Rosetta Stone Spanish Review 2021

A New Experience of Learning Spanish at Home

Rosetta Stone is one of the biggest brands in language learning software. They have a very unique philosophy backed by years of research. Anyone can learn the language they desire with the unique lesson designs of Rosetta Stone. These are the Rosetta Stone Spanish reviews on their webpage, but are they true? Is it worth the money? The answer to that might differ based on your perspective of valuing their work. Some Rosetta Stone Spanish reviews complain about Rosetta Stone for restraining you to the basic level only. Others may support their learning approach and argue that learning a language through immersion is the best approach for any language.

 

While both of their arguments have solid foundations, it is up to you to decide if it is good enough for you or not. We are going to give you a balanced review of Rosetta Stone Spanish and also share our thoughts on it. Then we trust that you can decide for yourself whether to try it or not. So, welcome to our Rosetta Stone Spanish review.

Cost 8/10
Content Quality 9/10

Editors Overall Rating

8.5/10

Table of Contents

About the Author:
Ashley Hughes

Ashley Hughes
Ashley has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in digital marketing and SEO — while also being a keen advocate of online learning. When he’s not busy with his day job, he’s reviewing e-learning platforms to ensure consumers are getting the best value for money.

A Brief History of Rosetta Stone

Before we begin our Rosetta Stone review for Spanish, let us take a brief look at its history. Rosetta Stone was initially launched in 1992. However, the idea to create Rosetta Stone came as early as 1980. The core idea of Rosetta Stone came from a guy named Allen Stoltzfus.

 

Allen Stoltzfus was studying Russian in 1980. He observed how frustrating, slow and difficult it can get for learning a language in the traditional way. In his point of view, the best way of learning a new language is through immersion, where you learn the language by becoming a part of the language culture.

 

He noticed the role of immersion in language learning while he was studying in Germany. He took this idea and made it more feasible for the general public. His vision was to make the whole process computerized and take the idea to his brother-in-law John Fairfield. But both of them faced technological barriers.

 

Later in 1992, Fairfield Language Technologies was founded. Allen Stoltzfus, as the chairperson, took his brother Eugene Stoltzfus in. Together they shaped Allen Stoltzfus’ Idea into reality and named it Rosetta Stone.

 

That is how Rosetta Stone started. Now Rosetta Stone is one of the biggest online language learning software with 25 languages to learn. There are lots of Spanish reviews on Rosetta Stone.

 

Now that we know how Rosetta Stone came to reality, let us go back to our Spanish Rosetta Stone review.

How Does Rosetta Stone Spanish Work?

Rosetta Stone has a very different philosophy of working. The logic behind it is rational and practical but it does fall short in a lot of perspectives. There are many other reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish and all of them highly favored their philosophy by a lot.

 

Rosetta Stone’s language course works through immersion. In Rosetta Stone Spanish, you will have to deal with everything in Spanish. There will be no translation or explanation in English. Everything will be Spanish from start to end except for the menu, which will remain English. But recently, due to complaints and difficulty of users expressed in many reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish, Rosetta Stone has updated this no translation policy. Now there are translations available for text and images, but not in live sessions. However, this translation is available only in the Android and IOS apps. The desktop and web versions haven’t got that update as of now.

 

You will be provided with many pictures & scenarios. There will be games and audio lessons. The best part by far of their lesson is the live sessions, where you get to talk with a real human in Spanish. Some reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish downright called these images to be cringe-worthy.

 

Rosetta Stone’s team works hard to make you sound like an actual native speaker of the language you are learning. So, if you are learning Rosetta Stone Spanish, their team will make sure you sound just like a native Spanish speaker.

 

But these interactive sessions are not free. They do cost money. Rosetta Stone has Rosetta Stone Spanish reviews have complaints about this high cost of Rosetta Stone.

Master learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone today!

Does This Approach Work for Rosetta Stone Spanish?

The approach of Rosetta Stone can be compared to the “Learn Like A Baby” approach. You are taught with contexts that are visual, not explanatory. This may sound very fast and easy but it has a lot of drawbacks. You will find complaints about this approach in many customer reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish. 

 

Now speaking of the drawbacks, some things cannot be presented with a picture properly. Learning those words will be very troubling in this approach. Even though it teaches us some sentences with different real-life scenarios, it is not teaching us the grammar behind those sentences. It is not giving us any explanation at all. So, these are the drawbacks of Rosetta Stone’s approach to learning through immersion.

Rosetta Stone Spanish Study Plan

Rosetta Stone’s study plan is very different from other language learning platforms. Rather than having a classroom environment, you are given an immersion environment. Based on your payment, this may last for three months or a year. Your choice of use also affects the course plan.

 

When you first purchase the service of Rosetta Stone, you will be presented with four options for why you are learning this language (In this case – Spanish, because we are in Spanish Rosetta Stone review).

 

The options available are:

Basics & Beyond

Choosing this option will only expose you to the basics of the language you are learning. You will be taught basic words like colors, days, months, and words that you may have learned from the elementary school of that language.

