Rosetta Stone

I've told some of you that I got Rosetta Stone (Latin America) for Christmas and you wanted to know how it goes. Well, we finally got started on it. Our computer started acting up after Christmas, so we waited for a new one before loading that huge program.

When I decided that I wanted Rosetta Stone, my intention was for the kids to learn Spanish. I have a Bachelor's degree in Spanish and I am ashamed that I haven't taught my kids Spanish. Z and M have particularly shown interest. I had hoped also that Allister and I could go through the program and remember some things that we've forgotten. Evidently, not as much as I thought, because I went through the "placement" track for all three levels without a hitch. There were maybe 10 words that I didn't remember. I thought it would be more than that. Either that I didn't remember so much or that the program was more advanced. . . I don't know which. My best educated guess is that this program goes through a high school level. The kids aren't going to be fluent when they are done. They might have learned it "better" than someone learning it from a textbook, though. . . That remains to be seen.

As far as the kids go, I think it is going well. I will want to explore it more before I give a whole hearted recommendation. It has a place to add different users and it keeps track of where each user is in the program and how well they are doing. The basic concept is that it shows you pictures and gives you words, then you figure out what the word means. Then, it gives you an opportunity to match the words to another picture. It continues to add words and show pictures, so that you then have short sentences. Then, after you've heard the word several times and matched it to the pictures, it gives you an opportunity to say the word or sentence. You have a headset and the program recognizes whether you are saying it correctly. There is a green meter to show you how close you are to saying it correctly. That part is not perfect. I have heard my kids say it incorrectly and it counted it right and the other way around. The pictures are very beautiful, vibrant photographs. They have lots of pictures for the same word, so that you can figure out very quickly that, for instance, "la mujer" means any woman. . .young or old, but not a child. I also like that the pictures show people from different races, cultures, backgrounds and ages. There is no translation and no explanation of grammar or sentence structure. You just have to figure it out like a little kid figures out how to speak their first language.

So, that's my initial thoughts on the program. I'll let you know more once they've done enough to tell if it's working. I also have intentions of trying to remember to use the words they are learning around the house.