Photo by Wesley Fryer
I must confess. My previous relationship with Rosetta Stone was a quick stop at an airport kiosk to check out their offerings, followed by a quick dash to my departure gate.
My sister who has been using their Italian program for the last couple of years swears by them, and a colleague who’s currently learning Russian once took me through a walk-through of the Rosetta Stone interface.
Though intrigued by this learning program, my constant on-the-go lifestyle meant packing up and carrying along language CDs all the time wasn’t practical. So when I was approached by Rosetta Stone to test out its new TOTALe ™ online integration learning program which allows you to access the program online from any location without carrying around CDs, I was totally on board.
Photo by Lola Akinmade
My language of choice? Swedish.
Why? I currently split time between Stockholm and the US and consider myself an advanced (word loosely used) beginner .
While Swedish is a relatively easy language to learn, what makes it super challenging are those “extra” pronunciations required to differentiate between words that are written exactly alike and sound exactly alike.
Confused yet?
Read about some of my Swedish language learning woes here.
Brief Overview
The Rosetta Stone TOTALe ™ program is a collection of three learning modules that can all be accessed online as long as you’ve got a steady internet connection, a laptop/desktop computer, and a headset for voice recognition and participation.
Its flagship, Rosetta Course™ provides all the audio guidance and learning programs guaranteed to get you up and running quickly in your new language of choice.
The Rosetta Studio™ allows you to practice what you’ve learned by engaging you in “structured conversations with learners at your level”. A way of building your confidence to verbally practice what you’ve learned.
Rosetta World™ allows you to play with your newly acquired language skills. Literally. You can play games, engage in chats, and other activities to help you apply your knowledge in everyday situations.
In this three part series review, I will be testing out each of the three components above, and providing some in-depth analyses on my experiences with this new Rosetta Stone program.
Part 1 – Rosetta Course™ Review
The first time you log on, it checks your system configuration. You will be required to download a “speech component” that allows for voice recognition. You also get to select your Simbo™ language.
According to Rosetta Stone,
Simbio™ language is your native language or the one you speak most fluently. In Simbio activities, you’ll exchange languages: practice with a native speaker, and help your partner practice your Simbio language.
Setting up my system and voice was a breeze, and I couldn’t wait to start a Level 1 course.
Pros
Right off the bat, I was totally taken by the layout and approach to learning Rosetta Course applies – large pictures with native words denoting each activity, action, noun, and such.
As we all know, children are most impressionable when it comes to quickly picking up languages at an early age through recognizing pictures and associating them to words, and Rosetta Stone, with its layout, aims to tap into that base natural way of learning.
I learn best by directly immersing myself into the language and in classroom settings, not by picking up books and learning on my own. This visual-auditory approach worked great for me, and instant feedback was given when I totally messed up the pronunciation of words.
The use of pictures meant I was always wanting and anticipating what the next visual cue would be. In short, I felt like a kid again, which opened up my mind to readily absorbing the repetitive native phrases that were being fed through the program.
If internet connections drop or you’re done for the day, TOTALe™ resumes where you left off the next time you log back into the system.
Cons (Sort of)
What I found a little confusing was some of the matching sequences where the words weren’t on the screen and I wasn’t sure what to do next. I suppose if I’d actually followed their introductory video before diving right it, I would have solved my own problem.
At first, I chucked it up to a slow Internet connection not loading the words, but once I figured out how that lesson was actually structured, it was smooth sailing from there.
Summary
At the end of each lesson, you get graded and scores are displayed back to you. All in all, I really enjoyed working with Rosetta Course ™.
The interactive, graphics-heavy approach to learning meant I never got bored and boredom is one of the key reasons a lot of people quickly abandon self-learning programs.
Stay tuned for Part 2 – RosettaSTUDIO ™ in the upcoming days.
Pricing information
The entire program costs $1,199 per year and this includes unlimited online access to the three modules outlined above and an accompanying audio kit to use offline for learning the courses.
And now as part of the launch of TOTALe, Rosetta Stone is offering an introductory price of $999. Click here for more details on how to purchase the program.
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21 Comments... join the discussion!
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Lola-
Thanks for this review. I’m always interested in language programs, and this seems like a good one. It seems pretty pricey, though, compared to a program like BBC’s online language courses, which are totally free and appeal to different learning styles. Any thoughts about value?
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Julie/Scott – Thanks for your comments. Yes, the price certainly isn’t for everyone.