In addition, you will be taught some sentences that you can use in formal and informal situations (Actually, everything stays basic and does not go to advance levels. You will realize that at the end of this Spanish Rosetta Stone review),

 

Travel

Choosing this will focus your course plan on things that you will need to say when you are traveling in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries.

 

Family

It will make your course centered on basic family speaking. Mostly compliments, response to some general statements, and more.

 

Work

This option will make all the lessons focus on business settings. You will find lessons about politeness in the learning language, invitations, greetings, and their business-related terms like time, value, merchandising, trade. (But not too advanced, you will realize that at the end of this Spanish Rosetta Stone review)

 

After choosing one of these four settings, Rosetta Stone’s team will design your course and your lesson will begin. You will have the liberty to choose whenever you want to practice with Rosetta Stone.

 

Rosetta Stone Spanish has 20 units of content. Each of these contents focuses on different aspects of the language.

 

The lessons are given with flashcard lessons and games. There are also stories as a means of learning. After each lesson, you can book an appointment with a native tutor. Each appointment lasts for 25 minutes and there are many time slots available for you to book. There is also an option for group live sessions.

Get started with Rosetta Stone today! Learn Spanish here:

Review on the Study Plan of Rosetta Stone Spanish

You will find a lot of user reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish are about praising the study plan and it is kind of true.

 

The study plan surely creates an immersion environment for learning Spanish. Their years of research surely did pay off for achieving it. But it is failing to serve its main purpose which is to teach the user Spanish and this will be highlighted in all parts of our Spanish review of Rosetta Stone.

 

You see, Spanish, like any other language, cannot be learned by memorizing some words and their meaning. There are other elements in a language. Take grammar as an example. Rosetta Stones Spanish’s approach to immersion learning does not explain grammar at all. The lessons are done with flashcards, pictures, and scenario-based games. We are not getting any sort of explanation of what these words mean at all. All we are getting are pictures and scenarios of when the words are being used. This is all beginner-level learning.

 

Speaking of English, there is no English translation in the course. No English in the cards, No English in the games, and no English in the live sessions too. You will have to speak in full Spanish in the live appointments even if you can’t understand. But we do love one thing about the tutor in the life lessons which is that they are very patient and determinant.

 

Recently, the Android and IOS app of Rosetta Stone has included a translation in the lessons. (As of now when writing this Spanish Rosetta Stone review) It’s a start and we hope to see that in the web and computer version as well. But no significant development in the grammar is found.

 

So, if we conclude a statement about the course plan of Rosetta Stone Spanish, we would say that it is good enough for getting acquainted with the language. The courses are made to create a fast-learning immersion environment. So, you will be able to learn a surprising number of Spanish words in a few days.

 

With that said, if you’re looking to learn the language in more detail, then Rosetta Stone Spanish might not be the best place for you.

Payment Plan

The payment of Rosetta Stone Spanish is the major concern for a number of Rosetta Stone customers. There are some customers that see the price and payment plans to learn languages as an expensive cost.

 

In the past, Rosetta Stone was available as a DVD to learners, meaning that customers would only have to buy it once. Now, it is an online platform with a subscription-based model. There are three options of subscription for now in Rosetta Stone. The 3-month subscription, the 12-month subscription, and the lifetime subscription.

 

In the three-month subscription plan, you will have to pay $11.99 per month and you will get lessons in one language. In the 12-month subscription plan, you will have to pay $9.99 every month and can learn as many languages as you can from their collection. In the lifetime subscription, you will have to pay $179 once.

 

In the monthly subscription plan, the total sum of money will have to be paid at the beginning. That sums up to a total of $35.97 for the three-month plan and $167.76 for the 12-month plan.

 

The question is, why such a high price? It turns out that Rosetta Stone is spending a lot in their language research for developing an effective immersion platform for language learners. Moreover, there are always live tutors available for all users. All this yields a high cost and it justifies the high price.

 

So, what this Rosetta Stone Spanish review is trying to say is that the cost of their service is totally justified, but it would be better for the user if the cost is scaled down somehow.

 

Is Rosetta Stone Spanish worth the money?

If you want to learn Spanish in an immersion environment where you will have to use your brain and engage with the environment, then it is considered value for money. Some reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish highlighted this immersion part of Rosetta Stone exclusively.

 

If you devote yourself to the lessons then you will surely learn a lot. But if you want to become a true expert in Spanish, then we don’t think it will be worth your money.

Have you already decided? Learn Spanish with Rosetta Stone!

Rosetta Stone Spanish Conclusion

In conclusion of our Rosetta Stone Spanish review, Rosetta Stone is a great language learning tool for beginners. You can stretch their lessons to become an expert of the language as well. But if you are used to the general learning environment where you will memorize words, then it is something not for you. 

 

If you want to become a true expert of Spanish, then we are afraid you should look for something different than Rosetta Stone Spanish. Some reviews on Rosetta Stone Spanish recommend using Rosetta Stone as a supplement tool. But if you are not familiar with the language at all, then, by all means, give Rosetta Stone Spanish a try. It will jump-start you in your quest of learning Spanish.

Editors Overall Rating

8.5/10

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