Anyone use Rosetta Stone to learn a language?

And what did you think? Was it good and helpful or not worth the money?

Also, does anyone have alternatives to recommend for someone whose language aquisition skills are not great?

I'm curious to this myself. I have been trying to teach myself Spanish but have not made great progress. I would like to add Spanish to my resume after I finish school in two years. It looks good on TV.

I haven't actually used the Rosetta Stone to learn a language, but I got offered an editorial position with them at headquarters last year.

I just want to say how impressed I was with the company. They seem to be very focused on improving their product and listening to customer feedback. I should say, though, that nothing is going to be a substitute for total immersion.

I'm planning to use them to start learning French this summer, and my BIL used them before he moved to Paris. He thought it was pretty good - but again, nothing compares to real human interaction.

My husband just got Russian levels 1 and 2. We shall see.

some friends have the german, so far they think its good. They have recently moved to germany, hence the necessity, but from what I understand, they like it.

I have used it for German....and I think for basic German it did help quite a bit. But it also helped that I was living in germany at the time and found plenty of native speakers to practice with. I think it helps with learning proper grammer. Without it I would have used many words and phrases in the wrong context.

I'm reviving this old thread because I've been thinking about learning a language. Many of the jobs I've looked at would like the candidate to speak another language. French would be the easiest for me to learn since I took classes through college and still remember some of it, but Spanish would be more practical, particularly if we move to the US. Any success stories? If so, did you partner learn at the same time and did this make it easier?

My cousin has been a Spanish teacher for years and she told me that if you don't want to learn via a classroom (sometimes the best way for adults) then hands down, Rosetta Stone is the way to go.

I "obtained" rosetta stone via the internet. *cough cough*

I love it... Because you learn through pictures and skip the translation step, it sticks better! Been learning Italian with it for mine and Vincent's belated honeymoon to Naples.

I'd love to take classes, but it's not really in the budget now. Then I actually looked at the price for Rosetta Stone. YOWZERS!!!    I think I'll have to convince DH to learn with me so it's worth the money!

I'm a French teacher, and I think Rosetta Stone is fine, though ideally you'd want to supplement it with some human interaction, particularly if you're looking to become proficient. 

Bmore, have you considered taking some online lessons?  I offer them, and I know that other teachers/services do as well.  Often, you can arrange to take a lesson here and a lesson there to supplement your other studies, rather than signing up for a complete course.  PM me if you want more details. 

For French, Michel Thomas cd's are very good.  He teaches in a very conversational way.

Thanks historyenne. I'll have a look around and let you know if I need more info.

Thanks for the tip, Elizabeth!

You're welcome good luck!

I have tried rosetta, I personally prefer pimsleur. It can be expensive, but you can get it from the internet *cough cough*