Rosetta Stone, and other languange questions...

[SoundSev3n]

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?

[furanshisu917]

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)

[JaggedLittlePill]

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

[rina26]

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.

[nijiro]

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.

[SSJup81]

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.

[imiss]

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

[Paul11]

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.

[manners]

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.

[CarleyGee]

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