Eric Learns a New Language: Review #4

Website:http://www.rosettastone.com

Level & Skill: I would have to say just from the demo it was for a beginner reading, writing, speaking and listening. But, for the amount of money this thing costs I am assuming it can be used for higher levels.

Interactive: That is a big Yes. ESL/Non-ESL: ESL

What makes it good: This seems like a great program. There are a lot of languages and the beginner level was constructed perfectly. It started out with a voice speaking, picture and you could read the line that was spoken, and the program would build from this; slowly introducing new words and separating the written word from the spoken word. This allowed the learner to slowly learn the language, or remember phrases and then apply them to the picture. By the end of the first activity man, woman, horse, dog and cat were burned into my memory. The activity got really interesting when it introduced placement; whether it was under, on or in. By the end of the program I could either look at a picture and know what the phrase was, or hear the phrase and choose the picture. Eventually my brain was working faster than the program. Of course I did pick the German program, and even though I don't know any German I could still infer a lot of meaning through my English. However, this program did become tedious, even when I tried it with Japanese and Arabic. As useful as the program was I got tired of it. I don't think I could work on this everyday, as after a couple of minutes I got tried of learning a language off of a computer. AS good as this program is it lacks that spark that you can only get from learning a language with other people. This program would be good for beginner or practicing, especially if a person is nervous about learning in a classroom. But, this would be a useful too used in moderation.