Thoughts on Rosetta Stone's effectiveness

[mbmx13]

I am curious what others thoughts are on Rosetta Stone. I like the course and have been taking Spanish and Russian at the same time. Is there a certain point when I will feel competent in speaking with other people in that language. I am almost done with Level 1 with both languages and already notice that I can understand some words spoken on television although, I don't have the complete picture just yet.

Is there anyone who has become proficient through Rosetta Stone without DLI or another type of formal education?

Here is what I have heard from people who have used it after DLI:

They don't think anyone can become proficient enough through just Rosetta Stone. I am not trying to promote this product nor do I get paid for posting this, just curious on others thoughts and experiences learning foreign languages.

Regards,

Ray Miller

[mbmx13]

I am curious what others thoughts are on Rosetta Stone. I like the course and have been taking Spanish and Russian at the same time. Is there a certain point when I will feel competent in speaking with other people in that language. I am almost done with Level 1 with both languages and already notice that I can understand some words spoken on television although, I don't have the complete picture just yet.

Is there anyone who has become proficient through Rosetta Stone without DLI or another type of formal education?

Here is what I have heard from people who have used it after DLI:

They don't think anyone can become proficient enough through just Rosetta Stone. I am not trying to promote this product nor do I get paid for posting this, just curious on others thoughts and experiences learning foreign languages.

Regards,

Ray Miller
Here is what I have heard from people who have used it after DLI:

They don't think anyone can become proficient enough through just Rosetta Stone.

Sorry, kind of jumbled the above with the disclaimer.

[Ace]

You really need to start using the search feature.

[JustPete]

I have used Rosetta Stone quite a bit over the past 17 months for Pashto. I've gone through it off and on, but not hot and heavy. My impressions are that it will teach you some words, but you probably wont be conversationally fluent. It's helpful, but its not a complete means to an end. I cant give you 100% proof because Pashto doesnt have the same number of levels as other languages, so it may not be as complete as the ones you are considering.

[mbmx13]

@Ace

Sorry, just noticed there were so many postings already on this subject. Thanks for humoring me! :)

[MixedLoad]

I would try an online forum called "Live Mocha".

[Jake the Skillet]

The biggest issue I had with Rosetta Stone (Pashto) was that it was very difficult for me to understand what they were saying. It wasn't until after a few weeks of school and a better appeciation of the alphabet did I realize the specifics to the sounds of each word (which on Rosetta Stone would seemingly be correct). Another issue is that there isn't much consistency in the dialect. Kandahar vs. Eastern (for me) is very hard for me to figure out the differences.