t be in photographs weren’t in Rosetta Stone. If there was a man on the roof nearby, you could say a sentence about him. But would you be saying “the man is on the roof,” “the roof is up there,” “hey! there’s a man,” “holy crap! he’s about to fall to his death” “he is hammering” or “if I had a hammer, I’d hammer out freedom.” You wouldn’t know, and you’d not really be able to follow it up with anything unless an elephant conveniently walked by.

I think it works will in conjunction with other instruction, but it isn’t much on its own.

Considering how much Rosetta costs, I think this is pretty ridiculous.

I bought the Pimsleur beginner’s Spanish lessons on CD and I was pleased with it. I seem to recall that it only cost $30-$35. I wanted something that was totally audio so I could put it on the iPod. The Rosetta Stone s/w requires a computer, thus making it less portable.

The Pimsleur lessons have a pretty good explanation of masculine and feminine nouns. They intersperse English and Spanish, so it’s easy to follow along.

The first series of lessons is very basic. You won’t learn enough to have a fluent conversation, but you will be able to order a drink in a bar or dinner in a restaurant.

I still learned more Spanish hanging out on a beach or in a bar in Cancun, though. That’s a much better way to learn it.