2011 Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

[zY|]

i wouldn't spend 240 dollars on that thing

Oh cmon, that iMac is probably 2 grand at least.

[SPX]

Anyone here ever use any of the Rosetta Stone shit?

[Luke]

Anyone here ever use any of the Rosetta Stone shit?

No but I've thought about it . I've always wanted to learn German , Spainish and Portuguese

[zY|]

Anyone here ever use any of the Rosetta Stone shit?

Yeah. I've got like all 40 languages of it.

It's not a good way to learn a language.

[SPX]

No but I've thought about it . I've always wanted to learn German , Spainish and Portuguese

I downloaded it with the Latin American Spanish language packs. Slowly making my way through it.

[SPX]

It's not a good way to learn a language.

Why do you say that?

[zY|]

Why do you say that?

Here's how Rosetta Stone works.

It shows 4 pictures of (usually) related objects. Then it shows or says a word (or vice versa, there are several different setups) and you have to pick the right one. That's really all it is. It's based on repetition, and there is loads of it. It will show you new words or concepts, then go back and repeat the others, so on and so forth. I did the Spanish one for awhile, and while you'll definitely learn some vocabulary, it doesn't teach any grammar or usage at all and for the time spent doesn't seem to be the most efficient way to learn. Honestly I'm pretty sure the best way to learn a language is the same way to learn anything. To just do it. Read books/new/websites and watch media in your target language, look up words (ie: immersion).

Anyway, I don't think it's worth the money at all. (Not that you would actually pay for it)

[SPX]

I've been doing the Spanish one for a couple of days. I will say that if I didn't have a base in Spanish then I'd probably be pretty fucking confused. Thankfully I guess I studied Spanish in high school and spent two months in Guatemala were I studied at a Spanish school, but if it weren't for that, I'd have a lot of questions. It does seem odd that they don't go into the basics of verb conjugation and male/female nouns, pronouns, etc. It seems that the method is to give you just enough to where you just kind of have to figure everything out.

I was hoping for some games, videos, etc built into the application and so far there's none of that. So I'm not sure why the program is like a million dollars to buy off the shelf.

[zY|]

I've been doing the Spanish one for a couple of days. I will say that if I didn't have a base in Spanish then I'd probably be pretty fucking confused. Thankfully I guess I studied Spanish in high school and spent two months in Guatemala were I studied at a Spanish school, but if it weren't for that, I'd have a lot of questions. It does seem odd that they don't go into the basics of verb conjugation and male/female nouns, pronouns, etc. It seems that the method is to give you just enough to where you just kind of have to figure everything out.

I was hoping for some games, videos, etc built into the application and so far there's none of that. So I'm not sure why the program is like a million dollars to buy off the shelf.

They have fantastic marketing.

It sounds like you have the exact same issues with it that I do.

[Svino]

I've gone through the Japanese Rosetta Stone materials. I learned a fair amount, but I don't know if its the best way. It seems like their system might work best if used in conjunction with more traditional language learning methods. One thing that's good about it is that you can go at your own pace.

[zY|]

I've gone through the Japanese Rosetta Stone materials. I learned a fair amount, but I don't know if its the best way. It seems like their system might work best if used in conjunction with more traditional language learning methods. One thing that's good about it is that you can go at your own pace.

I think you're right. Rosetta Stone is a decent way to learn vocabulary, at least.

[Vandelay]

sideloaded looks like harry potter has already done 150 plus

[MMA_scientist]

I took 4 years of spanish in high school and 4 semesters in college. I still couldn't understand a native speaker. I got a CD set (Learn Spanish in Your Car) and listened to only that for about 8 months. Still, no dice. I started watching movies in spanish, especially ones I had already seen in English and that helped a lot, actually more than anything else, but you have to have the base vocab there, which Rosetta Stone would probably help with. I personally don't think it is any better than the far cheaper courses though. I can speak pretty well now, and was even a court translator for a while. Basically, step one is learn the vocab- this is the easiest part. Step 2 is learn how to conjugate your verbs (the courses put a lot of emphasis on this, but a lot of native speakers do it wrong as well, it is not that big of a deal in spanish at least). Step 3 is actually being able to differentiate the words when actually spoken- this was the hardest part for me.

All of that said, I don't have a knack for foreign languages and it was quite difficult for me as compared to a lot of people.

[SPX]

Really? After 4 years of Spanish and 4 semesters in college you still couldn't understand a native speaker? Why do you think that is? I would assume that in the upper levels of both HS, and especially college, Spanish that you get into all kinds of immersive exercises and probably take a few group trips to Mexico or something of the sort.

[MMA_scientist]

In high school I was just sort of in there, I didn't do anything. In college, I started over, so by the end of 4 semesters I was learning the same stuff I learned in Spanish 2 in high school.

Then I took about 8 years off from Spanish and forgot everything. I actually learned as much or more from the CDs in my car than I did in classes.

As for why I couldn't understand a native speaker, I just couldn't differentiate the words from one another. Even now, I have to control the conversation so I know what to expect for an answer. If someone just starts going, I lose the rhythm of the words and can't find a place again. Or if I just happen in on some people speaking Spanish, I really have no idea what they are saying. I can read Spanish fine though, you can give me something written in Spanish and I can read it 100% of the time.

I think I just suck at languages to be honest. My ability to learn languages other than English is just not on par with my ability to learn other things.