5 stars (Userful for Learning Italian) - This will not work for you as the first or only program for learning Italian. It is great as a supplement to other methods of learning Italian. The method is entirely intuitive - there is no English anywhere, so you may also want to have a dictionary and a grammar book.
I have found Rosetta Stone language programs most useful for reviewing the information I have learned elsewhere, for brushing up on languages I haven't used for a while, and for expanding vocabulary.
It may not be the best choice for total beginners, but you can learn a lot by associating words and expressions with the images and occasional mini videos. I do consider it definitely a worthwhile purchase.
1 stars (Save your money -- avoid this product) - I strongly discourage purchasing this product because (1) the software is poorly and simplistically designed and (2) the content is a lazy assembly of stuff that does not promote learning. I ran the software on a 1.6 Ghz machine with 60 GB harddrive, so the performance issue clearly was not on my side. As far as the simplistic design, in the multiple choice select-a-picture section, for example, the answer would be in the same quadrant for a series of questions. This issue persisted throughout, leading to a lazy learning/teaching experience. Continuing with the shortcuts taken by this manufacturer, the photos designed to promote Italian language learning were not of Italian subjects. What a crime to charge $165 for this software!
4 stars (Sometimes you get what you pay for...) - After trying two language programs before this and being highly disappointed in their performance I finally put out the money for this program. It is comprehensive and I have found it very valuable in it's method of teaching the Italian language. I highly recommend it. |