The price works out to about $100 per month. The entire program is extremely interactive and dynamic with learner voice recognition and other tools which I really haven’t seen anywhere else.
I believe this is why Rosetta Stone is also popular with a lot of business travelers. You get to learn a language quickly in a very natural, visual way. There are many people out there that truly swear by this program over the free ones.
No doubt, the price seems steep. I liken the entire program to actually taking an academic level language course at a university with tons of user interaction, class interaction, projects, games, and such.
$200-$300 per credit for 4 credit hours, but in this case, you get all the levels and CDs upon CDs of offline courses as well.
A more complete package.
I have 2 upcoming reviews on the remaining two modules that will cover this aspect.
People learn very differently.
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Interesting product. I received Rosetta Stone German CDs as a present last year and haven’t opened it yet. I’ve heard great things about the software though…(The CDS, level 1-3 were approximately $400-500).
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I agree, the price is discouraging but I’ve been really interested in this program. What about the offline version, is that cheaper? I think I saw it advertised for about $400 somewhere, not sure. And how does it compare? (if you know the answer)
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Hey Candice, the courses are pretty much the same as the offline CDs which run between ($400-$500). I believe the additional costs come from Rosetta Studio and Rosetta World which allow you to interact, communicate, and work with other language learners and tutors as well as play games and participate in other activities using the language you’re learning.
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Sweet, thanks for the info, definitely worth the cash.
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Learning Swedish is fun and easy.
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As a linguist and language teacher, I find Rosetta Stone’s communicative approach frustrating. The vogue in language learning has been to go 100% communicative in order to mimic the language acquisition which takes place in children, which isn’t necessarily the most effective way for adults to learn language. I like the interactive components of Rosetta Stone and the voice recognition part (I’ve tried out the Arabic program) but I prefer to go with a Teach Yourself book + CD set for $25 and then pay some money to hire a local tutor. Even if I got Rosetta Stone for free, I’d probably still choose Teach Yourself.
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I tend to agree with Heather on this one, to a point. I’m playing around with a free copy of Rosetta Stone for Portuguese, and enjoying it and definitely feeling a little knowledge and familiarity painlessly slipping in. However, when I get serious about the language, it will be replaced or take a serious back seat to a more formal approach. Right now, it’s a fun and effective way to flirt with Portuguese while I concentrate on Spanish and other things.
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Wait wait, i am so confused. So do they send you the actual CD’s like the normal program and then you have the subscription online? Or is it all online and after 12 months you are left with nothing, you can’t go back and review the old stuff or anything?
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@Ava – Yes, you also get a stack of CDs as well so you can practice offline.
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Are those the audio companion, or the ones you get when you normally buy the program?
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Are these CD’s just the audio companion, or are they the actual lessons like you get when you buy the regular set?
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I seriously gotta get my ass into learning some languages!! Having English as a mother tongue makes one LAZY or oblivious to learning other languages — considering High Tech (in my case) is dominated by English.
Can someone comment on Pimsleur? I have a Level 1,2 & 3 CD for French. I do speak many computer languages though. lol.↵ -
@Max – Hey Max! I’ve actually used Pimsleur before. I tried a couple CDs in German 5 years ago (maybe). It worked for a couple months.
The repetitive nature of those CDs are quite natural, but as with all languages, if you don’t use it frequently, you’ll forget it.
Regarding computer languages, I totally speak those too
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I had a feeling they’d work. I guess I just gotta DO IT — as Nike says.
I’m so annoyed at myself for not taking French seriously in Canada during my primary school years. But alas, I grew up in English Canada. 
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Lola,
Thank you for the review. I’ve been wandering what language learners and travellers think of this product. Also, I have an exigent desire to live or visit Sweden. Do you have any advice on how to find a job there or know of any programs offering jobs to ESL instructors?
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@Wes
Finding a job in Sweden is challenging for a foreigner as locals already have the home-field advantage by speaking both Swedish and English fluently.
However, there are five fantastic resources to check out are:
- Swedish Institute – http://www.si.se/English/
- Amerikanska Forums – http://www.amerikanska.com/
- Sweden.com – http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work/
- The Local – http://www.thelocal.se/
- ESL Jobs in Sweden – http://www.eslemployment.com/country/esl-jobs-sweden.html
Hope these help.
L
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Thank you Lola! I also have checked out your blog. I enjoy your writing and involvement. I had no idea you worked for BBC. Keep up the impressive work.
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@Wes. Thanks! Much appreciated. I’m actually a freelance photojournalist with the BBC, not a staff photographer.
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