Rosetta Stone, and other languange questions...
 

About 3 weeks ago I started using the Rosetta Stone: Japanese software.

Is anyone using this software? Has anyone used it? How successful were you or how helpful did you find it?

also...

If a lot of Japanese is segmented phonetically, then might I find it easier to use romaji subtitles with the visual aids in the program to learn vocabulary and grammar... then use the phonetic segments in romaji on my keyboard with a kanji or katakana output enabled? I think that after a long time of typing this way I would be able to read both sets of characters from sheer repetitiveness.

If I'm not at school, work, driving a car or out for the night or asleep I'm always in front of a keyboard.

What are your thoughts?

Hey just saw this in passing, ive used this software, its really good for listening and learning, i havent tested out the other parts yet but its seem to be really good. but its probs best to see the writing in romaji first i guess so u can practice on ur pronunciation skills (sorry im a bad speller lol)

Rosetta Stone
 

Ohio America! Konnichiwa Europe! Konban wa Asia!

Anyways I want to ask about Rosetta Stone and if anyone has been successful in learning Japanese (or any other language) with this program.

I have tried it but i don't really like it because you learn by Dynamic Immersion which is basically being shown pictures and you are told what is happening in those pictures in the target language.

It is really good for learning hiragana, katakana and to a lesser extent kanji.

But usually it is not very specific and I ended up learning words I do not understand.

Anyways i have switched to pimsleurs and i was wondering what people thought of Rosetta Stone

I wanted to use it to learn German so I downloaded the Japanese to see how accurate the translations were. Pretty accurate and I would recommend it to people if the method of study worked for them.

I have it. I don't think it is very effective at teaching you new things, because it uses a lot of unneeded words, and a lot of complicated grammatical structures. It never explains anything. I use is mostly to practice vocabulary and grammar I already know, reading, and listening skills. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone trying to learn the language from the ground up.

I tried Rosetta Stone, and I didn't like it at all. I disliked it for the same reasons nijiro listed. I don't feel it's very effective at all. The only thing it's probably really good for is learning pronunciation.

I tried it, I don't like it... Doesn't actually help you learn the "basic" stuff - just kinda jumps into some random crap w/o actually teaching you any characters, how to read them or anything else... It may be a bit helpful once you have the basics down, but if you're just beginning, its next to useless

The best way, of course, is real immersion, in the country. And there's just no substitute for lots of hard study. And it all comes down to memorization. The grammer is easy, but it comes down to memorizing all the vocabulary to plug into the skeleton/frame of the sentance grammer.

When I lived in Japan success still came from studying hours a day. also I was carrying around boat-loads of flashcards and a small note-pad for every word I heard.

I'm not saying rossetta stone is not worthy. there's just no subsititute for memorization.

Immersion is good as you said. Study the vocab, gramar, and memorise them and then be creative in the immersion.

I've been wanting Japanese. I did the tutorial and it was really good!
So, I'm saving up my money to buy it! : )

From what I know the point of Rosetta Stone is to learn a new language like you learned your first language. I like how it shows you the meaning of the word and doesn't just give you the English translation, because I don't think you can become fluent that way. But as other people said, the best way to learn a language is to be in the country and be around the people.

rosetta stone?
 

i was thinking about getting rosetta stone to learn japanese, does anyone know if it is any good?

thanks in advance ^^

Eh, I wouldn't bother spending the money on it (unless you're a pirate, arrr). The philosophy behind it is great, and it might help you build some new vocabulary, but it's ultimately too small of a package to help you achieve any meaningful level of fluency. You might want to read AJATT, it describes a method for language learning that basically amounts to 24/7 Rosetta Stone.

thanks very much!

that website is very helpful. I think i am going to try this method =].

I use Rosetta stone (arrgg!!) And it works quite well for me, at times it can be a bit repetitive but I think in the end it gets the job done well. If there are any question you have on rosetta, feel free to ask me.

I have rosetta stone and it works well but doesnt really help with fluidity.. it teaches the way it should for memory and all but it's just too expensive.. I bought mine and then I got "My jpanese Coach" for Nintendo DS and found it more amuzing and it tought basically the same thing and it was on ly 30.00 lol

I tried a preview version online.
I was already getting the hang of it after only a few minutes.
I think it's definitely a good idea. If I had the money I would
buy it, but it has very useful methods.

my girlfriend works as a professional translator,she said that rossetta stone is great :vsign: (arrr!)

iKnow! - The Social Learning Platform. - iKnow! is kind of like Rossetta stone, but in my opinion much much better

It is useful even if it gets repetitive at times. I would suggest getting a dictionary because it never really says anything like kuro= black and midori=green. It's all about association. It does work well for me though.

