Back in the 80's, I studied Spanish in high school for four years. I was able to memorize vocabulary lists and grammar rules well enough to get good grades, but I never was able to understand Spanish language TV or converse with native speakers who didn't know me. Now I'm considering trying one of the many products available like Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur or Language 101 and am seeking advice. What do you know about these products or other alternatives?
I recently read an interesting article on gizmodo that might help you: http://gizmodo.com/five-free-online-tools-to-learn-another-language-734123988
I have the Rosetta Stone Levels 1 and 2 for Vietnamese that I tried for a bit, and keep thinking of firing them back up again. It's pretty neat how it works, to be honest -- you can understand the logic behind the software, and I can totally see how it would be readily successful for learning another "Latin" or Western European type language pretty quickly. (My apologies if I use the wrong term here...) My biggest issue with it was because I was trying to learn Vietnamese -- it was REALLY difficult to get (what to me) were the tonal changes, both hearing them (you use a headset w/mic) and then speaking it. Basically, after a few times of the software just going "Bzzzzzt - Try again!" when it sounded (to me) that what I said was correct -- I pulled the plug on it in frustration. Still, it does work -- I totally recommend it... You just have to be focused/determined. Cheers, -CM-
I've used Rosetta Stone before. I learned a lot of German but It's still not near the level of classroom instruction.
A friend of mine has used Pimsleur for a couple languages. He said Pimsleur is better than Rosetta Stone, but I don't remember his reasons, other than price. I'll be glad to ask if it would be of help to you.