To Rosetta Stone or Not To Rosetta Stone: Irish Level 1 (Page 2 of 2)

One of Rosetta Stone's biggest selling points is that it's supposed to help you learn a new language directly, associating new words directly to pictures and concepts as opposed to first thinking of the word in English and then translating it. I find that Rosetta Stone fills this role very well. Because there are no English translations given for what you're learning--not a one--you're forced to start thinking in Irish right away. You're still free, however, to match up your English concept of a photo with the Irish word you're given--in other words, even though you never see "boy=buachaill" show up on the screen, you'll still know that's exactly what buachaill means.

The only problem with learning this way from software is that you can't ask it to change perspectives or clarify, so I've found it is still useful to have an Irish-English dictionary on hand to clarify abstract concepts or words that might have multiple meanings.

Rosetta Stone mixes and matches new material with reviews from old lessons. It even prompts you to briefly review material that was completed weeks ago, just to refresh your recall. My only complaint is that, while it allows you to choose your areas of focus (reading, writing, comprehension, speaking, or all of the above) it doesn't let you mix and match specific lessons on your own--you just have to follow along the timeline it set out for you, skipping lessons that you don't want.

There comes a part in any language learner's lessons where you just want to bang your head against the desk. Teachers may hit this point, too, so one of the biggest advantages of Rosetta Stone for learners is that it's endlessly patient. Click the little green button and it will repeat the phrase you're trying to grasp over... and over... and over again.

Best of all, though? You can walk away from it. If you're feeling frustrated just turn the computer off and walk away for awhile--you can go right back to work once the frustration has abated. If you've been away for a long time, Rosetta Stone will prompt you to do a couple of refresher reviews before you continue. You can choose to skip these, but I've found that they are a big help for reducing frustration even more: They give you a chance to get up and running again with your studies on a consistent note of success, and do a lot to prep you for what's coming next.

Rosetta Stone software will cost you more than a few pretty pennies, but once you're made the financial leap you have access to an endlessly patient native Irish speaker at any time, day or night, for as long as you like. Rosetta Stone's speech recognition capabilities are the crux of its value; the program does a great job of keeping tabs on how well you're pronouncing new words and letter combinations, and you can fine-tune how closely it watches. The fact that you're dealing with a computer means that you can tax your tutor's patience as much as you like. Need a word repeated 50 times before you hear the fine distinctions in tone? No problem. Need to walk away in a huff and come back weeks or even a month later once the frustration has ebbed? No big deal.

Rosetta Stone's intuitive learning methods give you a chance to put things together for yourself. While language learners accustomed to instruction by rote memorization may find this frustrating at first, it is in the end liberating, and makes it seem as though the program is tuning directly into how you prefer to learn.

My only real complaint about Rosetta Stone Irish: Level 1 is that it's not possible to customize the lesson plans a little more. But since you can still skip over unwanted lessons and go directly to the ones you'd like to take, in any order at all, it's not much of a complaint.