Rosetta Stone Spanish Review

Rosetta Stone Spanish has become a popular choice for learning the “romance language,” a language that evolved from several dialects in the Iberian Peninsula during the 9th century and spread gradually with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile. Modern Spanish, as we know it, developed from a readjustment of the consonants beginning in the 15th century. Spanish was taken to the Americas, Africa, and Asia with the expansion of the Spanish Empire from the 15th to the 19th centuries, and today is spoken by more than 500 million people.

What To Expect From Your Rosetta Stone Spanish Learning Experience

The Rosetta Stone learning method is systematic and simple, using its trademark image recall technique to encourage the brain to associate words with images. Although this is a tried and tested learning methodology, it isn’t for those easily bored by repetition, and the program lacks the multi-level interaction and innovation of newer programs on the market.

Rosetta Stone Spanish Level 1 is comprised of 100 exercises distributed between 4 core lessons. The program assesses each course undertaken and evaluates performance. Based on your performance, the program adjusts subsequent exercises to focus on your areas of weakness. The program sets deadlines and schedules, encouraging you to learn quickly and keep up your progress.

The main focus of Rosetta Stone is repetition; to memorize images and associate those images with words. Learning spellings and refining pronunciation comes later in levels 2 and 3. Further vocabulary and conversational practice in level 4 and 5. The Spanish writing program is also easy to use. Simply type in a word or phrase and the program will highlight your mistakes and assist you in making necessary corrections. To add Spanish accent marks unavailable on a standard US keyboard, the program provides a keyboard representation on the screen, allowing you to click and apply the desired accent mark.

There are a few different modes provided that you can use to test your memory. Delay Mode allows you to see or hear a word first, and then, after a short delay, pictures will appear from which you will be asked to choose the correct match. Timer Mode allows you just a few seconds to choose a correct answer before the time runs out, and Test Mode provides a classroom style test to put you under a little more pressure.

Comprehensive Spanish language learning course

Tried and tested image recall technique ensures steady progress

One dimensional vocabulary learning methodology can become tedious

No grammar book or English-Spanish dictionary included in the package

Lack of emphasis on colloquial Spanish

Expensive ($499.00 USD for all 5 levels)

The Rosetta Stone Spanish program is reliable and heavily market tested, but unfortunately very expensive. When compared to some of the newer software programs on the market such as Rocket Spanish for example, for this sort of money you would expect a free trip to Spain to be thrown in. Although the image recall technique is championed as an excellent way to retain words, it isn’t for everyone. The approach is somewhat old-school now in the wake of newer, more innovative programs that provide multi-level interaction through a variety of learning mediums at a much more affordable price. If you're looking for a much cheaper program with similar features and a better audio program, we recommend to try out Rocket Spanish.