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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 2005- » 2011 (January-February) » Archive through January 05, 2011 » Rosetta Stone « Previous Next »

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Paploo
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Username: Paploo

Post Number: 72
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 10:24 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Has anyone here used Rosetta Stone: Gaeilge? I used level 1 and a little of 2 but never really got anywhere with it. I have mixed feelings about the technique used and the speech recognition was pretty bad. As long as you mumbled something and matched the tone of the voice, the pronunciation didn't really matter. What I am interested in though is the new version 4 TOTALe.

http://www.rosettastone.com/personal/buynow
quote:

Now with Version 4, live online sessions
tutored by native speakers will help you
master your new language.



Does anyone know anything about this? It sounds like an interesting idea. The old system is okay for learning vocab but this will give you a real chance to learn it conversation. I'm somewhat skeptical of the live online sessions with native speakers. Is there 24/7 access to a native speaker through this?

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Carmanach
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Username: Carmanach

Post Number: 823
Registered: 04-2009
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 10:33 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

Is there 24/7 access to a native speaker through this?



EMERGENCY NATIVE SPEAKER - BREAK GLASS LOL

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Corkirish
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Username: Corkirish

Post Number: 410
Registered: 10-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 11:28 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

It sounds like the programme is accompanied by a CD of native speakers reading out the words thus "tutoring you 24/7" lOL!

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Taidhgín
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Username: Taidhgín

Post Number: 1052
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 11:42 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

...24/7 access to a native speaker...?

Try www.abair.ie for synthesised pronunciation in various dialects.

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 73
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:13 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

It sounds like the programme is accompanied by a CD of native speakers reading out the words thus "tutoring you 24/7" lOL!



That is what I imagine it would have to be. Maybe for a language like Spanish or French you could have real 24/7 support but the wording of it says "live" online sessions which makes me think its not just a recording. But then again maybe thats only for Spanish and French and more global languages

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Corkirish
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Username: Corkirish

Post Number: 414
Registered: 10-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:20 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Live online sessions - have they teamed up with Gaeltalk? See http://www.gaeltalk.ie/

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Grma
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Username: Grma

Post Number: 50
Registered: 12-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:26 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I wasn't filled with confidence when I clicked on that link and it said, "Interested in learning the 'cúpla focail'?"

This 'cúpla focail' attitude - more than any other - is the biggest threat to Irish, bar none.

(I know Gaeltalk providing a better service that, but you know what I mean.)

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Corkirish
Member
Username: Corkirish

Post Number: 416
Registered: 10-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 01:46 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Learning languages must be easy according to the experts. All you have to do is to hear a word 160 times in 14 minutes to learn it - is this the Rosetta Stone approach? See http://www.independent.ie/health/latest-news/cant-learn-a-foreign-language-not-t rue-say-scientists-2461341.html

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Paploo
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Username: Paploo

Post Number: 74
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 02:33 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Well like I said originally Rosetta Stone is good for learning vocab which obviously a lot different from learning a language. But it gets into a little sentence structure but the whole basis is that you don't learn by reading rules or even just an explanation on how the sentence is constructed or why a word is different in one sentence than in another. With Rosetta Stone they show words with associated pictures and then build sentences with associated pictures. It would help you communicate but it isn't going to make you fluent or really even conversational.

It's supposed to be learning a language like you learned your native language with no other language to compare to.

Again, I'm not saying I support Rosetta Stone's method and it's definately not going to make you fluent by itself (even the FAQ on their site says that) but that it's good to add to your repertoire for learning and at the very least you'll learn some vocab

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 75
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 02:34 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Also a friend of mine took Italian in high school and had basic conversation down pretty well and tried a free sample of the Rosetta Stone and said that it didn't help her whatsoever so I would say that the Rosetta Stone would only be helpful to absolute beginners.

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Laplandian
Member
Username: Laplandian

Post Number: 18
Registered: 12-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 03:03 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

Try www.abair.ie for synthesised pronunciation in various dialects.


I'm not sure about "various dialects". This website appears to be able to synthesize only the Donegal pronunciation.

Many sound samples of various dialects can be found here:

http://www.forvo.com/languages/ga/

As far as I know, no speech recognition software in the world can recognize the correct pronunciation. The whole research in this area in focused on making the computers to understand any voice, regardless of accent or background noise, not the other way around.

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Seánw
Member
Username: Seánw

Post Number: 949
Registered: 07-2009


Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 03:33 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

This 'cúpla focail' attitude - more than any other - is the biggest threat to Irish, bar none.


Where do you start? Cupla focal sounds like somewhere. Stopping at that is the wrong attitude.

I ndiaidh a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin.

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Grma
Member
Username: Grma

Post Number: 54
Registered: 12-2010
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 04:04 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Good point, SeanW.

People do be easily put off when they begin to learn a language, there's no doubt about that. I suppose the 'small steps' approach is the most viable one.

