1 stars (OK for learning a few words, but not for conversation!) - I was highly disappointed in this course, after having read all of the hype. It consists of auditory word recognition, using photos, but has no English (in my case) translation to clarify some of the meanings. It has "word construction" lessons, but it gives you no clue about what letters of the alphabet have what sounds, etc. There is a lesson book that is written all in Thai, but no English guide to help you learn the meaning of what you are reading. It's a loser, if you ask me. Sure, you can learn the words of common things like man, woman, boy, girl, cat, dog, etc., but you will never learn to converse with this course. Buy Pimsleur, if you want to learn to actually talk in another language.
1 stars (Doesn't work if you have other versions, no support) - I bought both the Thai and Indonesian versions at the same time. Each came with their own separate application cd you could install on your computer, along with another cd with the actual language course. Well, since they were different versions, Rosetta Stone makes it immposible to install both application cd's on the same computer. In a nutshell, they expect you to install and use only one at a time. If you want to switch to another language, you have to uninstall the previous one first and then install and run the other. It's also very cumbersome and confusing since they don't label which application cd goes with the different language cd's. For $600 USD, you'd expect them to work at the same time (Why does it demand 2 separate cd's for each course anyway? It's not too big for one disc). Anyway, to add insult to injury, I called Rosetta Stone early in the morning for support and was told there were 4 people ahead of me and to leave my phone number for a call back as soon as it was my turn. 48 hrs later, they have never called me back. Think twice about shelling out $295 USD to a company that doesn't care if it's product works or whether or not the customer is supported. "Talk now" cd's are decent and only set you back $40 USD.
4 stars (Learn Thai the Correct Way) - This learning series really helped me learn how to listen to the different annotations and accents of the Thai langauge. The speakers are native Thais including men and women. The CD-Rom is very interactive using different learning methods for each lesson. The lessons include listening, reading, and speaking. The exercises are composed of 4 pictures which the narrator describes and you choose the appropriate activity. None of the lessons include an English translation which can be a bit confusing. Overall this is a great buy for learning how to speak Thai correctly. |
