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All Software | Home » » Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Level 1 & 2 Set with Audio Companion | | | | | | | Description: | | Foreign language learning with Rosetta Stone Spanish (Spain) Levels 1&2 with Audio Companion you build a foundation and navigate your surroundings. Begin learning fundamental vocabulary and essential language structure, from greetings and introductions to simple questions and their answers. Gain the confidence and enter the intermediate level where you will be able to talk about your environment; give and get directions, tell time, dine out with self-reliance, shop, enjoy basic social interactions and much more. Now Rosetta Stone with Audio Companion allows the learner to take Rosetta Stone anywhere: in the car, the gym or on-the-go! What is Audio Companion? Audio Companion CDs are activities that correspond to the Rosetta Stone CD-ROM software lessons. The learner can listen to Audio Companion and practice what they’ve been learning on the computer, turning travel time into productive language learning time. Audio Companion lets the student access the power of Rosetta Stone lessons whenever and wherever they want, they can play the CD’s on a stereo, or download them to a MP3 player. It empowers the student and helps reinforce the lessons in any busy lifestyle! | | | Features: | |
• Rosetta Stone teaches you a new language naturally, by getting you to think, live and breathe the language
• Innovative solutions get you speaking new words, right from the start
• Rosetta Stone moves forward only when you're ready--you drive the pace, you set the schedule
• With Rosetta Stone, you'll discover a foundation of key vocabulary that you'll use to build into a whole new language
• Audio Companion lets you take the Rosetta Stone experience anywhere: in the car, at the gym, or on-the-go
| | | Product Details: | | | Package Length:
| 7.7 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 3.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.45 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 24 reviews |
| | | System Requirements: | | | Platform:
| Windows Vista / Windows 2000 / Windows XP / Mac OS X | | Media:
| CD-ROM | | Item Quantity:
| 1 |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Rosetta Stone SpanishAug 11, 2010
I'm very excited to start this program. Easy installation and simple to use. Love the audio companion
useful; not perfectJul 26, 2010
Much of the system is quite good, but it is far from perfect. The headset is worthless (as other reviewers have indicated); the earphones never worked, and the speech recognition and noise canceling aspects of the mic are terrible. RosettaStone should eliminate the headset and lower the price. With all the complaints about the headset one would assume that RosettaStone would have addressed this issue before now.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 A review of the product itself...Jun 13, 2010
I know this is a strange idea for many who seem to make this set of reviews a second home, but I am going to review the product, not the price nor the license agreement. I figure, if you have some idea of how well it works, you can decide for yourself whether the high price is worth it. And now that you know, from the many other comments, that the license agreement does not allow you to sell it when you're finished, you can also decide for yourself whether the high price is worth it. (Didn't I just say that?) For those of you who are angry, I feel your pain. I wish I could sell it when I am finished too, but I went into this with my eyes open and it has been worth the price to me.
Okay, here's the review. I bought Levels 1 and 2 of Latin American Spanish straight from RS and have just finished Level 1. I felt that I needed to complete one full level to really understand the product before writing a review. I am in my 50's and have never taken formal Spanish, but I did take three years of French way back in high school and that has actually been mildly helpful. I am going to Peru in two weeks (as I write this) and wanted to be able to communicate basic ideas, order in restaurants, ask for help, etc. It took me just over a month to complete Level 1 and I have spent a lot of time doing that... probably averaging 45 - 60 minutes a day. Although that doesn't sound like a lot, it really is. I had hoped to have both levels finished by the time I went, but that's not going to happen.
My overall experience of the product is that it is very good, but that you need some supplemental material to get the most out of it. It's strengths are that the immersion concept does indeed help you to associate the words with the objects and actions rather than with English words. That is, you do learn to think in Spanish rather than to translate. When I hear the word 'mansana', I don't think of the English word 'apple', I see an apple in my mind. In my three years of French, I never was able to achieve that and I think that is a huge advantage of learning this way. The other major advantage is that it is fun and not intimidating and so you enjoy doing it. Since you enjoy doing it, you actually do it, and there's no substitute for that. You do actually learn.
The weaknesses are that you will not learn the rules of a language well with this method. Have you ever struggled to understand an immigrant to this country as they tried to communicate in a grammatically mangled form of English. Well, they learned through immersion, so I'm not buying the idea that it's enough on its own. In my learning with RS, there were many times when I was very confused about what something meant or why they said something is a particular way, and I would search for it on the Net to figure it out. You'll need to do that.
