Rosetta Stone Chinese

Rosetta Stone is probably the best-known multi-media computer program for learning languages, and Rosetta Stone Chinese is a program that a lot of people do like.

I haven't used the Chinese one myself but I did try their Spanish one when I was living in Mexico. It didn't suit my learning style. I found it boring. And this is pertinent to the Chinese one.

You see, the Rosetta Stone approach is to use only the language that you are learning in their program. This suits their philosophy, that we can learn via their programs in much the same way as very young children learn language, by hearing it in the context of what we see. However, research seems overall to indicate that while children up to about the age of 12 do learn that way, teenagers and adults learn second languages more effectively by using their first language to help them learn another one.

So if you are inclined to use it, you might want to take a look at Amazon.com.... here is a link to a popular Rosetta Stone Chinese package at Amazon. It has a long description of the program and a large number of reviews. Do read some of the reviews there before you decide.

Another issue I have with Rosetta Stone is that often the words you learn early on are not the most essential for conversation. If you want to be able to ask directions or to order a meal early on, look at some of the other programs I review on this site..

In reading reviews of Rosetta Stone Chinese around the internet, I found a number of comments about this particular program. People who have used it point out that it is quite expensive. Some say that the voice recognition software is not up to the task of giving feedback on whether we are pronouncing a word correctly in terms of the tones that are used in Mandarin. The program doesn't seem culturally sensitive. But I also read comments from people who liked it a lot and felt they learned well with it.

If not Rosetta Stone Chinese, What?

For a multi-media Mandarin Chinese program with an additional audio CD, take a look at Fluenz Mandarin. This link takes you to my review of it here on this site. I am quite impressed with it.

Do remember that we are all different in how we learn. I am not such a fan of the Rosetta Stone method, but if you think it might work for you, consider it.  Here is the link to Rosetta Stone Chinese on Amazon.com.