Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (they provide writing and grammar curricula for homeschoolers) described using this exact technique for learning Japanese (although he used a copy of Jack and the Beanstalk). He had been in Japan to learn how to teach violin by the Suzuki Method and decided to apply that to language.
The advantage of Rosetta Stone is that you hear the language spoken a lot. But no, I wouldn’t want to learn a language with just that. There has to be study independent of that course, or you’ll have big gaps…a problem, considering the money you’ll sink into the course. Also, it is “one-set-of-pictures-fits-all”, as nearly as I can tell, and is not re-tailored to the cultures of each language. IOW, the Latin American Spanish course teaches you how to say “sandwich” and “bread”, but not “tortilla”…who wouldn’t want to learn “tortilla” right out of the gates, and the sorts of food items that are specifically typical of Latin American countries, rather than the ones that are common to every airport on Earth?
My main problem with Rossetta Stone is the amount of content you receive for the price. The FSI courses or library courses provide as much audio content (minus the pretty pictures) and are available completely free. If you have access to broadband you can stream hours upon hours of news and soaps in your target language for free. After two levels of RS you have basically been taught how to say, “hello my name is” and “goodbye”. Other than that, you are given a load of phrases that don’t represent the flow of an actual conversation. Try fitting “the cat is under the table” or “there are many books in my library” into a conversation.
I did take French for four years in middle/high school and one year in college, so maybe that’s why I find Rosetta Stone good? It’s kind of like a review for me…Wow, I guess I’m one of the few who actually likes Rosetta Stone. I agree that it can be difficult to pick up on since there are no real instructions, but you get the hang of what you’re supposed to do after a bit. My husband is working on Chinese and I picked up French levels 1-5 for $80.
I’ve been lurking here hoping to find useful systems for my kids to learn DW’s native tongue (they speak at home but very sparsely due to me being English-only and their lessons are only in Enlish). So far, only Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur even offer that language. It’s difficult to figure out how they compare.It’s a little of bothIf you learned a language other than English at a young age, you have what I call an “extra room” in your brain for other languages to “decorate.” Or, you may just be extraordinarily gifted in languages, you polyglot you!
Or maybe I just like talking so much I couldn’t bear the thought of reaching only English speakers… Haha.Good for you, it’s actually better that way! I think everyone should have a solid grammar foundation, too. It helps if you know how the language works, and makes it so much easier to express similar thoughts later on! You’ll pick up a lot of things (idiomatic expressions and unexpected words) from movies you already know though.