Another thing I recommend, if you decide to learn this way, is to pick up a copy of Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses, Second Edition (Practice Makes Perfect Series). That gave me the missing structure I needed to move from trying to just memorize that an 'a' goes in front of the noun sometimes, to actually understanding when and why. (It's called the personal a, it has no analog in English and it's used when you are refering to a particular person. You would just never pick that up from context.) So think of your learning as a system. RS is the heart of it and where you spend the most time, and you do a section of the verbs book every day or two, and you use Google Translate and other web resources to help you understand some of the more subtle things going on.
Now, am I fluent after Level 1? Absolutely not. You can't become fluent in a new language in a month. However, I can make my basic wants understood and I will be able to hold simple conversations when we travel. (I want to buy this. I'd like the chicken. Where's the bathroom? How much does this cost? Stuff like that.) I will say that I am enjoying it enough that I will probably go ahead and complete Level 2 when I get home. That should tell you something about my enjoyment of the experience.
Oh, and those reviewers who complain that the course doesn't give you real sentences to learn (the boy runs, etc.) that you might actually use, simply didn't stick with it. It does start that way, but well before you're half way through Level 1, you are learning things that you really can use. I think it's just comforting, when you don't stick with something you spent so much money on, to blame the product rather than your commitment. If you complete the course, you will learn actual conversational things to say.
The last thing I will comment on is the question of how many levels you should buy. That is something I really struggled with before the purchase because, as some have noted, the thing is gastly expensive and you get totally screwed if you buy Levels 1 and 2 and then want to add Level 3 later. These are my suggestions.
First, are you the kind of person who sticks with something? If not, then this may not be for you. It is a real commitment and it'll be a waste of money if you buy it and don't complete it. But if you are the kind who will see it through, then I would recommend only buying Levels 1 & 2 for casual travel. Those will get you through introductions, shopping and getting around. If you have less than 2 months before you go, then you should probably drop back to Level 1 only. If you think you really want to learn Spanish, and this isn't about a specific trip, then you might go ahead and add Level 3, but at that point, I would recommend getting your start here, then finding a real immersion course that gives you a chance to interact with people. There's only so far you can go talking to your computer, no matter how many levels you complete.
Finally, although I love Amazon and buy lots of lots of stuff from them, the uncertainty of this product for any individual probably makes buying from RS directly a wise choice. They will accept the product back for 6 months if you are not happy with it, but only if you buy directly. If you are worried about the higher cost, there are deals to be had even on the RS site if you can find them. I saved 20% by putting in a coupon code I found in a well-known magazine that has a cover the same color as the RS box, that publishes stories on geography and that has its own cable TV channel.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 BEWARE!Apr 20, 2010
Rosetta Stone is not only making money hand over fist----but the product is horrible! As a homeschooler, I buy curriculum with a resale value because we pay for all of our own curriculum. I had NO idea Rosetta Stone could not be resold---and now I am out over $250 for a product that does not work very well, had to be upgraded in the middle of my daughter using it, which caused her to lose ALL of her work and have to start her lesson plans all over----AND----their customer support is in India! The voice recognition is probably the worst aspect of this program because it never works right!!! To top it all off----I now find out that Rosetta Stone is not even considered a proper Credit for high school foreign language because it does NOT focus on grammar at ALL!
DO NOT BUY ROSETTA STONE IS YOU VALUE YOUR TIME AND MONEY AND REALLY, REALLY WANT TO LEARN A LANGUAGE!!!! I thought I had learned my lesson buying anything that is hocked on TV so heavily. What an absolute and complete waste of my money and my daughters valuable time.
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
For Children only - for adults, a waste of moneyOct 26, 2009
This program would be great ... if I were 6 years old. But for adults, it's a waste of money. i've gone several hours into "lessons", and so far all I ever get is first person singular useless info (ex.: "the boy is tall", " the house is old"). You'd think that at some point the program would actually get on to language that we would use (like "can you tell me which way to the rest room", or "I'd like too order a bottle of wine").
If you're wanting to spend years learning the language from childhood, than perhaps this program eventually has something to offer. But for someone wanting to learn practical phrases, especially for traveling or navigating our way around a Spanish speaking country, this program is a horribly disappointing waste of money. And VERY expensive to boot.
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