Rosetta Stone Review

Tuesday, March 21st

2023 German Lesson Reviews

Rosetta Stone

• 3-day free trial period
• Option for short-term or lifetime subscription
• Most recognized language-learning program
• Fun and interactive

Rosetta Stone is one of the biggest trademarks in language learning. In fact, when other language courses are mentioned, people often wonder if it's as good as Rosetta Stone, whether or not they have actually tried it! Rosetta Stone has longevity and reputation on its side. But Rosetta Stone is more than that. Right away, you will begin to read, write, listen and speak German, and you can work on your pronunciation so you can be sure people will understand you.

Rosetta Stone caters to you

There are lessons for 43 languages, including German. They have lessons for beginners, intermediate learners, and those who want to hone their skills. First, you'll select the level at which you want to begin, and then you choose a subject area: German for work, travel, communication with family, or just German lessons in general? Rosetta Stone has courses for individuals, businesses, and schools.

The brief history of Rosetta Stone

Allen Stoltzfus, the founder, had a tough time learning Russian through traditional methods. He knew he had already learned his native language, so why couldn't he learn another? It was the methodology! His thought: we have all learned at least one language, how did we do that? We learned with sounds and images in their context, and there was no word-for-word translation in the process. Allen and his brother then created the Rosetta Stone language-learning method, named after the artifact that broke the code for understanding the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Allen felt he, too, had broken the language code, so to say.

The natural approach

Just as we learned our first language the natural way, by associating sounds with images to create meaning, that's the tried and true method of Rosetta Stone. If you have been frustrated with traditional language learning methods and are not a fan of direct translation, give Rosetta Stone a try! Fans celebrate learning to speak right away and with a good accent since the technology offers native speaker voice recordings and immediate feedback on students' practice with speech.

Speak German right off the bat!

Even in your first lesson with Rosetta Stone, you'll get to speak German! You'll hear a German word associated with a picture representing that word: the natural method all the way. If the picture-sound meaning is confusing to you, you can click on an arrow that shows the English translation of the word. You can hear the German word as many times as you like, and you can repeat it back. You speak German right out of the gate.

If you like translation, you may want to shop around

Rosetta Stone might be fine for you in the beginning. Since you may not be accustomed to the natural method, there are helps with translation as you first start. As the lessons progress, and vocabulary words advance to vocabulary phrases, there isn't the option to get the translation. The company has heard this frustration, and they offer the suggestion to look at context cues in the photo, use the words you do understand to figure out the words you don't understand, and don't feel you have to understand every word to understand the concept: basically, don't lose the forest for the trees. When we don't understand something in real life, we often look at the cues around us, just like Rosetta Stone is asking us to do with their program.

Depends on your comfort level

The problem with the natural method is that when we learned our first language, we had nothing to base it on. Now that we have our first language, many of us have a hard time giving up translation, and we want to know all the words in the paragraph, and not figure only some of them out. Neither the natural method or translation is right or wrong. You just have to do what you feel comfortable with. If you can live without translation and can trust this tried and true method, you'll join the many fans of Rosetta Stone. If you rely on translation as part of your learning style, you might want to check out some of our other highly recommended German language programs.

Short stories that include culture

Once you've got a little German under your belt, enjoy putting it all together by reading a short story. You can listen to a native speaker read the story to you or read the story on your own. If you choose to read aloud, the speech-recognition software will let you know what it heard you say correctly, and what it didn't understand. The bonus is that these stories include culture, which is a fun way to learn it.

Costs

• 3 months: $11.99 per month, $35.97 total
• 12 months: $7.99 per month, $143.88 total; on sale for $95.88 (save 33%)
• Lifetime, unlimited languages: $299, on sale for $179 total (best value)

Take the 3-day free trial

You can easily have a three-day free trial by just giving them an email address. Choose your current level of German and your reason for taking German: family, travel, work, or "basics and beyond." You are then given a plan of study and ready to jump in. Give it a good try to see if the Rosetta Stone method is right for you. There is something important to keep in mind if you feel you need translation and get frustrated with Rosetta Stone. Translation takes time and it takes mental energy. When a language learner talks to a native speaker and needs to translate, it takes too much time. For example, a native speaker asks you how your day was. You quietly translate that to English, then come up with an answer in English that you now have to put into German. The long pause takes a lot of mental energy for you, and a lot of patience on the part of the native speaker who is waiting and waiting for a reply. If, instead, you choose to go from image/thought/idea to German, it doesn't take as much mental energy, not as much time, and the person you're talking to may not have the urge to exit the conversation with you and move on.

We believe in Rosetta Stone and highly recommend it

Translation is often desired, as that's what we're accustomed to in our traditional classrooms. When the student can change paradigms from the translation method to the natural method, they can start thinking in German much sooner and with ease. There are huge fans of Rosetta Stone and tout that they can think in their new language! All of that said, we do wish there was a bit more opportunity for some translation. When a student cannot understand the image in the photo in relation to a foreign language sentence, it can stick in your head and be difficult to move past. Just a bit more English, Rosetta Stone, just a bit more. We also wish Rosetta Stone had more to offer the advanced student. Rosetta Stone has been around since the 1990s, and yet the lessons are focused on the beginner, offer limited work for the intermediate student, but are lacking for the advanced student. We would recommend they develop the lessons to include all learners.