Rosetta Stone German

Review summary

Good points

Bad points

Our verdict

Rosetta Stone is a fun, thorough and intuitive way to learn German. The high initial cost may put some potential purchasers off, but the overall quality of both the course itself and the presentation of the software is undeniable.

Full review

Rosetta Stone is without a doubt the most recognised learn-language software in the world, but does the company’s reputation mean it is the best option?

Getting started

Rosetta Stone offers an extremely innovative piece of software, and as such, it is very different to many learn German courses on the market. Consequently, if you’ve tried other options and not found them useful, Rosetta Stone could be the course for you.

We should point out here that Rosetta Stone is understandably very protective of its brand, so it may feel like you have to jump through hoops to prove that your copy of the software is genuine. Due to the strict registering process, second-hand copies of the software will not work on any computer, other than the one it was originally registered on.

Teaching approach

Rosetta Stone has a very intuitive approach to teaching a language, as it is advertised as including ‘no translation, no memorization’. Instead, everything is taught through association; the course’s hope is that, when you hear a word enough times, you’ll have a mental picture to associate it with, and that in turn will derive its meaning.

It’s an approach that is somewhat difficult to explain to users with no experience of Rosetta Stone software, but works surprisingly well in practice.

Teaching tools

Your Rosetta Stone experience is tailored to you, so you can focus on reading, writing, speaking or listening to German, depending on your individual preference. The course comes with a headset and microphone, and uses voice recognition to grade your pronunciation of the language. It’s easy to follow, and you can take lessons at your own pace.

Along with the central Rosetta Course, you are also granted access to Rosetta World, which is the online and social side of the software. This allows you to participate in various online games and stories, and even chat with and play against other Rosetta Stone learners. It’s great to be able to interact with other users in this way, and it complements the course well.

Progress tracking

One of the ways you can keep track of your progress, and perhaps the most effective, is by booking a Rosetta Studio session after you have completed a unit of the main course. Rosetta Studio gives you the chance to speak to a native German speaker, and, like Rosetta World, is included in the price of the original software.

The sessions are closely tied to your own specific progress, and therefore offer a great way for you to discover exactly how much you have learnt so far. A welcome touch is that you can see your learning coach, but they can’t see you, so there’s no need to feel nervous or embarrassed; especially as the professionalism of the coaches is quite clear.

Value for money

The worst thing about Rosetta Stone is undoubtedly its prohibitively expensive price. Prices range from around $179.00 for the basic Level 1 software, right up to around $499.00 for the complete course of Levels 1-5. You certainly get what you pay for in terms of quality, but there are much cheaper alternatives available that do basically the same thing.

Ease of use

Rosetta Stone’s presentation is extremely slick and professional, so it’s very unlikely that you’ll find yourself lost or unsure of what to do next. The one exception is regarding the Support page on the company’s website (see below).

Help and support

Unfortunately, the Support section of the Rosetta Stone website is nowhere near as easy to use as it could be. Rather than simply presenting users with a list of FAQs, queries must be typed into the search function, which means you may or may not end up finding an answer to your question.

Thankfully, if you don’t find the answer you need, you can also phone, email, or even have a live chat with a representative who can talk you through the issue.

Overall

Due to the innovative nature of the course, Rosetta Stone may not work for everyone, but it’s still a fantastic option for those who are serious about learning a new language. The amount of variation throughout the course is extremely impressive, and means you can utterly immerse yourself in the German language. The most disappointing aspect of the software is definitely its high introductory price but, for the dedicated, Rosetta Stone will be worth every cent.

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