If you want a somewhat unorthodox and highly engaging approach to learning, Rosetta Stone Spanish offers software that makes learning Spanish easy and fun. It teaches you Spanish words in the same way that you learned English – with image and word association. This is similar to the immersion approach to learning a language, but Rosetta Stone Spanish takes it a step further.
This software does not provide any English words or phrases during its lessons. Instead, you learn Spanish by linking Spanish words that you do not know with pictures of things that you do know. For example, it is likely you do not know what the word "gato" means, but you certainly will recognize a picture of a cat positioned next to the Spanish word.
Another benefit Rosetta Stone provides is a sophisticated speech recognition system. You can practice reading and saying words correctly and get immediate feedback. These simple tools are all it takes to learn Spanish words, all without hearing a single word of English. Rosetta Stone remains an incredibly simple application that allows you to move quickly through your Spanish education.
Rosetta Stone has a very thorough system for tracking your progress and showing your scores on individual exercises. This can help you identify if you are struggling more in pronunciation, in writing or in some other category, and you can then plan to focus more on that area. Each lesson is accessible at any time, so you can focus on certain activities or even start in the middle of the course if you have some previous Spanish speaking experience.
Rosetta Stone provides a mobile app that allows you to continue learning on the go. This feature is exciting because you can still learn Spanish even if you don’t have a lot of time to sit down in front of the computer.
Rosetta Stone has the fundamentals down to a science. Vocabulary is gradually introduced through picture and word association. Then grammar is presented gradually by further associating the Spanish words and phrases with other pictures. It doesn’t sound simple, but the process is so intuitive you may find yourself doing it without thinking, which we find to be much more enjoyable than studying vocabulary lists and grammar rules.
During all of this, Rosetta Stone also works on pronunciation and conversation skills through the use of a speech recognition system. At first, you will listen to Spanish words and phrases and write them; later, you practice saying them and get immediate feedback on your pronunciation and accent. Rosetta Stone even focuses on the fundamental sounds common to Spanish words so that you can improve your pronunciation of many words at once.
Rosetta Stone is exceptionally easy to use. The application is so simple in fact, you might feel like you aren’t getting your money’s worth at first. After all, when you pay for software, you expect a lot of menus and features, right? Rosetta Stone proves how unnecessary all that is by creating a simple interface and an even simpler curriculum.
The interactive lessons are very intuitive. It is easy to tell between correct and incorrect answers and figure out the purposes of the different activities they have designed. In fact, Rosetta Stone is so easy that even though they do not provide any initial information about how to navigate the software, we had no problems and did not have to consult any instructions. If you get lost, there is help available that can explain how to use the application.
Rosetta Stone offers an online version of the application as well. This can be quite convenient because you can access it and learn Spanish words anywhere you have an internet connection.
The basic application begins by showing you four images at once. You listen to a Spanish pronunciation and then pick the corresponding picture. Rosetta Stone has included thousands of pictures in their database to represent a broad range of Spanish words. All the basics are covered and more.
However, if you get bored with this learning angle, you can toss in some variety: read the word, then choose the corresponding image; listen to a word and select the correct image; hear the Spanish words and then write the correct answer. The combination of variety and repetition allows you to build and test your skills backward and forward, so that you can become proficient in not just comprehension, but speaking, reading and writing, too.
The writing tool is simple to use. You can either type a word, letter by letter, or you can select Spanish words from a list to make phrases. Rosetta Stone allows you to modify the application to be either strict or lenient when judging your writing attempts, a plus for the beginner who needs a confidence boost.
In addition, if you misspell Spanish words, the software highlights the exact letter that is incorrect and gives you an opportunity to fix your mistake. To add common accent marks to written Spanish words, the application offers a keyboard representation on the screen; all you have to do is click the correct accent mark.
There are a few different modes you can use to run Rosetta Stone. Delay mode allows you to see or hear Spanish words, then after a brief delay, four pictures appear to choose from. The Timer mode allows you a few seconds to select the correct answer, and Test mode keeps track of how many exercises you get correct and how many you miss. After you finish, your statistics are displayed and the software tracks all of your progress so that you can see which lessons you have completed as well as what you scored for each lesson.
Rosetta Stone connects you with an online community to give you the whole Spanish speaking experience. You can play games and chat in Spanish with others who are also learning the language. The online tutoring sessions give you one-on-one interaction with a native Spanish-speaking tutor. These teaching tools allow you to actually use the Spanish words you are learning.
The speech recognition software for Rosetta Stone is good. Additionally, this is one of the few applications that differentiates between Latin American Spanish and the Spanish spoken in Spain.
Rosetta Stone doesn't provide much in the way of dictionaries and translators, mostly because you are supposed to retain and translate the Spanish words yourself. We found that the Rosetta Stone method is effective enough that we didn't need the word tools that other applications provide. There is a simple index of the Spanish words used in the application in the order they are introduced. This is convenient if you want to review the Spanish words later.
The support for Rosetta Stone Spanish is very helpful. The FAQs, user manual and tutorials can answer most of the basic questions you may have about the application, including how to navigate the software (though we do not think you will need help there). If you have more technical problems, you can also get technical support via email or phone.
Rosetta Stone is so easy and simple that it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. If you want Spanish dictionaries and grammar rules along with a more traditional approach to learning, this is not it. If you want an application that teaches Spanish words intuitively and makes retention easy, Rosetta Stone is exactly what you want.
