Rosetta Stone versus Pimsleur Language Learning

Rosetta Stone is computer software. It's a program you will install and run on your computer. Some people don't realize this. You have to actually be on your computer to use Rosetta Stone. Pointing this out may sound silly, but the number of foreign language learning CDs where you simply listen to the audio, means many people don't realize that Rosetta Stone is a computer program. The latest Rosetta Stone offering includes a companion CD, because so many people did want to be able to learn without being on a computer.

The Rosetta Stone program is broken down into lessons, with each lesson containing a set of questions or tasks. A typical question would show you four pictures and describe the pictures. In early lessons, the description might be one word. In later lessons the description would be full sentences. Your task would be to select the image that corresponds to what you just heard. A lesson contains questions that are grouped by theme, for example, colors or sizes. At the end of the lesson you will see how many questions you got right and whether you advance to the next level. Rosetta Stone follows a similar structure from beginning to quite advanced, using this interactive method to teach listening, written words, and speaking

Rosetta Stone learning is based on the person interacting with the computer program, making selections and taking actions. It is also based on the idea that people learn best visually -- seeing the object and hearing the word for it in the new language. Rosetta Stone also does a nice job of tracking your progress through the program, recording scores as you do exercises and more.

But probably the most advanced technology of the Rosetta Stone program is the speech recognition. The Rosetta Stone language program will prompt the user to say a word or phrase and then use speech recognition to score how well you have done. It's a nice feedback for the user -- a bit like throwing the ball by the radar gun or can-you-ring-the-bell at the county fair. Obviously, there are limits to the speech recognition of Rosetta Stone. Some people feel that Rosetta never 'likes' their pronunciation and there is no personal tutor to explain why your pronounciation might still need improving. Still it's a worthwhile concept and an important part of Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is built around introducing words and then having you work with that vocabulary. Most users rated it high on building a vocabulary, but lower on teaching grammar and verb usage.

Pimsleur language learning programs follow a more traditional audio format. Pimsleur offers CD's alone or CD's with accompanying text. Pimsleur language learning method is based on you listening and speaking the language. Lessons are designed to take 30 minutes and it is recommended that you do them at a time when your mind is alert and you won't be interrupted. I did the sample lesson on the Pimsleur website and I liked the way it broke down words when asking you to pronounce them. If you are like me and struggle with pronouncing a new word, you will like the step-by-step pronunciation coaching that Pimsleur offers. On the other hand, some users may find this gradual approach a bit ho-hum, perhaps even boring.

Pimsleur promises that you will recall the words you learn in their foreign language learning programs better than other programs based on the Graduated Interval Recall built into their program.

From the Pimsleur website, this concept is explained as follows:
The term, "Graduated Interval Recall" is a complex name for a very simple theory about memory. No aspect of learning a foreign language is more important than memory, yet before Dr. Pimsleur, no one had explored more effective ways for building language memory.

In his research, Dr. Pimsleur discovered how long students remembered new information and at what intervals they needed to be reminded of it. If reminded too soon or too late, they failed to retain the information. This discovery enabled him to create a schedule of exactly when and how the information should be reintroduced.

Suppose you have learned a new word. You tell yourself to remember it. However, after five minutes you're unable to recall it. If you'd been reminded of it after five seconds, you probably would have remembered it for maybe a minute, at which time you would have needed another reminder. Each time you are reminded, you remember the word longer than you did the time before. The intervals between reminders become longer and longer, until you eventually remember the word without being reminded at all. This program is carefully designed to remind you of new information at the exact intervals where maximum retention takes place. Each time your memory begins to fade, you will be asked to recall the word.

Pimsleur very nicely offers its language programs in all kinds of sizes, from an Introductory, one-CD offering, to their 'comprehensive' package. This allows customers to try out the system and see if it is for them without spending a lot of money. The different Pimsleur language programs are described at: http://www.pimsleur.com/About-The-Programs. I think the variety of Pimsleur's offerings are more customer-friendly than Rosetta Stone's one-size-fits-all (or doesn't) approach where the company offers the customer nothing for less than $100.

P.S. If you are interested in buying Pimsleur language CD's, I would buy them at a bricks-and-mortar bookstore or buy Pimsleur on Amazon or buy from the official Pimsleur website. The reason I say this is that Pimsleur has many resellers of their program and unfortunately a few have less-than-great track records in terms of satisfied customers. Just my two cents.

No-Work Spanish is a brand-new way to learn Spanish simply by listening to stories. Each sentence of the story is read first in English, then in Spanish. Play it on your iPod while walking. Play it in your car. Just listen to the story and let your brain do the rest.

