Spanish (Latin America) Level 1 & 2 [OLD VERSION]

From Montgomery County Maryland Public Library website:


Effective January 31, 2008, Rosetta Stone is no longer available via the Montgomery County Public Libraries' website. Rosetta Stone has made the business decision to discontinue providing this resource to all public libraries as current subscriptions expire. We are disappointed by this news and we regret the inconvenience that it may cause our customers.

I spent a lot of money on this program, and, so far, all it's doing is MAYBE teaching me to RECOGNIZE what is being said - not to speak it. There is absolutely no English translation (in Level I anyway), no breakdown of pronunciation, and no opportunity to construct NEW sentences with words I've already learned. All you do is look at pictures and repeat what is already written or spoken to you. I've already made it through Pimsleur Spanish I and I'm into II and I've learned so much more. Pimsleur is slower on vocabulary, but when you learn it, you learn how to conjugate and incorporate it into an original sentence. The bottom line is, I feel Rosetta stone can only be used as a supplement to other programs I'm studying - a very expensive supplement.

I would love to do a review a product I've heard so many wonderful things about, but it never arrived. Called customer service (somewhere in India apparently) only to have their computers either "broken down" or "updating". All this for a week straight. Also, they would say their systems are down and just hang up on you on a few occasions. There is another language I'd like to use....

Rosetta Stone is clearly overrated but solid.
The problem with the overall approach is that it requires that you spend your learning time in front of a computer, which is where you do everything else. Lot's of competition.
I prefer to do my language learning during my otherwise wasted downtime while I drive. If I study a language while driving, I win because I use otherwise wasted hours. I, like most Americans, spend more time driving than ever before. When I get home, I want to do other essentials.
My favorite car Spanish course is Behind the Wheel Spanish 8 CD. Free up your computer and learn Spanish while you drive is my recommendation.Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour

It is simple to use and makes learning Spanish much eaiser and you can progress at your own pace