The Spanish lessons are divided into three levels. In each level, there are lessons for:
- Grammar
- Reading
- Writing
- Listening
- Pronunciation
Each of these lessons in turn consists of from ten or so up to about 25 screens or views. Upon completing a full lesson, the time for which can range from ten minutes for short lessons to longer lessons that can last twenty minutes or a bit more, depending on the speed with which the learner is progressing through the individual screens and lessons. Although the program is an audio-visual one, there are no videos. Rather a series of images are integrated with sound clips by native Latin American Spanish speakers. This pronunciation of Latin American Spanish is important and well-done in the program.
There are a few errors in the speech/photo combinations. One is when the software says the boy’s Mother is fixing the toy. The picture clearly shows the boy’s Father fixing the toy even though there are no options to choose this. The learner MUST select an incorrect answer! Since there is no human interaction, none of this could be explained to the Spanish language learner even if they did uncover the discrepancy. Subtle but well-known differences in the use of vocabulary and language also can go unexplained making the comparison of Spanish program language immersion vs in-person language acquisition/learning an important and critical one. We all acquired our first language during a process of trial and error during actual speech and listening of the language with frequent corrections of on-going mistakes. This critical element is lacking in the Rosetta Stone program which might be further illustrated in the following lexical examples.
The words “tapia” or “mudo” (cement), the word “reja” (iron) while the word “cerca” is used for (wood) fences but this distinction is not noted. In general, distinctions between Latin American Spanish and the Spanish used in Spain are NOT noted in any way.
The word “lavaplatos” is used to refer to a dishwashing machine in the program but commonly refers to a kitchen sink in Latin American Spanish. A different term like “machina de lavaplatos” would be used for dishwashing machine. The word “fregadero” is used for kitchen sink in the program.
In other instances the terms used are more consistent with the Spanish of Spain rather than terms more frequently used in Latin America. Some examples include the following:
- cubo de la basura (trashcan) more commonly used in Latin American Spanish basurero
- techo (ceiling)
- barre (sweep)
- saco (take out)
- fregadero (place to wash dishes or clothes)
- encimera (kitchen counter)
The pictures used are clear, interesting generic photos which illustrate vocabulary or situations but are not Spanish-language region specific. There are obviously other races and ethnic groups pictured although audio voices used are native Latin American Spanish speakers. The pictures and dialogues are reasonable for the images in which they are portrayed, but there is no direct relation between the pictures and specifically the Spanish culture or language.