A Review of Rosetta Stone French

by Alex
(Chicago)

I really enjoyed using Rosetta Stone French. I wasn't too sure at first, but I must say that you NEED to go through the whole program. Level 1 just isn't enough in my opinion. It's worth it to go for Level 2 also. If you're going to learn French then go for it!

I did think the program started slow and that what you learn doesn't seem to be that useful, but I kind of liked the approach with no English. It felt like a real immersion. After a while I started tweaking the lessons I was taking to focus on what I wasn't doing that well and I improved. I also like that I could jump in for a quick 5 or 10 minute study session and get out.

Can I make a comparison here? Rosetta Stone has about 500 HOURS of study time! Compare that to Pimsleurs 45 hours. I like Pimsleur too, but for the money, Rosetta Stone added so much more for me over the long run. You also have to do the whole 30 minute Pimseur lesson in one shot. That didn't work well for my schedule either. I did borrow a Pimsleur French 1 from a friend, so I'm comparing from some experience with both.

For me, Rosetta Stone had what I needed and I love it now. I was skeptical at first, but after a while, I couldn't live or learn French without it! I recommend using Rosetta Stone to learn French. Use the heck out of it and really MASTER what you're learning. Get a verb book and a dictionary too at least. Like this site says, don't rely on just 1 method to learn from.