<p>Is anyone familiar with the Rosetta stone program? My S needs to take 3 semesters of a language since 5 years of Latin got him no where for his language requirement in college. We were thinking of purchasing the Spanish Rosetta Stone program to study over the summer hoping that would be enough to get him into the the second level of Spanish, eliminating one semester. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Take Spanish at a local cc spring semester or this summer and transfer the credit.</p>
<p>Rosetta Stone is very very boring. Many people drop it because it will put you to sleep.</p>
<p>However, you do learn a lot. I don’t know, though, that the sequence is well aligned with the sequence with which concepts are taught in college. I think there’s more listening and speaking and less reading and writing, which might lead to gaps that would make it hard to pass a placement test.</p>
<p>Our household has/uses Rosetta Stone in 3 languages. I see it as the “traveler’s” version of instruction, not sufficiently academic about grammar and structure to replace formal academic instruction. It gives you basic vocabulary and pronunciation. The multisensory presentation is effective. It is repetitive, as noted above; that’s part of how it works.</p>
<p>Your son has 5 years of Latin, and is hoping to place out of Spanish 101 through self-study. Rosetta Stone could be part of that, but I think he would also need a real Spanish 1 textbook, for a more formal and systematic presentation of the grammatical structure.</p>
<p>If it’s essential that he get past Spanish 101, he should probably sign up for a summer course at a local college. If he just wants to give it his best shot, more affordably, on his own time, and it’s not academic life-or-death, Rosetta plus an unrelated, basic Spanish 101 textbook, after 5 years of Latin, might work.</p>
<p>My DW is using Rosetta Stone for learning Swedish - not so many Swedish classes at our local community college :). She loves it and really enjoys the studio sessions with native speakers. As others have noted, it is more oriented towards learning to speak the language rather than a formal college type language course. I’ve gotten her both grammar and vocabulary books to supplement the on-line course.</p>
<p>In order to pass a college level Spanish exam, I would think it would be more useful to take a Spanish class at a community college. But as to OP’s question, my DW at least really likes Rosetta Stone.</p>
<p>I have used a rosetta-like program in conjunction with a formal class. I agree you absolutely need the reading/writing part too. But the speaking and listening has catapulted my learning.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve never studied Spanish, but I do study French, which is a similar romance language. Unlike French, I’ve heard that Spanish is easier to learn at first but then gets difficult closer to the high-intermediate level. (This is just what I’ve heard since I haven’t studied Spanish since middle school. And honestly, what do we really learn from forced, flaky language classes in middle school? Can’t remember a thing.) </p>
<p>Also, it’s important and good that he’s studied Latin before! After you learn one language, even if it’s just intermediate or so, learning others becomes much easier. He’ll be able to pull from some Latin vocabulary and maybe even some grammar tenses.</p>
<p>For a 101 class, I think it’s safe to say that one learns the present tense for all the kinds of verbs (I think Spanish also has 3), the near future (“I’m going to go”, which would be “je vais aller” in French. It’s basically just learning the conjugation of one type of verb to use before another) and maybe even some past tense principles (knowing the endings and the helping verbs). </p>
<p>Can he somehow get a 101 syllabus either from his school or another? If he knows exactly what he needs to learn for 102, I don’t think it’d be unreasonable for him to learn it on his own. If anything, he might even be better prepared because he’d have learned it on his own time with his own methods that work for him. (I’m sure he knows his language learning style from Latin.) </p>
<p>Does he have to take a placement test? Or if he’s trying to test out of 101 to get credits, does it just count for a credit/pass grade? With those, you usually don’t have to get an A grade to skip levels, which helps a lot. </p>
<p>But for all this, I’m not sure if I would go solely with Rosetta Stone… Like others have said, I think it’s more traveling-based, but the speaking and listening activities would be INVALUABLE. As a language learner myself, I can testify that listening and speaking is usually the hardest for people. You have to actually get involved and active with what you do - you can’t just sit there and whiz your way through with reading or writing. </p>
<p>I’d recommend some grammar books as well. I use the “practice makes perfect” publisher for French, and I really like the way they lay things out. Very straightforward, and they make you do basic exercises like in class yet they also have you translate something from English to French, which I’ve never done in final study before. I think they have other languages as well and with levels from beginning to advanced. </p>
<p>Good luck with everything!</p>
<p>Ditto. DD also had many years of Latin (7). If you have not already tried appealing, I would try. Our state schools offer speed language courses during the summer to get you through the first year in 6 weeks I think. I would look at the summer programs for UC Berkeley and UCLA. Also, the Monterey Language Institute in CA has a summer program and Middlebury in Vt is known for languages. Maybe you can hire a tutor and find an online course for the goal of testing out.</p>
<p>Rosetta Stone will not do the trick. </p>
<p>DD is now fairly fluent in Italian and Portuguese from lengthy travels/stays in Italy and Brazil. With so much Latin your child’s language classes will be simple.</p>