Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/09/06/get-66-off-a-rosetta-stone-la.html
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I thought I recalled reading that Rosetta Stone’s utility in producing long-term language retention was questionable, but I can’t seem to find the reference.
On that note, how did Duolingo pan out?
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You can get Anki for free, and make your own flashcards, which will vastly improve your recall anyway.
In my view, the only thing that keeps you current in a language is using it.
I used the French version of Rosetta Stone to get me started in French. It worked pretty well, at least enough to get me to the point I’m at. About the only thing that would improve me at this point is speaking it daily for about six months. On our recent trip, I was able to make myself understood everywhere in France outside of Paris. (Parisians are notoriously xenophobic and quite language-intolerant, though it’s better now than it used to be.)
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When I was living in France I had an Anglophone-Canadian friend tell a non-Parisian that he wanted to develop a Parisian accent so his French would sound good. The French person told him that Parisian accents were hideous and he’d be much better off learning to speak French with an accent from some other part of France - even if it weren’t the part we were living in.
In later months I heard this opinion echoed by other French natives. I was fine personally with speaking American-accented French, as long as I was able to make myself understood. (I used to be able to turn on a really strong French accent - and some people said I should talk like that all of the time, but it made me feel like Pepé Le Pew.)
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