[Language 0001] Rosetta Stone lifetime
First step to becoming conversational in a foreign language.
I bought a lifetime subscription of Rosetta Stone for $200 via one of the regular deals for four reasons.
The first is that it was all the rage when I was a kid (and existed in this space basically uncontested). They also have a once unique approach of focusing on immersion instead of technicals and the formal learning of the language.
The second is because its a one time fee for unlimited access.
The third is because it has all the languages I'm interested in.
The fourth is I've been struggling to learn a foreign language all my life and I never managed to. I've taken at least 4 years of Japanese in school and I can only shout phrases here and there. I think one of my biggest problems is I never internalized the language and consequently have to exert effort every time I want to communicate. Nothing flows naturally.
There are alternatives like Babel, but they are primarily focused on Europe and lack East Asian languages which is what I want to learn. However, it's there's a catch. In terms of of sheer raw content Rosetta has enough to get you started on whatever you want to learn. There's about a bajillion languages all of which are composed of a lesson plan with 20 topics each having 3 units which are broken down into 3 modules. There is also an average of 3 review units per module. That's a total of 20*3*3 180 modules for you to earn the language of your choice. That's where the lifetime content ends and then you move on to the catch--which is a subscription.
The subscription is an attempt to be innovative where there's group lessons in a pseudo-classroom like setting where you can pseudo interact with a teacher for a subscription fee. In a sense that means Rosetta Stone unlimited is a big advertisement for their recurring revenue stream, which makes a bit more clear their business model. The concept of it sounds good because in theory subscribers can pay a small fee for outsize value. However, the biggest problem I can see is that there is going to be the classic problem of number of students to teacher ratio. You also don't get to choose the direction of your growth. I think it might be more valuable to go out of your comfort zone and find a PenPal or a conversation buddy who will be able to provide a more in-depth exchange. The best part is that it's free. The worst part is that you actually have to put in the effort to maintain acquaintance and potential friendship.
My current plan is to do two modules a day which would make me complete one language in about 90 days or 3 months. The estimated time per unit is 10-15 minutes so I would be spending about 30 minutes a day. I think this fits right in line with what you might learn from level 1 or 2 from primary education. The important part I'm hoping is through this exercise I am able to internalize the language and be able to actually use it instead of simply doing rote memorization to pass a test and then forgetting all about it. I've had the subscription for about 2 weeks now (rounded up) and I've only completed 4 units. So, I have a 15% strike rate. I am sharing my goal to help keep me motivated in learning a foreign language.
As I was reflecting and reviewing the lessons for Chinese the thought popped into my head that they really did abandoned the static app in favor of their subscription service and it really now is an advertisement. Here is an actual copy of their short stories section. It's possible I haven't unlocked more stories since I haven't progress far...
Either way, there appears to be a limitation for self-learning apps and my guess is it has to do with the amount of effort required to learn more complex concepts and topics without either the verbosity of a textbook of the experience of a teacher. The examples that come to mind are this app Rosetta Stone only having 20 lessons and Flowkey, which has a suspect pricing model and only teaches rudimentary concepts before throwing you to the wolves. I examine this idea here: [[2211020923 The limits of self-learning apps]]
#rosettastone
id: 2211020855 Rosetta Stone introduction
tags: 41/01_software-reviews, 04/02_foreign-language, 44/02_substack