I just reviewed the Persian version of Rosetta Stone in this month’s issue of Macworld. Meanwhile, Slate takes on the Danish version. We come to some similar conclusions, including this one, from Slate’s piece:
This Lesson 1 stuff is obviously useful—if you want to deploy your new language, the first step is greeting people. While Rosetta Stone’s initial vocabulary list includes “elephant,” “airplane,” and “boat,” it doesn’t have “hello.” Each lesson focuses on grammar building blocks, and there is no time for pleasantries. After maybe a dozen hours with Rosetta Stone, I have a vocabulary of about 200 words. I can say, “The man is wearing a white shirt and the women are wearing black coats.” I can’t say “I” or “you.” I can tell my girlfriend, “There is not a man on top of that house,” and, “the yellow car is bigger than the red car.” I can’t ask, “Are you hungry?”
