Rosetta Stone Version 3: German Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion

Rosetta Stone Version 3: German Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion | Go, Rosetta, Go!

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Rosetta Stone Vers...

	Rosetta Stone Version 3: German Level 1, 2 & 3 Set with Audio Companion Mac OS X, Windows \| Rosetta Stone, 2008 average customer review:based on 41 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent Product, in Need of Better Headset

Let's keep this short and effective. This is an awesome, albeit very expensive product. If you are a person who wants the best (like me) then this is the product you want to get to help you learn another language. There are a few cons though and they are...

Cons:

Headset needs to be a much better quality for a $500 product. One of our earpieces broke right away.

The voice recognition was superb at first. Now it's quirky. This could be those headphones again.

Price - yikes isn't there a way to sell this for less?

Pros:

Automatic feedback is what makes this such a superb product. It comes in the form of the visuals and voice recognition.

Great visuals are extremely helpful. As an educator, I understand the power behind what is being called non-linguistic representation nowadays. Basically - pictures, video, movement and pantomiming, graphic organizers, etc...to boost understanding and retention.

Very easy to use - my 3 kids = 7, 9, and 15 are each using the product and navigate through it easily. It's a great way for my son in German 2 to stay fresh and practice in a fun format.

Finally, I appreciate how it mimics authentic natural learning of how a child learns a language - by inferring a lot. Yes, there is explicit instruction, just as adults do for children, but there is also a lot of opportunity for the same process children must do to learn a language - infer.

Love the product, just PLEASE include a better headset or two!

AMMENDED REVIEW: While I still think this is an awesome product, I have 2 issues that are real cons for me. First - finding a replacement headset is no easy task. There don't seem to be any on their website and the one paired up on Amazon.com with the product isn't compatible either. For the high price, this is a major issue. Second - didn't realize this at first but you can only authorize one computer at a time. That is pretty inflexible and unrealistic. Even MS Office, ITunes, and other major programs allow for more than one computer. Many households that will be using this probably have more than one computer. Our laptop that has this installed on it is in for repairs and I wanted to install this on our desktop - not possible. No easy directions popped up on how to deauthorize the other computer either when I tried to activate it on this one. It would be practical and realistic for them to allow say 3-5 installs.

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Go, Rosetta, Go!

I have already tried two other Rosetta products and they worked so well, that I also got this German language program although I already know this language at a certain level. As of this time I do not know any other language program that could successfully compete with this one. Except, of course, for learning language abroad. I fully recommend Rosetta's language series for everyone. For more detailed information please refer to my reviews of Rosetta's French and Italian.

A technique that works well for me

I have this software in three different languages and I find that I am picking up the vocabulary pretty quickly through the Rosetta method. I also do not have a lot of time to dedicate and like it that they include audio lessons that I can load on my ipod, I find that this helps me to not forget too much between computer lessons.

I don't have anything else besides class room lessons to compare this too, and that wouldn't be a fair comparison. So I can't say that the Rosetta Stone software is better than anyone else's, but I like it very much and would highly recommend it.

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Worth it for an English speaker in Germany?

I actually live in Germany at the moment. I'm on my fourth year here, so you might say I'm immersed in the langauge. My confession is I don't speak German. How could this be you say? Well everyone likes to speak English to me. I have enough other interesting things to do with my time than sit through boring lessons at home.

I've never been good at the whole language thing. I guess that's how my brain is wired. Even after a few years immersed, I hear German all the time (mostly as background noise) but I might have a 2 year old level of understanding.

I've tried a few other audio and text language packages before but I'd usually fall asleep and not be interested. I know learning a language takes time and effort, but the medium has to be engaging.

This isn't a review about me, right? I figure there might be some other people out in the world like myself so I felt some context was necessary.

Cons:

Price - I'm sure there would have to be a better price where they would sell more of these.

Cheap headset - Ever stand up with your headphone on? These broke the first time I did that. Otherwise I was impressed my Mac (10.5) recognized them. It also doesn't have a volume control.

Immersion - As I've mentioned I don't seem to learn well this way. During the lessons when something new is presented I really have to try hard, it would be cool if there was something to click on to see some rules or something. I guess since I'm figuring it out I'll remember it better?

Audio CDs - Don't see me using these, as I tend to fall asleep.

Pros:

Not a lot of cons - Sure I'm complaining about the whole immersion thing, but you have to learn some way. The biggest one is the price.

Works on a Mac (intel, 10.5) - Not the native interface, but the interface works. I had to open up the manual to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious. I actually was, in the next point I discuss it!

Speech Analysis - This is what makes the product top notch. The voice software is very good at getting you to say the words exactly. There is a little button you can press that will open up another screen that allows you to analyze your voice and the speaker voice to get them to match up. This is a great way to lose my English accent!

Customize your "courses" - You can choose what you want to focus on (reading, speaking, grammar.. etc). I went with everything. I could see myself creating something later that focuses on speaking (as it is my major weakness).

Software's ability to move you along at a good pace - If you zip through things it seems to interject future coursework, if you are having a hard time it seems to re-do a few things. I worked through a 30 minute lesson doing pretty well. When it came to review time, I was really itching to be done so I raced through it. I did poorly and it made me do some extra lessons before I was able to "graduate"

Ability to override where the program is taking you - You can click on a button and see ALL the lessons (check marks by the ones you did), you can retake something or take something it decided to skip.

Fun way to learn - Lots of pretty pictures (not necessary all German related), interactive lessons that switch between matching words to pictures, matching sounds to pictures and speaking when presented with a picture. I seem to be able to go for about an hour before getting tired of it. No more falling sleep with my headphones while mumbling to myself.

Native speaking German as examples - Sound Northern German to me and not Bavarian.

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So I've been trying my newly learned German out. After the people get over their shock of me trying to speak, they are happy to help out with some pointers. Unlike English where there are many accents, I've found in Germany a slight non German accent seems to make the other people totally not understand. I feel the headset and the speech analysis software totally makes this package worth it.

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