Rosetta Stone

Anybody have any experience/ knowledge about this product? I am losing a lot of opportunities because my Spanish is not good enough to get past the receptionist. Does it work? How long does it take? I don't expect miracles, realize it will take commitment and time, but I am just about ready to pull the trigger if I can be assured that it actually works. Thanks, people.

I've played with it. I picked up a bunch of Dutch with it. I think it will work if you put the time into it, which I haven't. How long? That's going to depend on you. It isn't cheap, though.

About 500.00, which is why I am asking about it. Not at all sure how it will help with technical jargon, though. I do have Spanish speaking family members, but the technical aspect will be the same with them.

My friend just dates Latina women to learn Spanish. He's pretty darn good at it for a white guy now

It really pays off when you want to buy and sell on CL in southern California

I kinda suspect the technical aspects are going to be lacking. You may be able to supplement that with a good dictionary.

The Dutch one has lots of horses, children, water, cars, etc., but not much for "low light hi res cameras."

try duolingo first. It's free. Has some of the same types of training as RS. I've been playing around with German.

My sales manager out of Dallas has been using it for two years, and can now attend meetings in Mexico and they no longer have to speak English for him. He is fluent enough to go on sales calls, take phone calls, and travel easily. He put some hours into the program (and I paid for it) but the results are worth it.

I am going to try the German soon so I can talk to my boss!

Pinchvalve- That is exactly what I am after.

A friend of mine from where I used to work is dating a Japanese guy. She's always loved the culture and has been trying to learn the language online (YesJapan, IIRC) for awhile. After she met this guy, she splurged for Rosetta Stone. Says it taught her more in three months than she'd learned in two years on the cheap.

tl;dr: EXPENSIVE..but worth it if you're serious.

I'd imagine that there is a crapton of this stuff on eBay.

Woody wrote: I'd imagine that there is a crapton of this stuff on eBay.

You could also try your local Craigslist, there is stuff on there beyond cars you know...

Its great. My kids are using it now

oldtin wrote: try duolingo first. It's free. Has some of the same types of training as RS. I've been playing around with German.

I just tried duolingo.com for a few minutes for Spanish. Looks like it may be useful

davidjs wrote: You could also try your local Craigslist, there is stuff on there beyond cars you know...

I.....its.......WHAT? My whole world view has been altered. Oh wait, you mean the motorcycle section, yeah that's important too .

But this is definitely a good idea. You also might be able to get an older software version used that doesn't require you to be online.

friedgreencorrado wrote: A friend of mine from where I used to work is dating a Japanese guy. She's always loved the culture

Has she learned about the heavy xenophobia and conformism yet, or does she think their fiction is a reflection of, rather than escapism from, their culture?

GameboyRMH wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: A friend of mine from where I used to work is dating a Japanese guy. She's always loved the culture

Has she learned about the heavy xenophobia and conformism yet, or does she think their fiction is a reflection of, rather than escapism from, their culture?

Whoa. Have a bad experience?

I spent a little time in Japan. My time there didn't really reflect that. In fact, I can say that overall they love them some Americans. Some of the over-65 set gave me some suspicious looks on the bus, but that was the worst treatment I got.

Not me but some friends of mine. One is an American who only received xenophobia first-hand from older folks, but they did not pull punches. And while they're not that bad to Westerners they like to believe that almost all their crime is performed by a small immigrant community.

A woman who worked in my office was a teacher in Japan for a while said she was most frustrated by the "don't cause a fuss" mentality. She used the example of one of her superiors not wanting her to set up portable heaters in the classroom when it was berkeleying freezing, because it would cause a fuss.

I just want to make sure she's not an otaku headed for a rude awakening.

Newsflash! Old people are often racist.

I hear ya though. Certain parts of their culture can be weird and sometimes downright frustrating to westerners. I just wouldn't paint the whole shebang with that brush.

GameboyRMH wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: A friend of mine from where I used to work is dating a Japanese guy. She's always loved the culture

Has she learned about the heavy xenophobia and conformism yet, or does she think their fiction is a reflection of, rather than escapism from, their culture?

She's actually making practical adjustments to their culture, instead of dithering over their fiction. She's using the xenophobia to escape the sexism, as does he, from what I've seen. His usual response is, "..yeah, I know it's nuts..but I'm really in love with this girl." After that, she waxes poetic upon how much she's "trying" to fit in. Hey, they are both lying to their families & friends as they try to "make it happen".

They're both about my age (40+), and just want to live in peace without either of their families constantly screaming, "THIS WILL NEVER WORK!!". Egad, it's like watching some of my GLBT friends. They just want to hook up and be left alone.

I could be wrong, but I really don't think my friend doing this is something like some anime fan deciding to go to Japan without really trying to understand what it's like. Hell, she's actually trying to find a job at NHK, instead of just claiming she's an English teacher or something to get inside the country in the first place.

EDIT: Okay, they are really 40yrs old or so, but I forgot that they're actually 10yrs younger than me. Not quite "about my age", honestly. But still..they ain't "kids".