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Rothaí
Member
Username: Rothaí

Post Number: 67
Registered: 04-2010


Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 05:39 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

Learning languages must be easy according to the experts. All you have to do is to hear a word 160 times in 14 minutes to learn it - is this the Rosetta Stone approach?



I've always been amazed at how easy children learn a language - I'm convinced they do it the same way - constant repetition of a word or phrase until they've mastered it.

Fáilte roimh cheartúcháin, go raibh maith agaibh.

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Antaine
Member
Username: Antaine

Post Number: 1490
Registered: 10-2004


Posted on Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 08:48 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

a few notes - on the lowest setting, what you said about pronunciation is true, but I found it to be much more stringent when set above the "normal" (mid-way) level.

Also, I also found that the best pace for learning and retention was to do it daily, doing one long or two short lessons. Any more and I didn't remember enough from one day to the next and advanced too quickly, any less and I would forget stuff on my "off" days.

Lastly, you have to force yourself to make an answer in 2 seconds or less...if you give yourself any more time, you'll be washing the pictures through English in your head, thus defeating the whole point of the image-to-Gaeilge methodolgy.

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 78
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 10:13 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Have you completed all three levels, Antaine?

Also, have you tried the new version 4 yet?

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Gealach
Member
Username: Gealach

Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2010
Posted on Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 10:38 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I have not used Rosetta Stone for Irish, but I have used it for Arabic. I found it very helpful. Of course, it is hardly enough on its own, just like any autodidactic language programme. I found it especially helpful for vocab, but it helped me with grammar too, and pronunciation (just by listening and repeating; I never used the microphone function as I didn't have one on my computer at the time, but luckily enough pronunciation is probably my biggest strength when it comes to language-learning). I like the fact that there is no translation or explanation involved. Again it will only get you so far if used on its own.

an teanga bhinn bhríomhar

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 79
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 11:27 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

At my previous job I had access to all of the Rosetta Stone languages. I tried most of them for at least an few hour each probably and I remember Arabic being the most difficult. I only did each for a few hours so I have no idea which language available would be the most difficult but from a few hours stand point Arabic seemed the toughest.

quote:

Of course, it is hardly enough on its own, just like any autodidactic language programme.



I think the advertisements don't stress this well enough. They seem to make it sound like you buy Rosetta Stone and within weeks are fluent. I agree that I think its a good tool but will only teach the basics and is better off to be used in conjuction with other learning tools. I guess another thing is that when seeing the price you'd hope that you'd be fluent in a few weeks after paying that much...

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Antaine
Member
Username: Antaine

Post Number: 1491
Registered: 10-2004


Posted on Monday, December 20, 2010 - 06:39 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I have completed all three levels, but I'm too poor for level four atm...

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Wee_falorie_man
Member
Username: Wee_falorie_man

Post Number: 243
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Monday, December 20, 2010 - 12:23 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

quote:

I'm too poor for level four atm...



If you've got Rosetta Stone Version 3 already, you can upgrade to version 4 for $49

Here's the link:

http://www.rosettastone.com/totaleupgrade

I worked my way through Version 3 earlier this year and I'll be upgrading in a couple of weeks. You don't have to buy Rosetta Stone twice or pay for anything extra - the $49 covers it all for 3 months.

Just lettin' ya know …

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 83
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - 07:30 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I'm only halfway through level 3 (v3) but I have been thinking about upgrading to version 4 for the new features. They seem very interesting. Interaction with other learners or native speakers seems like a really good idea to me. I have been looking for someone who has tried it already with the RS Gaeilge but I haven't found anyone as of yet that has tried version 4.

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 88
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 12:26 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

One thing that I have noticed about Rosetta Stone is the pictures are sometimes ambiguous. see link below

http://paploo.freeshell.org/rosetta.jpg

to me it seems like there could be two possible right answers... but if you click the top one its wrong

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Aonghus
Member
Username: Aonghus

Post Number: 10949
Registered: 08-2004


Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 12:29 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

One text, four pictures, is that it?

Indeed either of the pictures on the left would seem to show green grass.

(Message edited by aonghus on December 27, 2010)

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Paploo
Member
Username: Paploo

Post Number: 89
Registered: 06-2009
Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 12:39 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I clicked on the top one and it was wrong then I clicked on the bottom one and it was correct. The next phrase to match with a picture was "An féar".

I guess they just have a list of phrases with matching pictures and it was just unlucky that two were matched on the same screen

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Aonghus
Member
Username: Aonghus

Post Number: 10950
Registered: 08-2004


Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 12:57 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I'd say it is worth a bug report. (Unless some botanist tells you the top picture isn't grass....)

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Joe
Member
Username: Joe

Post Number: 71
Registered: 09-2009
Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 - 12:04 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

Has any one any experience of Rosetta Stone and German? I'd be grateful for any comments.

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jessicadunn (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2011 - 10:10 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit PostPrint Post

I own German version 4, and like it. It has a great deal of pronunciation work, writing, and responding to questions. It also includes an audio cd to practice away from your computer. I only own level 1, but have found it useful for learning the language.



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