Back to talking about being a language learner... I am one! I just ripped off my brother's Rosetta Stone to learn Mandarin Chinese.
My brother is learning the language because his work will take him overseas within the next two years. I am learning it (and should have learned it already) because my husband is Chinese and the only people in his family to speak English are him and his parents. That means when I visited his family in China 3 years ago, we mostly just sat and stared at each other, waiting for my husband to translate. We are going to visit his family again this summer, and I am determined to say more than please and thank you. I started the lessons last night and have a goal of about 30 min/day, at least 5 days a week. So far... not bad! I have gotten a 93%, 89%, 94%, and 100% on the first four lessons, respectively. My lowest score was pronunciation and my highest was vocabulary. Not surprising really. I can memorize words by sight and match them to the picture but saying them is a whole different story.I'll talk more about the teaching style of Rosetta stone later as I discover more about it, but so far so far, I like it. There is no English translation... all Chinese to pictures which takes out the extra step in your brain that makes it more difficult to become fluent. That's what I try to do with the students in my classroom. As little English as possible, no matter how frustrating it may be. I admit, I am not doing a very good job of that right now, but we're allowed to have an off day (read: off week) every now and then, right? I promise, Helena (consultant) and Maria (professor), I am returning to 90% or more Spanish in my teaching tomorrow! For now... good-bye, adios, and zai jian.
P.S. I do not approve as Rosetta Stone as a language program in schools... because nothing beats that teacher-student interaction. However, as an adult looking to learn a new language or a school that can't afford a language teacher, this is certainly better than nothing!
I really like hearing your Chinese around the apartment! I think that Rosetta Stone is a really cool tool, but I do think that the success of it is completely dependent on the work ethic/discipline of the user. What age level do you think it starts to become useful? I was thinking that it's really geared towards college-level students or adult students. I definitely would agree with you that it probably isn't a great fit for schools.
ReplyDeleteI think my Chinese sounds silly but I'm glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Rosetta Stone is generally geared toward college-age or adult students. I never even considered schools using it until I interviewed for a middle school Spanish teaching job last year. That position was created to replace the teacher who sat in the computer lab while students did their Rosetta Stone. While I was happy to hear that the school was no longer satisfied with the Rosetta Stone program as a curriculum for their students, I was shocked to learn that it had been the curriculum at all. Although, any sort of language program is better than none.
The reason that Rosetta Stone is geared towards older students (I believe) is that it is a very self-motivated curriculum. You have to have the time, energy, and motivation to sit down and complete every lesson and keep plugging along. There's no teacher checking in on you, no one making sure you do your homework, no professor looking over your shoulder. It's all you. Also, it's a very personal and individual choice to learn another language. My brother is learning it for his job; I am learning it for my family. And with us each having full-time jobs, it's not very practice to take a night class for the language. That would probably be the best option though. Luckily, that's why I have my Chinese-speaking husband!! (Thanks hun!)
I have tried Rosetta Stone as a home schooling parent. My kids are very motivated, and have to problem without my "hovering", but they did get very bored with it's repetition, and didn't really offer much as supplementation. I thought it was waaaaaay too expensive for a product you don't really even own, and is a hassle if you have to put it back on a crashed computer. Also, their "learning aides" (I bought the homeschool version) were just the transcripts of the language which was not interesting or engaging for me let alone anyone under the age of 15. I have found some other language courses by retired teachers, but for more than one language-especially one I don't speak-it is difficult to find anything geared towards middle proficiency kids. Oh well. As for Rosetta Stone: Way to expensive for what it is, and not at all practical as a total curriculum for homeschooling.
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