Rosetta Stone

Last month I finally quit Rossetta Stone. I had worked there for eight months. I had become interested in the language software when I found out I could obtain it for free via the military (I'm in the Army National Guard) and it would also count for promotion points.

The software is best for those that are not good with the complex names and formal rules of academic language study. You learn using pictures and hearing the sound, with NO TRANSLATION. This method makes it a bit tricky, and aggravating for some, but the difficulty adds to the enjoyment of mastering a tough concept.

One thing you should know about Rosetta Stone, is that there are two versions. Version 2 came out in the mid 1990's, and Version 3 came out in 2007, with some languages still only in Version 2. As of September 30th, seven new languages have come out in Version 3, which are: Dutch, Greek, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Swedish and... PERSIAN (Farsi). This last one I'm excited about, because I'm studying Farsi/Dari right now and the version 3 is far superior software.

The method is interesting, and the Version 3 is well worth the money, slowly leading you through difficult concepts with animation and sound. Version 2 was more comprehensive, but added useless words and phrases such as "The clown has undressed" and "Elephant".

When I quit, I got Version 3 of both Spanish and French (two languages further down on my to-learn list, and gave them out to friends of mine with the stipulation that they write a report here after each level. Version 3 comes with three levels, with approximately 50 hours of instruction per level.

As they learn, I will reinvigorate my use of the free Version 2 military software and report back with my progress.