No-Work Spanish primarily teaches language comprehension. When you learned your first language, you learned to understand it first. Speaking, reading and writing came later. So try learning Spanish the same way. Or if you already take Spanish in school, listen to No-Work Spanish stories and dramatically improve your Spanish skills and test scores, just by pressing 'Play' on the CD player.

No-Work Spanish is a brand-new concept. The story is read with each sentence said first in English, then in Spanish. You will find your mind connects the English and Spanish, just like you can pause a favorite song and sing the next line, without thinking about it and certainly without making any effort to memorize the words in the song.

After a chapter has been read in English and Spanish, it is repeated in Spanish, to reinforce the Spanish version in the listener's mind. No-Work Spanish stories are available on CD's or as audio downloads. They vary in length from 50 minutes to about an hour and 45 minutes.

More information is available at NoWorkSpanish.com, see No-Work Spanish audiobooks available on Amazon below.

Most early users of No-Work Spanish audiobooks say the product lives up to its name, though several believe it would best be used along with a more tradtionally structured Spanish learning program.

So you may still be wondering why Rosetta Stone costs so much and whether it is worth it?

Part of Rosetta Stone costing as much as it does it the advanced speech recognition technology packaged along with it. Each software package contains headset with microphone. In general, speech recognition technology and software costs quite a bit (for example, Dragon Naturally Speaking - complete package $88 as of 3/08/2011

And the other part, I believe is simply a company decision. Having established themselves as a premier language learning software, Rosetta Stone is looking for a Cadillac image (my opinion). Rosetta Stone, not only prices their first level of foreign language learning in the hundreds of dollars (here is the Amazon discounted Rosetta Stone Spanish for $224 (as of 3/8/2011). But Rosetta Stone also vigilantly restricts customers ability to resell the software to someone else. Amazon reviews include angry comments about Ebay auctions being shutdown. Again, since customers are used to foreign language learning programs being audio CD's that they are allowed to resell, there is plenty of misunderstanding to go around.

Here was a recent quote on a forum about Rosetta Stone's reselling policies: I found out that you don't actually "own" Rosetta Stone. See the terms...you actually only lease the software. You are not allowed to resell it. I also had trouble re-installing after my hard drive crashed because they were so paranoid I was trying to install a used copy. Well, I guess they have to because of all the dishonest people out there...but shouldn't you be able to resell something you buy. Ok, so you aren't buying it, that is their point...it just really seems like you are buying it because it is a one-time price, not some monthly payments or anything.

Because of Rosetta Stone's policing of resales, you are unlikely to find a cheap used copy of Rosetta Stone. For the best prices of both Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone language programs, I would use Amazon

Yesterday there was, to me, a very interesting press release talking about Rosetta Stone acquiring a language-learning company that targets the younger children market (ages 3 - 7). Given how for years Rosetta Stone has seemed to preach/advertise what sounded to me like, "we're the best language learning product," I found it interesting that now they are at least in one case choosing to acknowledge a startup offered something that they were lacking.

A lot of people want to know what's the best method for learning another language. I ran across a blog post on the No-Work Spanish blog comparing choosing a method or program for learning another language to choosing an exercise program. Here is a bit of the post:

When we want to exercise our bodies and make them stronger, we do all kinds of different activities. We start walking at lunchtime with co-workers or playing tennis on weekends. Maybe we lift weights. We know what makes us feel better and what we enjoy doing. Some people love to run, while others would rather watch paint dry and only want to run after a soccer ball or around the bases. Everyone knows you have to find an exercise program that works for you. An activity that you like and fits into your schedule. .... Click to read rest and find out recommendation for best method to learn Spanish

An undesirable, but common sales tactic is to write a phony product review and then offer an affiliate link to the product. The sad thing is that there are many valid product reviews, where someone has taken a lot of time to evaluate the products, written up their findings and then they also include an affiliate link to those products. This page you are reading is such a review. In these cases, it's fair that the reviewer get a commission on purchases to compensate them for the time they took to write up the review. Most commissions are very small and therefore not likely to influence the evaluator significantly.

So how can you identify a phony product review where someone is simply trying to earn a commission and perhaps making a recommendation based on the size of the commission they will receive?

Look for specific details in product reviews -- how long did they try the product for? Why exactly did they like the one product better. What really are the differences between the products. If what you see instead is simply one product being ranked 4 stars and a second one is 3.1 stars and you really don't know why -- then there is a fair chance it is a phony product review.

There is one language product out there that sadly has A LOT of phony product reviews, here are some details on the Rosetta Stone vs Rocket Spanish debate.

If you liked this page, I invite you to visit another one I created, also on Education, such as Report Card Comments