Customer Reviews
Too bad. 
2008-03-23
I wanted to buy this program to learn French the easy way. But thanks to your customer reviews, I think I better stick to my $ 10 Berlitz book.
Language teaching source 
2008-02-17
Though I have had courses in the French language over my lifetime, I find that this one tends to be an easier way to learning the language. To a new learner, pictures of items and rote learning helps immensely. To someone who does know the languge, it is a very good refresher and aids in remembering the way the language is constructed. This is rote learning, plain and simple. Repeat things over that you get wrong until you get them right.
However, without a dictionary or a text, the construction of sentences , verb forms, etc can be confusing to a beginner. It is memorize how it is written or said but without a reason for its being written or said in that manner.
In fairness, I have not completely used the total level 1 & 2. There may be an explanation or raison d'etre for how thw languge is presented in the Rosetta Stone series. Unfortunately, I have not come in on the ground floor for this language, so my thoughts may be biased.
well done 2007-12-28
I bought the french version for my girlfriend this christmas. Some friends had recommended Rosetta Stone and it is indeed great. Very fun to use, and it seems to be working though my girlfriend only went through the first part of the first lesson so far. You need to be able to at least set aside 1 hour of uninterrupted time to really follow the chunks of the lessons.
I will try to update the review in a few months, once we use it more.
good item 
2007-12-21
Rosetta stone is a good product - i recomend it. You need to be able to activate it via internet or phone or else it won't work
Good Product -- Bad License 2007-12-10
Two months ago, I bought V3 French Level 1&2 following positive experiences with V2 German and V2 Italian. Thus far, my wife has been the primary user and is enjoying it very much.
My problem is with the license restrictions. With V2, we could each install the basic application on our own computers and then exchange the CDROM that has the actual language content. With V3, you no longer need the language CDROM to run the application, but the license is for one computer only. Supposedly you can never move it back after transferring it to a different computer.
To use V3, I will need to borrow my wife's computer. She will become annoyed when she wants to check her email or browse the web. We can't travel with Rosetta Stone on a laptop if we have it installed on a desktop. If Rosetta Stone is so distrustful of its customers, please just give us a hardware dongle to prevent multiple simultaneous users.
Negative experience with Rosetta 2008-06-14
For the first time since purchasing a variety of items thruogh Amazom.com, I can say I am deeply disappointed with this product. I purchased it for my daughter. She said she received an error message but when she went to the Rosetta site, there was no way to get support via that website. As she is out of the country, it is very expensive for her to be at a computer AND telephone as the technical support individual mentioned. Therefore, we have gone through considerable expense for her to FEDEX the software to me so that I can return it. I have done that and now I am waiting for the "verdict" from Amazon.com regarding a refund. As I said, this is the first negative experience and I have purchased a number of items and have always been satisfied, even when I needed to return an item. I hope this current incident is an aberration in the otherwise excellent service from Amazon.com.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback.
Irma I. Sprangle
Rosetta Stone French Level 1&2 2008-06-09
My husband and I have made a commitment to learn French. We are going to France this summer and have been there twice already. We want to be better able to communicate. We received Rosetta Stone about a month ago and have both been impressed with the program. You must wear the headphone which is synced to your individual voice. You listen to the
pronounciation throughout the lessons and then must repeat words and sentences. It has sound indicators to tell you whether you are pronouncing correctly. The program leads you through pictures where you match words or sentences. There are vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and writing lessons. There are also review sections to keep reinforcing the material. It is like playing a game and becomes quite a challenge!
For home based learning without an instructor, we think it is GREAT!
Donna and Ben Lanza
best self-study product 2008-05-04
I bought French Level 1&2, and I went through Level 1 so far. For someone like me, with zero background in French and no time for going to language classes, the software does a very good job. If you have realistic expectations and don't think you should be fluent in French after Level 1, the progress is truly amazing. I like the combination of audio, visual aids, spelling and pronunciation drills- add numerous repetitions to the mix, and you will be surprised how much you can learn. I would recommend buying a separate grammar reference book though, as sometimes intuitive learning is not sufficient, and being able to see the whole structure helps a lot. I have tried some other language self-study courses before, and I can say that Rosetta is the most effective one.
Also, I am a Mac user, and I did not have any issues with the software installation (and I am not a tech savvy person!). I think that the problems described in some previous reviews may only relate to network settings, on a single computer the software works just fine.
Rosetta Stone French levels 1&2 2008-04-23
It is mostly my wife studying French with this for a planned trip to France this summer. She has been very pleased. Rosetta's technique is more of an emersion in the language than the old rote memorization ways we were taught languages in school. (This is a 1969 HS graduate talking.) Highly recommended, but not cheap!
Their licensing is awful 2008-04-08
Bought this from Amazon for my wife. It ran for two months then complained it was not activated.
Same machine, same user.
IMPOSSIBLE to speak to a support rep.
Might be OK software, I don't use it, but I'm stuck trying to talk to jackasses who don't answer their phones.
