Rosetta Stone V3: French, Level 1, 2 & 3

Customer Rating:
Summary: Rosetta Stone Rocks!
Comment: I really love this program. I am learning a lot, I've had to put it on hold because of school work but I don't think I'll forget what I've learned. It's a really unique and effective way to learn a new language.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Crashes,Bait and Switch, Broken Headset and more just $500
Comment: The web page I purchased the 1, 2 and 3 package from clearly lead me to believe that it included the Audio Companion for I Pod with the purchase. When it arrived I found that it did not.
The software crashes occasionally but not so often that it is intolerable.
The speaking function works most of the time but on some words doesn't so you just have to hit fast forward.
My headset broke on the 4th day of use I had to buy another one.
I am learning however do not like the fact that the headset broke or that they didn't ship me what I purchased.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Intuitive & interative learning
Comment: I have always wanted to learn so at least understand French. Rosetta Stone instruction relies upon total immersion, aurally & visually. This is not a program that will work for anyone who wants to learn while driving. One must sit in front of the computer screen and one again learns by hearing the language spoken and seeing images, probably the most basic way most people learn best. Since this methodolgy requires a great deal of time, it is ideal for those seriously interested in comprehending an additional language.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Writing sections stink
Comment: I love this software because you don't have to sit down and try to memorize translations or learn how to conjugate verbs. Just do the exercises and you'll pick it up.

Unfortunately, the sections where it has you write are awful. They are so hard in comparison to the other sections, I need to do them 2 or 3 times to get them right. The writing sections do not fit in with the rest of this product.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Caution - Defective Disks - No Support
Comment: Devoid of Manufacturing Quality :
I purchased all 3 levels for the $500 and tried to install it over the weekend. The Language Level 1 disk would not install - my computer drive made horrible noises. The other levels installed just fine along with the program disk so it wasn't my computer.

Surprise - Rosetta Stone has NO human support on the weekends!! I sent an email via the web site & then called Amazon. Thankfully, AMAZON does. The replacement product arrived today.

Unfortunately, the same problem occurred again. (There must be a bad batch of disks.) Called Rosetta Stone this time & tech support said that a new disk would be sent out in 3 to 5 days. I asked for it earlier because of a deadline. Plus starting in the middle didn't seem to be a good idea.

Rosetta Stone Customer service advised that since I did not purchase the product from them I would have to go back to the retailer. I tried to explain to this person that this was a defective product & covered by manufacturers warranty to no avail. I asked to speak to the supervisor and was told that they all go home at 5:30 PM - there was no one there.

I've spent the $500 to get a defective product that the manufacturer will not honor. The customer service of Rosetta Stone is some of the worst I have ever encountered! While Amazon has been great, it is still my time spent trying to get what I paid for.

Content:
In between all of this, I did try a few of the level 2 lessons. I'm not sure why everyone is raving how good this is - if I hadn't taken French in high school (many, many years ago) I would be totally lost.

I have purchased a CD based course locally, Barrons Mastering French, Level 1. So far I really like that. Also, it was only $80.

I think the Rosetta Stone fails to deliver on all counts - content & quality. This would be a definitely NO recommendation.