Rosetta stone good for certain things, but lacks in other areas.
 

Hi there, this is going to be a biased post because I work for a Japanese language learning service, but here are my thoughts anyway...

Rosetta stone is great for learning vocabulary and set phrases. As other members have said, it is not as good at placing these words in your tangible, usable grasp when you are in the middle of a conversation. In order to get good at conversation, you need to get lots of practice and exposure (input).

Whether you get this practice from a tutor, a friend, or by living in Japan, it's up to you. The bottom line is that to "acquire" Japanese, you need to use it (even if it's uncomfortable at first because you don't know enough).

Aaron

Rosetta Stone
 

Ok question. I plan on studying jap culture, language, and history as a miner study but right now I have to finish my major in Criminal Justice first. Wile I wait would it be good to purchase Jap Rosetta Stone n start learning on my own or should I wait?

What is Jap?

Also, Rosetta Stone is bad.

There is a another tread asking this exact question.

Also, Dude, Jap is not the preferred nomenclature. Japanese, please.

I know a lot of people who have used Rosetta Stone and the feedback I consistently get is that it's only good for cramming vocabulary words and isn't very helpful in teaching you how to actually speak the language.

Seconded. And the amount of new vocab it teaches you isn't enough to justify the pricetag.

For the casual learner, a textbook from your local Border's will be enough to get you acquainted with the language.

Rosetta Stone...
 

So I think it was my 10th lesson in that I realized this program was merely helping me memorize various words in Japan but nothing in regards to grammar. Does the formula change or should I look for a different resource? If you have any ideas please share

I have never used it, but it is my understanding Rosetta Stone will not be answering your grammar questions.

Rosetta stone will teach your vocab, albeit slowly, but it's terrible for learning grammar. By the end of the 1st level, you'll only know how to say "The ___ is ___ the ___" You'll surprise and amaze your new Japanese friends with quips such as "The girl is riding the horse!" :D

Rosetta Stone
 

I have been use Rosetta Stone to learn Javanese has someone else use this program?

If so how well is or did work/ing for you
:D

Not very well for me, I found its better to buy university books and look it up online. Also reading japanese manga helps too (you pick up basic words)

I'm using it for Korean right now. Love it!

Have you been using Version 3? Where they integrate the microphone?

I used to have Version 2, where everything was separate. Was good, but Version 3 is definitely a huge improvement, in my opinion. :)

ROFL, yes that is definitely true.

I haven't been having that problem so much with Korean, because the grammar is quite similar to Japanese grammar... Been having an easy time understanding it and learning a lot. Have some textbooks lined up for when I get far enough with Rosetta Stone... But I found Rosetta Stone to be a good introduction to the language... With Korean it's helped a lot with pronounciation and aural comprehension. (Which is important for Korean... The pronounciation can't be explained so easily as Japanese pronounciation. >.< )

You are just supposed to pick up some of the grammar as you go along. If you repeat the lessons over and over you are supposed to eventually just realize certain grammar topics just as you would learn them if you were learning your first language.


I personally think that you should use the program in conjunction with other materials for grammar. Rosetta stone is great for vocab~

Rosetta Stone doesn't have a lot of pragmatics content. So it will be tricky.

I have is and its more like a multiple choice program all they do is show you the picture say something in Japanese and your suppose to guess that there saying, or that's at least one of them.

Rosetta Stone is great if you are looking for a travel phrase book but it's pretty much useless at teaching someone how to speak a particular language. It presents all languages in the view point of a English language speaker with total disregard to any cultural sensitivities.

The most obvious is the over zealous use of pronouns in Japanese like 彼 and 彼女, 2 words which is hardless used in everyday speech and comes out as rude if overused.

Thank you all for all the information.

For instance, There are native English speakers who cannot properly speak "subjectively good English". But they usu. do not have any problems understanding the pragmatics of how they or others speak in general.

Rosetta Stone lacks the sufficient pragmatics aspect, a good reason it has become a grammar/lexicon/phrase archive for tourists.

Rosetta Stone?
 

Has anyone tried Rosetta stone? Does it work well? I'd like to try it out sometime, but I'd like to know others opinions before I'd actually go out and buy it...